NYC Hotel Recommendations

[bluedogok]

We are coming up to NYC a little later this year, coming up to see a game at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium before they go away. Since I know there are a few of y'all living up there I was wondering about some hotel recommendations. I haven't been up there and what areas would be good to stay in? Been looking at Travelocity/Expedia and looking at Midtown mostly at the moment. Any other areas we should be looking at?

We have been looking to keep it in the 200-250 a night range.

[Soonrboy]

We stayed at the Madison Hotel in Morristown, New jersey and rode the train in. It was very nice.

[sooneron]

Under 250 will be tough. The Inn on 23rd is decent and it's a good spot.
http://www.innon23rd.com/rates.html

There are some good places on the upper west side.

Looking over expedia search-
Paramount $230- was once trendy, very small rooms. I don't know how well it's held up.
****ord $203- DO NOT STAY AT THE ****ORD
Essex House $255- I heard they did a redux a few years back and it's decent digs.
Hotel Pennsylvania $156 - You get what you pay for. I have only heard of people staying here that had dogs at Westminster and Strippers on the NYC leg from texass.
Radisson Lex $240 - Ok, decent location, but very busy on weekdays between 7AM and 6PM
St James $203 - Last I heard about this place it should have been condemned. My Mom stayed there a while ago- hated it. After reading the reviews, it seems ok now. think ok and $203.
Beekman Tower $239 - Pretty good place. It's not too close to subways, but easily in walking distance. Slightly out of the way (which is a good thing)
Skyline $200 - I've heard it's pretty good.
Marriott Downtown $219 - This is a good deal!

I like anywhere BUT midtown.

heh m i l f o r d !!!

[sooneron]

I saw that the Lucerne was going for around $240. I highly recommend. It's a great area (UWS) and close to transportation to get you where you need to go.

[StoopTroup]

Save some dough and sleep on the street.

Make Charles Bronson proud. ;)

http://www.nypress.com/images/CharlesBronson.jpg

[bluedogok]

Well, the 200-250 was my wife's "recommended" price range, i.e. what she hoped for. I figured we were probably going to be more around 300. The Marriott is 219 for one night and 299 the rest of the nights on out trip dates. The only one that I found halfway interesting around 250 was the London NYC. I have her convinced to start looking higher.

If I go somewhere like this I refuse to stay in the burbs and head into town. I did that once in Chicago and ended up spending more on gas/parking and lost time than just staying somewhere in town. When we went to Chicago on our honeymoon we stayed at The Drake and only traveled once in the car (we drove up there stopping in KC and StL for different games/stuff) to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright stuff in Oak Park and to see Dave Matthews Band at The Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, the rest of the time it was always walking or the El. This time we will not have a car, when we stay in Boston we are in the Beacon Hill area and just enjoy staying in the city.

[SoonerStormchaser]

I got the Doubletree in Midtown for two nights over OU/Baylor weekend for $271 a night....

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

We stayed at the New Yorker for $250 a night. The room was extremely small, but lets face it, you really just need a place to stay because NYC will keep you busy. Anyways, it is on 8th Ave and 34th St., which is three blocks from the Emipre Stated Building, 10 blocks from Times Square, 12 blocks from Rockafeller Center, and directly across the street from MSG. All of those areas are very walkable. Also, there is a subway staion on the corner and Penn Station is across the street as well. May I also recommend the Gray's Papayas hot dogs too! Delicious!

Also, as a side note, I did the same trip you are doing back in May. If you want to see Memorial Park, you need to be there very early and make that your first destination! BYPASS EVERYTHING or you will not make it. We found out the hard way. Also, take you patience pills with you too because 50,000 in extremely crapmed concourses make for long walks anywhere in the ball park. Shea is a lot easier to navigate, but Yankee is extremely hard to get around because of the sheer volume of people. Saying that, Yankee Stadium is such a cool place. I got goosebumps just walking in to the House the Ruth Built. It is very cool! Have fun on your trip!

