penney

Hello all,

I am thinking of taking my young lad to NY city for 2 days over the coming long weekend. For those that have been there and have kids that age (4yrs +), what would you recommend to DO AND SEE with him during this time? Also where would you advice that I stay (HOTEL FOR A DECENT RATE) in order to get to everything? I don't plan to take the car


thanks in advance

Noorah101

Museum of Natural History.

Rene

Nutmegger

South Street Seaport
Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum
Staten Island Ferry or Circle Line cruise
Statue of Liberty
Central Park Zoo
FAO Schwartz toy shop
Empire State Building

Orangepants

It might be worth your while buying the New York Pass even just for one day if you are doing a boat trip, going up to an Observation Deck and a couple of museums. I took some guests last week for 5 days and we made full use of the pass - great value. My nephews loved the Museum of Natural History and Intrepid. We stayed at an Affinia hotel.

penney

Thanks everyone.....

Orangepants, how was the hotel in general and price wise, do you have their website? Is this hotel close to all the amenities and for getting around?

I was having 2nd thoughts on that NY pass, wasn't sure if it covers the following:

South Street Seaport
Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum
Staten Island Ferry or Circle Line cruise
Statue of Liberty
Central Park Zoo
FAO Schwartz toy shop
Empire State Building

Orangepants

It covers from that list - Intrepid, cruise lines, Statue Liberty ferry and the Empire State. South Street seaport is place to wander about. FAO Schwartz is amazing for adults and kids.
One day we used the Water taxi, jumped on at W44th street, off at 9/11 memorial, back on to the South Street Seaport to see the Bodies exhibition then back on again to go round the Statue of Liberty and back to W44th where we then got on the Beast - a speedboat which goes to Statue as well.
We stayed at the Affinia Manhattan, close enough to Times Square without being too close. Hotel was beautiful, and the rooms were large by NYC standards. http://www.affinia.com/New-York-City...inia-Manhattan

penney

I forgot to mention I am on a budget....what is the nightly rate? I need something under $200/night

penney

which one of these hotels will be closer to the attraction above

http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/results...earchTokenId=1

Orangepants

Sorry don't do budget

You might be able to get something on Staten Island and then get the ferry over each day or otherwise out by the airports. Try Holiday Inn Express - they may have some cheaper rates.

The attractions and places to see are all around Manhattan.

Noorah101

Did you even click on the Affinia Hotel link at all? It takes you to their website, where you can input the dates you'll be staying and get the nightly rates. I don't know which long weekend you're referring to, but I just plugged in this coming weekend dates (Fri - Mon) and it gave me the Best Rate of $272 nightly. That's without taxes and such. So it seems this hotel is over your budget.

Rene

Noorah101

That link just takes me to the Hotwire Main Page.

Rene

Jerseygirl

My husband says my idea of camping is staying at a Holiday Inn.

Englishmum

Although I only live 40 mins from NYC, last month I stayed there when my Aussie friend's mum arrived from Sydney and we booked a couple of rooms at the 'Staybridge Suites' on West 41st St between 8th & 9th Avenues (next to the Port Authority terminal and 2 to 3 blocks from Times Square). Great location for public transport, including taxis which might be your best bet with a toddler. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

It was spotless, (I think the hotel is quite new - no scratches on the furniture etc!) rooms were large by NYC standards and had a kitchenette (hotplates, microwave, fridge-freezer and cooking utensils, crockery etc.)

Best of all....they do a free cooked breakfast (I skipped that, I just went downstairs to bring bagels, yoghurt, fruit and juice back up to the room but my friends went downstairs to eat.

Btw - we stayed midweek, on Mon-Thurs they do free drinks (beers, wine, soft drinks) and snacks in the dining area off the lobby, although on a smaller scale than the Embassy Suites, but otoh the Embassy Suites in NYC closed down and it was near the WTC in any case

Check out the TripAdvisor reports for this hotel, we booked there based on the positive reports (and we always stay at the Intercontinental hotels group if we can as my spouse collects the points - this hotel is in that group).

I also spent one night at the famous Algonquin hotel in mid-August (a birthday treat from my friend) and it wasn't a patch on the Staybridge Suites in my opinion.

tonrob

Sorry - think you'll need to do your own leg-work on this one. Almost all hotels charge according to demand - the rates vary daily based on how much their revenue department thinks they can get people to pay.

Variations can be so high that it's difficult to generalize and offer reliable advice - a room can literally go for $150 or $350 or $500 depending on what's going on at the time.

TripAdvisor is your friend (to try to avoid a real fleapit), and then maybe start with Hotwire or Expedia but sorting by average nightly rate.

To hep organize future stays for cheap or free, keep an eye on my thread over here.

Englishmum

Also now that Summer is over, City breaks are very popular at weekends with NYC being one of the top destinations, not just within the US but many Europeans come over to visit NYC for a long/extended break in the Autumn too.

I received loads of postcards in the mail yesterday about all the new Broadway shows starting up in the coming days and weeks....we are going into 'theatre season' (plus of course dance, music concerts) and the big Comcon (comic convention) too. As Tonrob says, like airline tickets prices change according to demand.

Whatever you do, don't stay at the Pennsylvania Hotel....