NYC weekend trip help needed!
 

We will be flying into JFK next weekend. We are trying to find out if it is best to stay nearby the airport, as we will be staying for 2 nights. Going into the City, taking in a Yankees' game, etc. We don't want to spend an arm and a leg, but we want a decent hotel with comfortable beds. Continental breakfast would be great! Also, early check in and shuttles would help! Thanks for any information you can provide.

HOtel prices right now are high because it is "tourist season" and the city is FULL of visitors.

I'd suggest checking www.hotwire.com
www.priceline.com and www.hotels.com for an idea of what hotel rates are right now.

Also check The Travel Inn on W. 42nd St as a good budget hotel, free parking for guests and they have a pool, which is rare in the city.

Also if you are going to a Yankees game, get your tickets asap if you don't already have them. www.yankees.com or on ebay. Don't assume you can get them on the day of the game, as alot of games are sold out.

Another hotel I can suggest is the Grand Union www.hotelgrandunion.com which has good rates, good location and nice amenities.

Not alot of hotels offer breakfast, but since there are delis on just about every corner in the city you won't have a problem finding a quick bite.

Since you are going to a Yankees game, there is a cute B&B right by me, that is walkable to Yankee Stadium and close to the subways. Heritage Guest House on W 147th ST and the rates there are very good, and there's a really cute cafe just down the street for breakfast. I'll see if I can find that website for you. The rate is around $125nt for private room and bath. I think there are 20 rooms and I saw the facility recently and can tell you the rooms and baths are done quite well, and each room has a ceiling fan and AC.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info. We do have tickets for the game already. Is it best to stay near the airport for 2 nights, or is it better to get closer to the City? I just am not sure of the price of transportation into the city for each day. We will get Metro cards, but I don't know how far we will have to go to catch the subway?

Anyone else have some advice on where to stay, by JFK or closer to the City?

No.

Staying by the airport is a miserable idea and you'll waste a lot of time and money trying to get back and forth to Manhattan.

You don't need continental breakfast because coffee and a bagel can be had for $2.

Check out The Pod Hotel.

BTW, when you state that you don't want to spend an arm and a leg, no one knows what that figure is unless you give us an amount.

I'm hoping not to spend more than $200 plus tax per night....

I agree completely with GoTravel. Staying by JFK is a bad and expensive idea, Much time will be lost sommuting.

Also you never know which continent the Continental Breakfast came from. As Gotravel said, there are literally hundreds of palces to get anything from from a ulitarian breakfast to an excellent brunch.

The Yankee game will dominate your trip due to traveling to the Bronx and the length of the game. Also, without a car, there is really no place to eat.

You could probably do a pricelein bid and get a 4* hotel for < $200.

ALso compare hotel prices on kayak.com. Staying by JFK would be awful.

It costs a minimum of $7 to come into the city from JFK (each way), and that's if you take public transit; $10 if you take the Long Island Railroad. The trip takes about 75 to 90 minutes, minimum of 30 minutes on the Airtrain/LIRR. Think about that if you want to stay near JFK.

You may be out of luck with cheap hotels already, but if you can't get something on Priceline (the best choice), try the Comfort Inn Long Island City. It's within 2 blocks of several major subway lines and just 1 stop from Manhattan. It's a viable alternative outside the city that's usually under $150 per night.

I'd also recommend checking both Expedia and Hotels.com to see if there are any decent deals. You may be out of luck, though. $200 isn't much in NYC, and many of the hotels are fully booked now.

Forget the price of travel from JFK. You only have 2 days, you don't want to spend it on the subway. Stay in Manhattan.

I just checked Hotwire and they have a few possibilities - a 4 star in Midtown South for $239/nt and a 3 star in Soho for $203 a night.

Thanks so much for the advice! Now, what area would be good & safe to stay in? East of Central Park?

Any are of Manhattan south of 96th street is perfectly safe. You may get a good deal by staying in the Financial/Wall Street District, which is easily to reach by subway but is desolate (though safe) at night. The Upper East Side (the area east of Central Park) is the most isolated and difficult to reach since it has only 1 subway line, so it's rarely my first choice, but most of the hotels there are nice.

I'd recommend that you try to find a hotel between 60th Street and 23rd Street (from north to south) and between 9th and 3rd avenues (from west to east). Those areas have the best transit connections. Since you are on a short trip, you don't want to be where you can't get around very easily.

Our other option is driving, as we are 7 hours away from NYC. We have done that before...perhaps a hotel in NJ, Fort Lee, would be a better way to go? Not sure about the transportation/subway from there into the City.

Pookie, with your short amount of time, any savings will be eaten up with commute time and cost.

In other words, don't stay by an airport, don't stay in another state, stay in Manhattan.

Agree with GoTravel. Stay in Manhattan. Instead of trying to nickle-and-dime it by staying in some miserable suburban hotel that is inconvenient, find something in the city that is a little more than your price range but will result in a savings because of transport costs and your valuable travel time.

Travelzoo.com has some specials. You can stay at the Carlton on Madison for $189 plus tax or the Millenium Broadway for $199 plus tax. You do NOT want to stay at JFK. It's not near Yankee stadium and it will take at least an hour in each direction to get to Manhattan. Bidding on Priceline for a 4* hotel is also a good idea if there are only 2 of you but you should book a back up cancelabel reservation NOW in case that doesn't pan out. Go to biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com for help if you need it.

Thanks for the great advice, everyone! Please keep it coming!

I went on Priceline last night. There are 3 adults and 1--12-year-old going I would hate to get a room that only holds 2 people! Any advice there?

You'd need 2 rooms if you bid on Priceline. That was a detail you neglected to mention. Have a look on www.affinia.com and see if any of their suite hotels are in your budget.

If Priceline is out for you because of the whole 4 people in a room issue, then you should take a serious look at the Comfort Inn Long Island City, though be sure some rooms have 2 double beds. Of all the places in the outer boroughs, it's the most convenient to Manhattan.

I believe there's also a Marriott Courtyard hotel near the Pavonia/Newport PATH station in NJ, and that might be just as convenient, but this hotel is usually more expensive. THere may be other Newport possibilities, but if you can't be on a direct train route into the city, staying in NJ is going to be a huge inconvenience. It's useless to even look at hotels in Fort Lee or the Meadlowlands area.

Hotwire has the four in a room option.

Hotels in Manhattan that hold for people aren't standard rooms and are considered upgrades.

GoTravel has already provided very good advice already so nothing to add there... may I respectfully suggest, though, that on your next trip, you give yourself more time to plan. Making last-minute reservations in Manhattan should be avoided when possible.

pookie, if the Courtyard Midtown East is available, it's a great choice for the size of your group -- we had a very large room last summer - big enough for 2 beds and a sitting area. Expensive for a Courtyard, but not for mid-town Manhattan.

The B&B up near me could accomodate 4 to a room, and be well under $200. We are a block to the A train, and walking distance to Yankee Stadium, with a cute cafe on the corner. This is a very safe area of Manhattan, I've lived here for 6 years and love the area. This is Hamilton Heights on a map.

I'll get the web address and repost it.

It's the Harlem Heritage Guest House, on W. 147th St. and the phone number is (212) 234-7017. Ask for Terry she is one of the owners.

I went over and toured the place not long ago and I thought it was a great deal for the price.

Each room is nicely done, you can ask for private bath or shared. There is a ceiling fan and AC in each room and some have kitchenetts.