[Taxman71]

Staying at the Waldorf and going to a Yankees game in a week. I'll let you know how it is.

[sooneron]

I believe the New Yorker is owned by The Moonies. Tesla lived there for a while. You can supposedly stay in his room. Again, I highly recommend the lucerne. Stay in a real NYC (as much as they are dwindling) neighborhood. The people are more friendly and are usually more helpful in pointing out good eats that you would not normally find. Not to mention the food is better away from tourist trap areas. The Wife and I stayed at the Plaza Athenee' last weekend it was sweet. See if the Mrs. will spring for that. :D

[sooneron]

Oh, and don't go to craftsteak for dinner. It's owned by Colicchio and it's average and too $$.

[Taxman71]

I believe the New Yorker is owned by The Moonies. Tesla lived there for a while.

Is that where they wrote Little Suzy's On the Up?

[Viking Kitten]

Damn. $250 a night. It must really suck to not have a brother who lives in the east 70s and an uncle with a houseboat in Liberty Park.:P

[sooneron]

Is that where they wrote Little Suzy's On the Up?

http://vasilije.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/tesla1.jpg

[Taxman71]

His parents must have been big fans.

[NYC Poke]

heh m i l f o r d !!!

True story: I was walking home from work one evening through Times Square and some of the lights on that hotel's sign were burned out. It read "**** Plaza."

Before I moved here, I used to come up fairly frequently to visit my gf, who lives on the Upper West Side. I used to stay at the Days Hotel (owned by Days Inn) at 96th & Broadway. It's around $150 a night. It's not as nice as many of the hotels mentioned, but it's not bad, either. It's clean and the rooms are newly remodeled. Up to a point, a hotel room is just a hotel room, anyway, and you're there for the city, not the hotel.

It's pretty convenient to Yankee Stadium. I've never been to Shea, but I don't think anywhere you'd want to stay is too close to there. It's right by a stop for the express train, so getting to the more touristy areas is pretty convenient. The area is safe and neighborhood-y, with your biggest danger probably tripping over all the strollers. Lot's of good restaurants/bars on Amsterdam, one avenue east.

[def_lazer_fc]

May I also recommend the Gray's Papayas hot dogs too! Delicious!


where else can you get an entire meal for like a buck fifty. amazing. and just a tip. give the homeless people your change outside gray's. they all know you have it since the dogs are only like a quarter. don't be a dick. :D

[bluedogok]

Damn. $250 a night. It must really suck to not have a brother who lives in the east 70s and an uncle with a houseboat in Liberty Park.:P
I have a cousin that lives in Queens, but it is a rather small place and she has roommates so I would rather stay in a hotel. The flight was cheap (JetBlue Austin-JFK direct), the Mets-Astros tickets are from the Mets, so it is cheap. The Red Sox-Yankees tickets, not so much. I paid 330 for a pair of Red Sox-Astros tickets thinking we weren't going up there tis year but my wife changed her mind when she found out both stadiums were in their last year. She has to try the hot dogs, Fenway is still her #1 with Wrigley at #2 but there are still many of them left to hit.

I will check out the Lucerne and the Plaza Athenee'.

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

where else can you get an entire meal for like a buck fifty. amazing. and just a tip. give the homeless people your change outside gray's. they all know you have it since the dogs are only like a quarter. don't be a dick. :D

Haha, we did exactly that! Cheapest meal in NYC!!!! Haha! Good dogs too!!

[sooneron]

I will check out the Lucerne and the Plaza Athenee'.

I was half joking about the Plaza Athenee'.:O But we did stay there last weekend. Awesome digs.

[Taxman71]

I was told to taxi into Brooklyn, walk around a while and walk back to Manhattan across the bridge at night. Safe? I don't want a sweathog snatching my watch.

[Viking Kitten]

Similar to that, one thing I enjoy doing is taking the Staten Island Ferry at night. It runs back and forth all night long, it's free, it goes right by the Statue of Liberty, they sell beer on the ferry.

[Taxman71]

I have 5 days to kill in NYC. 1 Yankees game, 2 broadway shows and the rest is up for grabs. Any suggestions?

