eholden123

Hi everyone, we need some advice.

We are going to have a layover in NYC the end of September on the way back from France. We get in at 8pm on a Saturday night and fly back to Phoenix at 3pm on Monday afternoon.

We don't know where to stay or what to do. We will probably have some jetlag...

Maybe a bus tour and/or Central Park? Nice hotel to stay - where?

Any advice?

Thanks so much for your time.

eholden

mclaurie

What sort of budget do you have for a hotel? Prices have gotten crazy and end of Sept. is prime time.

nytraveler

Who and how many are "we". For a couple I would try Priceline 4* in the Central Park South area. September is definitely heading into high season for hotel prices - but if you book early you should have a chance at Priceline. And that area is central and pleasant - without the madness of Times Square.

For a specific reco you need to give us a budget.

As to what to do - again who you are/your interests matter. Getting in at 8pm means you won;t make the hotel until 10pm - which will be the middle of the night French time - so assume you will just want to sleep. On Sunday I would do the Met (have a look at the web site to pick a couple of departments or it will take days) and Central Park.

On Monday you won;t have much time - so perhaps some shopping or walking around midtown - or MoMA if you like modern art.

eholden123

I would say around $200 or so per night? We aren't going to be there long - but want to just get a feel for it for when we can go back with more time. We really are only going to have 24 hours. But have no clue where to stay. It will be September 29th thru Oct. 1st.

Thank you very much for your help.

emh

nytraveler

$200 is quite a modest budget for NYC in late September - which is already heading into high season. For a nicer hotel for that price try bidding Priceline 4* Central Park South.

You may want to reserve something cancellable in advance - than do so if you get a 4* on Priceline (your chances of getting 4* then for $200 otherwise are small.)

I've checked a couple of moderate hotels for late September - but don;t know your dates - and they are looking like $300 to $350 per night with taxes at this point.

Obvsiouly you're very early at this point. But if 2007 follows the pattern of 2006 - prices for the same room/dates reserved later cost more than those reserved earlier in the year.

eholden123

Okay, lets say $400 or so a night. Any idea on hotels? So we are narrowing it down to Manhattan...

Thank you!

emh

nytraveler

Don;t even consider staying outside Manhattan - trekking back and forth to what you want to see would take forever - and what's the point of going to NYC and then not staying in the center?

With a larger budget you might want to consider the Lucerne on the upper west side - 2 blocks from Central Park and a short walk across the Park from the Met. There are other less expensive, but not quite so pretty choices in the area - if you search the threads below.

This is a mid/upsccale residential area with tons of good, interesting restaurants and shopping - busy but not frantic like Times Square.

eholden123

Thanks all of you for your input. I have researched all you stated and I think we have a good start. We are going to take one of those bus tours that will tell us where and what we want to visit next time we come back to NYC. Since we will be in small European hotels for three weeks, we are going to stay at a Westin/Sheraton/chain hotel between Times Square and Central Park and just take it easy. We will probably do Broadway the Sunday night before we leave and take in a show. Wish we had more time but this will give us a good feel on where we want to spend out time when we come back.
Again, we appreciate all your help.

emh

mclaurie

Unless you are using points for a free stay or trying to earn some, staying at one of the Starwood hotels is not what I'd recommned. The Sheratons are big convention type hotels, the Westin is overpriced (imo), and the W's rooms are pretty small. The Parker Meridien could be a nice option but may also be very overpriced.

If you want a large 4* hotel, I agree with the advice of using Priceline. Bid only 4* in any of the areas with the word "midtown" in the name--OR--if you want to stay near the south end of the park, bid the upper midtown/Central Park area. betterbidding.com or biddingfortravel.com can help if you're not familiar with priceline. Looking on quikbook.com the Michelangelo is a lovely hotel available for $299/night (cancellable and no prepayment required).

If you want a bus tour, have a look at kingofnyc.com

enjoylife

Check biddingfortravel and book throught priceline. It's your best bet to stay in your price range.

eholden123

I've never used priceline before. Does it tell you what hotel you are bidding on? Or are you just stuck with the 4* they give you? I will be in France for three and a half weeks so I won't want to be staying in any small, boutique, european hotels. I will have done that for too long. We want something expensive and big and close to Times Square and Central Park. We want to have massages and sleep in cozy beds and try to get through the jetlag as easy as possible. Any hotel besides the Westin or Waldorf Astoria that will do that then?

Thanks for your time and advice.

emh

mclaurie

No you can't bid on a specific hotel but you can get a pretty good idea of which one you'll get depending on which area you bid on. But now that you've said you want a spa in the hotel, Priceline is probably not the way to go. The hotels that generally are "won" in midtown are the Hiltons (NY or Times Square), the Intercontinental Barclay or the Grand Hyatt. I'm not sure which if any of those has a spa.

The Ritz Carlton Central Park is across from the Park and has a great La Prairie spa. It will be very pricey. The Sherry Netherland is another wonderful hotel that flies under the radar. They have a health club so I'm sure they'd have massages. The Four Seasons, the Peninsula and the Mandarin Oriental are also near the park with very good spas, also very expensive.

For something more affordable, 2 of the Affinia hotels which are all suite hotels have in house spas. (the Benjamin, the Affinia Dumont)affinia.com

There are dozens of very good day spas in NYC, but I understand if you don't want to go out of the hotel for massages. Although I'd be very tempted to go for the Michelangelo at $295-325/night (on quikbook.com) and have a masseur or masseuse sent to me. Here's an older thread with a discussion on massages.
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34536846