Thank you on New York and quick trip report
 

We went to NY from the 28 through the 30; for those who were there, I'm sure you would agree it would seem impossible to have squeezed one more person onto that island! (Many Brits and Europeans shopping their hearts out, since we went to London in the fall and bought NOTHING, we watched this with bemusement!) For the first night, we were with our 6-year old so we stayed at a suite at the Affinia Manhattan--I tout them all the time, but I think if you are traveling with children, look no further than the Affinias. This one, across from Penn Station, is not as updated as one we've stayed at in Murray Hill, but clean, convenient and the price was reasonable. A thank you to McLaurie for the suggestion of Serafina which was perfect, the food was good and they have a great kids menu. We saw the tree, the windows, etc. One nice plus, photographers from NBC were taking photos in front of the tree, you then access them on e-mail and we have a great photo for $12--if you are going next year, look for them. Next day, we went to the Big Apple Circus, then our precious package went to Grandma's in CT :). We moved down to the Soho Grand, our room was great, the service is even better than it used to be there and we had a great time. That night, we saw Jersey Boys which is a perfect, check your brain at the door, genuinely fun night at the theatre. As the Times put it, the lead is a genuine star-in-the-making and the cast chemistry reminded us of Lane/Broderick in the Producers. Next night we ate at Babbo, wonderful, unpretentious place with great food.

Happy to answer questions, and again, thanks for the help.

Mary

Sounds like a great trip! Thanks for the report.

Sounds fantastic Mary. I'm surprised about the Affinia Manhattan. I had thought it was recently renovated along with the name change. Fyi,I've noticed complaints starting on tripadvisor about the condition of the Shelburne Murray Hill, I assume where you've stayed before. Sounds like they need some sprucing up.

Anyway, glad it was a good trip. ;)

I thought it had been renovated too, but we were on a relatively low floor and I speculated that we were in a less-renovated part--it wasn't bad, just looked like an older apartment. That's interesting about Murray Hill because our room was beautiful--maybe the same situation. But for $199 for a real suite with a kitchen you can't really complain!

Thanks again for the help,

Mary

I'm so glad you enjoyed Jersey Boys- it's one of my new favorites! Sounds like a fun trip.

Tarheel--when I've described Jersey Boys to people, I have been getting skeptical looks and talk of Mama Mia, but I keep saying, "no, you need to see this show, the cast is fantastic."

Mary

I agree, it's hard to explain! I generally say that it is the story of the Four Seasons, with music used in context only as part of the story. That's why it works so well!

marymarra: Would you please tell me more about the Soho Grand? Which type room? How was the staff? We were suppose to stay there in Dec. but at last minute our hotel reservations were changed to the St. Regis. Oh-la-la.
In February we'll be staying there right b/4 Valentines' Day. We have reserved a "Corner Room" and what they call their "Soho Room". Did you happen to stay in either?
One last question: did you explore the Soho area? Thanks.

Hi KatieKate, the Soho is fun, the staff and service are very good; most of the guests at Christmas were European; we had a corner room which gives you a bit more room (it won't be the St. Regis :), but the beds are very comfortable, big bathrooms and nice amenities. Sorry, I don't know what the "Soho" room is, but our room was very nice.

The neighborhood itself is fun; lots of little boutiques and many designers have boutiques. Also, inevitably, the chains--J. Crew, Anthropologie, etc. and Bloomingdale's now has a store down there. But there are enough small shops and galleries down there so you don't feel like you are in a mall.

Hope this helps,

Mary

Thank you Mary. We are looking forward to our trip.
About Jersey Boys...do you think college aged kids would like it?
BTW, the Soho rooms are the newest, most renovated rooms at Soho Grand.

I think college-aged kids would love it! I'm not too far from that age, and I really enjoyed it. The music is a lot of fun (and familiar), and the story is really interesting- you'd never know the Four Seasons had trouble with the law, the mob, and all sorts of other interesting twists! I would highly recommend it.

TarheelsInNj: from everything I've been reading, I do think they would like it. Thank you for responding. Any other plays/musicial you've particularly liked and could recommend for these kids? I saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrel last Feb. on one of it's first nights (I think). It was fabulous and I think that would be a good one for them, too. Also, I throughly enjoyed The Producers. Just not enough to see them all.

If the "Soho" rooms are newly renovated, they should be great. Totally agree with tarheels that college kids would really enjoy Jersey Boys (I sadly am no longer in that demographic, but there were alot of younger people in the audience having a really good time).

I personally think the Producers is a hoot; I also think college age kids would like Wicked, Hairspray and Dirty Rotten, too.

Enjoy!

Mary

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a great suggestion; very funny, but still has a lot of the "big Broadway show" qualities.

Other good bets for this age group are Avenue Q, The 25th Anuual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Rent.

The Wedding Singer will likely be a lot of fun, but unfortunately previews don't begin until after your trip (March).

Enjoy! :)

If you don't mind, one more question: if you could only see one play, which would it be. Remember 2 of the 3 kids have never seen a broadway show; this will be their first trip to NY. (daughter saw Wicked this summer)

If you can get tickets this late, Jersey Boys would be a great first show. Otherwise, I think your instincts about Dirty Rotten Scoundrels are right on the money. You can't go wrong with either.

Enjoy! :)

Thank you so much. That will be my mission today!!

Great! Be sure to report back and let us know what they think. A first Broadway show is something they'll always remember!

Got tickets for Dirty Rotten Scoundrel @68.75 ea. (w/disc.), but Jersey Boys is another matter. Only tickets available at this time are at least 2x's higher. I've got AMEXP working on it for me....doubt I'll be able to swallow $$$ for 5 people!!!!!