[NYC Poke]

This is a pretty good deal, and with what you already have planned, will likely fill your time here.

http://www.citypass.com/city/ny.html?id=Hgiq2QiV

[Taxman71]

This is a pretty good deal, and with what you already have planned, will likely fill your time here.

http://www.citypass.com/city/ny.html?id=Hgiq2QiV


Thanks! Those are places I wanted to see.

[Viking Kitten]

Find some time to just go sit in a neighborhood bar for a while and hang out with locals. Despite the reputation, New Yorkers are some of the nicest people I've ever met. You just have to get them away from their daily mad rush a bit.

[Taxman71]

5 days alone with the wife and no kids (and NYC in July), I will find LOTS of time to sit around in the neighborhood bars......might even take a flask.

[NYC Poke]

Find some time to just go sit in a neighborhood bar for a while and hang out with locals. Despite the reputation, New Yorkers are some of the nicest people I've ever met. You just have to get them away from their daily mad rush a bit.


I would second that. People enjoy talking, just not on the steps of the subway. You'll meet interesting people in any bar.

I'd recommend finding a neighborhood pub near your hotel and checking in every evening. They'll get to know you, the bartenders will start giving you deals on drinks, etc. Apartments here are small and crappy, so a lot of people treat their local pub like their living room.

Drop me a note when you figure out where you're staying, and I'll try to recommend some places.

Oh, and I hadn't thought much about it when someone posted it earlier, but someone brought up the New Yorker, which is at 34th & 8th. I live on 38th between 8th & 9th and was walking by there last night, and it occurred to me that it would be a really depressing place to stay. It's convenient to everything, but it's tourest-y in the crappiest sort of way.

This site seems to have some pretty good deals.

http://www.nyc.com/hotels/?ysmchn=YSM&ysmcpn=Generic+Terms&ysmcrn=sr2ng16yh23168ya1527pi6ai217&ysmtrm=sr2ng16yh23168ya1527pi6ai217+hotels+on+broa dway&ysmtac=PPC&ovtac=PPC&SR=sr2ng16yh23168ya1527pi6ai217&OVRAW=broadway%20hotel&OVKEY=broadway%20hotel&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=23757778512&OVKWID=212851926012

[Taxman71]

I am staying at the Waldorf (49th & Park?) and definitely want to get my fill of as much Italian food as possible (Little Italy?). The wife will be wanting sushi in Soho while I slam martinis. I will be looking for some good places (not too formal) in the theater district for before/after a couple of shows. Since this is a vacation, I am not taking a coat or tie, so anything that nice is out....I do that at home all the time anyway.

I am learning that the quality of food goes up as the formality goes down.

[NYC Poke]

Before a show, check out Nizza's on 9th between 44th & 45th.

http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/46242765/?brand=smx_restaurant-nc

Great innovative but approachable Italian (they have the standards as well), nice atmosphere, and fairly easy on the wallet. I took a date there and we had salad, appetizers, entrees, wine, and a 7-cheese dessert plate and I think I spent about $150 after tip.

Before the shows, 9th Avenue is a good bet. It's just outside the Theater District and lined with restaurants. Restaurant Row is on 46th between 8th and 9th and there are good places there. You can have a great, affordable meal within a 5-minute walk of your theater. The restaurants within the Times Square/Theater District tend to be low quality and/or highly priced for what you get.

I work not far from the Waldorf, at 54th & Lexington (Lex is one avenue east of Park). There's nothing on Park itself, but go east of Lexington and you'll find tons of places on the cross-streets and on 2nd and 3rd Aves, including places that have really good (for NY) happy hours.

[NYC Poke]

Oh, for sushi near your hotel, check out this place.

http://www.harusushi.com/locations.aspx?page=104

In SoHo (okay, Tribeca), check out Nobu.

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/nobu/

[Taxman71]

Thanks for the tips! I plan to get out early and sight-see for restaurants and bars while the wife sleeps in most mornings.