Mumsnet Talk

Any lovely recommendations for me and a friend?

What's your budget per night?. This will have a bearing on your final choice.

Yes need budget but I'd recommend staying in SoHo.

We haven't worked out a budget yet as we don't know flight costs - hoping for £500 TOTAL per person incl flights, so maybe up to about £100 per person per night for a twin room? Very roughly.

NY hotels are very expensive - £100 per person per night is probably about right. Might be worth seeing if there are any packages around - ie flights and hotels. I stayed in one of the chains last time - on Lexington, so just a couple of blocks from 5th Avenue.

Think it depends on what you want to do while you are there, where you want to go....

I've had the folowing links on my mobile since last year when I read a 'NYC on a budget' article at the doctors:

The Pod Hotel www.thepodhotel.com
Ameritania at www.nychotels.com
The Gershwin www.gershwinhotel.com
Chelsea Lodge www.chelsealodge.com

Hope they're of help

www.hotel17ny.com should do it. Great location, will work for your budget.

SoHo is a good idea squeaver. Any tips there?

I love the look of the Gershwin, cakey, thanks for those links! Can anyone comment on the Gershwin's location? E 27th St, "the heart of Madison and Fifth Avenues" - ?

That looks good Debi

There's also the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Tribeca if you prefer to be further downtown. I haven't stayed there but I like the cafe and I think it's a great neighbourhood.

The Gershwin looks awesome though. I'd say it was stretching the truth to call E27th 'the heart of Madison and Fifth' but there's nothing wrong with the location.

What do you want to do in NYC?

First off get a map of Manhattan and look at which areas you'd like to stay in. Secondly read the reviews of hotels on www.tripadvisor.com and have a good look at the photos.

Would not be staying on E27th Street; its too far south and for the hotel to say its, "the heart of Madison and 5th" is being economical with the truth. Many such trendy boutique style hotels can be all style and no substance.

Midtown in better overall. I'd try and stay somewhere between say 53rd Street and Central Park South.

The Salisbury hotel on West 57th Street is nice and clean (does breakfast too) and is ideally placed between two tube train lines. This is also independently owned.

When are you planning on going there?. What would you like to do when you're there as well?.

Thanks alarkaspree - Cosmopolitan looks good

Haven't discussed what we want to do yet - just 2 mums of young kids taking a weekend off - we are open to suggestions!

Thanks Attila. I'll be meeting my friend later this month to talk about what we want to do - I'd guess maybe shopping, a show or two, some nice meals - we've both been before so won't be ticking off the sights or anything. Suggestions very welcome.

Probably February

There's some good old threads on what to do in NY - have a search

Couldn't find much for a girls weekend except this thread squeaver

Can I recommend a play? Our Town by Thornton Wilder. It's not a big broadway show, just a tiny theatre in Greenwich Village, so it might not be the kind of thing you're after, but dh and I thought it was the best thing we'd seen at the theatre in years - it is moving, thought-provoking but not at all heavy going.

Anyway, back to your actual question... I somewhat disagree with Attila on the benefits of a midtown location, especially if you've been before, but it depends on whether you want the bright lights big city type NY experience which you definitely get in midtown or whether you'd go for a quieter, quirkier one - soho, greenwich village or tribeca good for that. Either way it's really very easy to get around Manhattan so it doesn't matter that much where you stay. You won't spend that much time in your hotel anyway.

Well, if you're in Soho, there's pretty much all the shops you need right there and you can spend a good day just mooching around, window and actual shopping. You have to go to the Apple store and the Prada store down there because they're retail experiences.

Greenwich Village is also good for shops and pretending you're in Sex and the City.

Also you're not too far from the Statton Island Ferry which is the only thing you need to do to see the Statue of Liberty.

Go over to Brooklyn for a nice lunch by the water and the Woody Allen "Manhattan" view.

Uptown for shopping there's Bloomingdales and Saks of course (also a v g Bloomies in Soho) and you head further north to Barneys and go to Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.

If you want a spa treatment go to Bliss.

If you're going at the weekend, go to Central Park and hire bikes or roller blades on a Sunday.

Not too up on what's on at the theatre at the mo, but do try to go to a show.

Couple of good restaurants are Union Square Cafe and Gotham Bar and Grill.

Sorry, have just seen that you've been before so ignore sight-seeing bits in this post. But you should defo stay downtown if you haven't before: the Mercer, Soho Grand, 60 Thompson - all very cool

Brilliant thanks so much squeaver - getting all excited now

I agree with Squeaver - I used to live in SoHo and I would definitely stay downtown. The Mercer is great but not sure it works with your budget.

Midtown too bland and touristy. SoHo or the west village would both be great places to stay.

Am jealous!

thanks VW!

We are just back from NYC - we stayed at the Millenium Hilton - its right next to ground zero - so very downtown - but has fab subway links, and is walking distance to Soho/Greenwich etc. Its also 5 mins walk from Seaport which is lovely - its where the ferries go from, lovely shopping centre touristy type place.

We got a very good deal, £500ish for 3 nights, in a kingsize room with fab view, then ended up getting upgraded to a suite (it was our honeymoon) booked through lowcostbeds.com which also has quidco discount.

many thanks geordie - will look into that