New York- where to stay

[Fedupnagging]

Dh and I are going to New York for a week in October and dh has decided he'd rather stay in an apartment rather than an hotel - this is fine with me btw. He thinks we'll see more of the real New York especially if we don't stay in Times Square.

So, just wondering which area we should stay in? My criteria is near subway, lots of nice bars and restaurants and fairly central. We've looked at places in Hells Kitchen, Greenwich Village and Westside.

Any advice would be great.

Don't stay on the UES - there is only one subway line so a) it's very crowded and b) it's often quite far from where you're staying.

Nice areas to stay include Greenwich/West/East village/SoHo in the downtown area, or the UWS. The bits in between (Chelsea, Midtown, etc) are very concrete, very busy, lots of offices, etc. They're good for shopping and wandering, not so good for staying. And don't stay in or near Times Square - it's really busy, noisy, crazy - and not nice at all. The UWS has Central Park and lots of restaurants and there are roads though the park that take you to the museums on 5th Ave.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.nyctourist.com/images/maps/map_hoods4.gif&imgrefurl=www.nyctourist.com/map1.htm&h=501&w=260&sz=46&tbnid=AgxeCumkebTNFM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=47&zoom=1&usg=__SHB-oquVpTQS_iyuxG9kmr-CzeU=&docid=BpwwPq1QjDgWyM&sa=X&ei=bzSXUYmII_S00QWToYGwBg&ved=0CEYQ9QEwAw&dur=49" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This Map shows the various areas of NYC I'm referring to.

Thanks for that Juneau.

Also wondering if anyone has used the website Airbnb to book their apartments? There are loads on there and really good prices.

It is a myth to think you would see more of the real city if you were to stay in an apartment. The reality is you could too easily get scammed and you will not see that money again.

Short term subletting of apartments for holidaymakers in NYC has been illegal for the last couple of years even though such lets are offered on many websites. Many are certainly fraudulent in nature and are set up by scammers.

Many people have and are falling prey to scammers who con the unwary and uninformed!. Re price, if it looks too good to be true it likely is. Do not get conned, stay in a hotel instead.

Midtown is a good area to stay in.

personally i wouldnt stay in an apartment, have heard lots of horror stories re bedbugs

dh and i went in february and stayed at the wellington, its in between times square and central park, so location is amazing

it was basic but clean and comfortable, and really cheap, iirc was about $500 for whole week. and you got breakfast included

Sounds like we need to do more research!

Will look for some feedback/ reviews on the apartment website. Maybe if anyone has any experience of renting an apartment they could let me know?

Will have another look at hotels too.

yes watch out for bedbugs they are endemic

I have used Airbrb a couple of times ....Croatia and New York both amazing experiences and I suppose I was fortunate because each time I was the first person to stay (and they were both genuine - there are scammers on there).... I stayed in an apartment in Little Italy for 3 nights (Easter this year) ... It was rented by an English Lady who now lives in NY she has another home too... It worked well for us interesting area...didnt really like the canal street area which was south but a few minutes walk took us up to Soho and we were on a good subway link that took us both uptown and downtown (apartment was 5* with wifi and lovely bathroom NO bedbugs). We stayed near Time Square in The Milford (under refurbishment) but good value for money...see Travelzoo... the last night we stayed in Yotel and loved it - amazing hotel very clean great reviews...the bedrooms are mainly VERY HIGH UP...so no noise free muffins /coffee each morning and a kitchen on each floor where there is free coffee/tea/hot choco and a fridge and microwave... Its 2/3 blocks from Time Square and great for getting the subway (very near bus station too where you can get a cheap coach to and from the airports)... If I was to go again I would probably look to stay up near Central Park because I loved the area...but the Yotel will give you the opportunity to do up and downtown.... Tips... Converse shop on Broadway very cheap...but if you buy one pair you get a voucher for 20% off the next pair...
Airbnb - look at the reviews.... Union Square is also worth looking at very central....There is a hotel I think its called The Seafarers (will check name - which my friend stayed in and was really good and well priced).

That's great, lottysmum, thanks for all the information.

Am aware that there are scammers around-they all look very plausible though so it's difficult to tell if they are genuine or not .

Will keep looking!

we got screwed by a very plausible looking site, Feelnyc. check out the TripAdvisor threads on this before going further if I were you

This is why scammer techniques can work on the unwary; it is because they all look plausible on these websites. Some addresses that are given along with photos are of properties whose pictures are in completely different locations.

Renting an apartment in NYC short term without falling foul of the many myriad and varied laws governing such things is nigh on impossible and many people have and are still being scammed. Short term lets are actually illegal in many apartment blocks.

Honestly, you'd be better off staying in a hotel instead. At least then you will not run the risk of being kicked out or arrive at a property where the owner has to turn you away because their property has been used by a scammer. That has also happened to some.

Sorry you've fallen foul of scammers Carla and Attila - must make you very suspicious of everyone.

We have used owners direct for years and have booked a place in Portugal in August. Have heard recently of owners having their email addresses hacked so the renter is then dealing- and paying the scammer. Horrendous. Am hoping this doesn't happen to us.

Am now thinking of a hotel instead! Would maybe take the chance if the costs involved were not so high!

What's your budget? We looked in to an apartment (I like the freedom of self catering), but once we read about all the scams, and the fact that it's illegal we went for a hotel. We stopped here for about £215 per night (good for NYC anyway very good for such a luxurious hotel) and it was AMAZING. The complimentary cheese and wine from 5pm - 7pm was lovely and it was central enough to be close to everything but not mega touristy. Even if you can only afford a couple of nights here but cheaper for the rest of the time I'd recommend it!

I was warned about the scams beforehand so have never fallen foul of scammers.

I stayed at the Distrikt Hotel near Times Square was great, but if you don't want to be near Times Square maybe not for you, I enjoyed the location, very quiet and central for sightseeing.

yeah we were about 5 minutes walk from times square, it wasn't noisy at all but still really central

am jealous....i want to go back!

Thanks for your replies everyone. We are now just looking at clean hotels!

Mrscog, your hotel looks fab but is about $400 a night when we want to go .

Hopefully we will find some time this weekend to look properly.