Steve Tustin

Couple of questions if I may...

Carol (the most beautiful woman in the world) and I are visiting New York for holiday this year. We fly in on September 11th and want to stay for 4 - 5 days before picking a car up and driving to Baltimore where we will stay with a friend.

Where is the most suitable area in New York to stay for us? We are both late 40's, prefer an apartment (or even B & B!) to hotels, like eating out at good local restuarants as opposed to posh places, like art/ theatre/architecture etc. but not drinking, like chatting and people watching, but not gossiping, we're not sporty types - if we ever feel like exercise we lie down until the feeling goes away! Our kids are grown up so we are family types with grandkids now!

We have not visited before so want to do the normal touristy stuff.

I'm confused - Manhattan, Bronx, Eastside, Westside, Uptown, Downtown? LOL

Help!!

Thanks

Manc

Hey Steve, someone local to the area will be sure to give you some pointers.

I last went in 1997 so I can't really help you.

Rete

Depends on what you and Carol want to do for those 4 or 5 days? If you are only wanting to sightsee in Manhattan, go to the theatre, a classical concert perhaps, etc. then you should stay in Manhattan. B&B's are rare in Manhattan. You can check out prices for hotels on orbitz or hotel.com and then I would suggest you call them personally for reservations. I found last week that orbitz' fee for a hotel reservation was $19 on top of what the hotel normally charged for the room.

If you want to explore a bit of Manhattan on one day, Long Island on another day, and Westchester County yes another day (a car is necessary for the LI and Westchester jaunts), then you have the option of staying either on Long Island or in Westchester Country. Both places have B&B's if that is your thing and usually you can find one is close to either the Long Island Railroad or MetroNorth Railroad for the day trip to Manhattan.

If you are going to stay in Manhattan, then go Mid-Town. Try hotels between 42nd north to 62th Street. Eastside is better than Westside generally unless the Westside is only a block west of Fifth Avenue which is the dividing line for west/east.

Or you might consider only 2 days in Manhattan, renting your car and taking a more leisurely drive down to Baltimore. Baltimore is only 3-1/2 hours from Manhattan (I drove it once a month to visit my daughter when she lived in Virginia outside of Washington, DC). YOu will be going through the States of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and some very pretty countryside. You might want to stop in Atlantic City in New Jersey for a little glitz and gambling. Then perhaps a stop at a B&B or oceanfront hotel in Delaware. Then you might decide to visit a coastal town in Maryland's Cheasapeake Bay area for crab bashing.

Lots to do.

Rete

NC Penguin

Try reading and/or posting in the newsgroup rec.travel.usa-canada that appears near the bottom of the British Expats homepage.





NC Penguin

NC Penguin

Just my 5 cents.

I notice you're arriving in NY on September 11th. Be prepared for an odd mood throughout the whole of New York but I hope it won't be like that throughout your stay.

Since it'll be your first visit to NY and you want to do the sights, I would recommend staying mid-town but a decent hotel will probably be at least $150 a night, excluding tax, etc.

I was last in Manhattan in a hotel in Sept 2000 and I paid about $250 a night for the InterContinental by Central Park south.





NC Penguin

Chopper-Chris

Well, I guess this one's for me then...

You sound like you know what you want to see, and my advice would be to stay as close to Midtown as possible, this is the same area as you will find the Empire State building, Madison Square Garden, Times Square and many of the touristy sites that you mentioned that you wanted to see. Manhattan is not the cheapest place to stay and you'll be very lucky to find a good B&B (you'll undrestand why when you get here) but you can get really good deals on hotel rooms and you shouldn't have too much of a problem finding a hotel room at that time of year. You'ds be much better off looking for accomodation...(and in this order)

1) Midtown
2) Uptown (Westside) - Much more expensive
3) Uptown (Eastside) - More in the way of reasonable places to stay)
4) Downtown (very expensive to stay here)

Downtown you'll find Wall St, Battery Park and Ground Zero but you'll spend time travelling up to more of the touristy places.

Don't bother staying in Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, Westchester because of the distance form the center of what you would consdier to be New York, but having said that, Brooklyn has some great small and friendly hotels and B&B's that are worth considering and still only 20-25 minutes from the center of Manhattan. Also, don't eliminate Hoboken NJ, you'll not need a car because transport by ferry or train is cheap and frequent and Hoboken has an excellent selection of reasonable hotels, resturants and bars with unparalleled views of the city from the other side of the Hudson River...plus, tax is cheaper in NJ for shopping, hotels and food...and trust me, its nice to get out of NYC in the evening sometimes!

If you're heading south, many of the NJ shore towns are nice to stop off in overnight, I recommend the Lonely Planet Series and the Rough Guide. Atlantic city is like the Las Vegas of the East coast and can work out more expensive than you expect.! If you fancy heading north, Conneticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massechusetts and Maine are all worth a drive and all less than 7 hours by car. New England will be stunning in September as the trees begin to change colour.

Enjoy your trip, and if I can help with anything more specific, please don't hesitate to PM me or drop me an email.

Chopper Chris

Manc

alright Chris, long time mate.........

Englishmum

I have to agree with Chris, especially the part about staying in Hoboken/Jersey City, which is just across the Hudson with the most amazing views of Manhatten (which you don't get to see if you're staying in Manhatten itself). Just think of it as staying in Queens or Brooklyn, which are also across the (East) River and not on the peninsular of Manhatten itself.

You might want to consider staying at the fantastic Hyatt on the Hudson in Jersey City....it's just a few yards from the PATH subway trains run into the early hours of the morning and which go to the World Trade Center station/financial district and up to Midtown (33rd St) for the Empire State Building, Macy's etc. I've seen the rooms there (a friend was getting married) and they're large and well-appointed (well, it is a 5* hotel!) only a couple of years old and is right on the riverbank with a marina....another way into Manhatten is to take the NY Waterway ferries, with a connection to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The views from the hotel are excellent - and their is a pier outside - across to the World Financial Center/Manhatten and the Statue of Liberty.

Hoboken is also a thriving place (I prefer it to Manhatten actually) with a large choice of restaurants (Amanda's is the best, but there's a good tiny Cuban cafe which is well worth checking out). It would be easy for you to pick up a rental car and drive down the I-95 to Baltimore rather than trying to drive through/out of Manhatten.

The reason I'm, suggesting the Hyatt in JC is that if you bid on Priceline.com you can almost certainly get an amazing room rate....as low as $35-$40...for a 5* hotel!!!! It would save you $$$$$$$$$!!! Don't forget that most places where room rates are given in New York, taxes are *not* included which can be hefty. I found out about the inexpensive room prices at the Hyatt via this link:

http://p070.ezboard.com/fpricelinean...abiddingfrm266

(The main home page is:

http://www.biddingfortravel.com which is a guide to the successful bids people have made on Priceline.com, Expedia etc.)

You can check out the reports about the Hyatt here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com (type in Hyatt, Jersey City in the Search box).

and of course at: http://www.hyatt.com

There are some B&Bs in NYC....I googled and here is just one example:

http://www.manhattengetaways.com

Another roomy hotel is the new Embassy Suites next to the World Trade Center site - large 2 room suites with free breakfast and cocktails in the evening but of course more expensive (but still a good price compared to the bog-standard Manhatten hotel rooms which are small just like in London):

http://www.embassysuites.com

Hope this helps!