Planning a trip to new york this year - advice on which area to stay in

[Humphriescushion]

Hello, I am going to be brave and book flights to new york shortly ( scared of flying!). Where would you recommend in New York? Areas, hotels etc.

Also go with BA or virgin? We may book the whole trip with virgin - if the price adds up - anyone done this.

Any advice at all welcome - this will be our only holiday this year so want to get it right. Thanks

i stayed just off times sq on 8th ave at the holiday inn - for me the location was perfect, close to a subway station for easyiness and walkable distance to a lot of the things i wanted to see ie central park, times sq
the hotel was fine, it was clean and price was ok considering we pretty much slept in it
we booked the flights and hotel seperately as it was part of a bigger trip

Thanks Chips, I will put it on the list.

We stayed just off Times Sq also. Went with Virgin - brilliant 5 day break. An absolute must is Ground Zero - a cab ride away.

Stay in manhattan then ypu are close to everything.

We stayed next to Grand Central station which turned out to be a fab location.

Thanks everyone, have provisionally booked somewhere near Tribeca. Any other tips? Restaurants, bars, etc. Is it a pain getting from JFK to the centre?
Advice would be welcome.

If you have no mobility issues then Manhattan is very walkable, and easy to find your way around as it's set up in a grid system. Tribeca is in the lower part of Manhattan so accessible for everywhere!

We had a prebooked cab from JFK to our hotel (but there were 6 of us). What time of year are you going?

We bought a CityPass which saved us a lot of money, it gave us admission to all the sights as well as the HopOn/HopOff Bus.

No mobility problems Sidge. Thanks for advice about city pass. We are going in June ( I am planning ahead!). Can you remember how much the cab was? And I was wondering about being stuck in traffic.

Umm I think the cab was about $80, can't remember exactly! Traffic was fine but we did arrive late in the evening.

Pack good footwear - you will walk A LOT! Plan to do ESB and TOTR etc first thing in the morning or in the evening, the queues are horrendous during the day.

Have a great time - I loved NYC!

You will be right in the middle of things in Tribeca. Great spot. Enjoy, it is soooo awesome!

The yellow cab from JFK is $57 plus tolls to Manhattan so about $70ish. It's a fixed price and there's a little staffed queue outside the terminal.

Yellow cabs from JFK to Manhattan are a set price. Used to be $70 but I haven't been for about 5 years now, so could have gone up a bit. There is a queue just outside arrivals. No need to book, there are always plenty available.

Oh thanks everyone. This is a big event for me since I hate flying so am already girding my loins - but you are all inspiring me and I am starting to really look forward to it.

June is a great time to go to NY - lovely weather. Be prepared to walk around a lot - but it's worth it. The Statten Island Ferry is free and gives you a great view of the Statue of Liberty and the City. Although if you want to go up the Statue book in advance. Last time we just went up to the Pedestal and that was good - from memory the stairs up to the crown are very narrow!

A walk around Central Park is fun and you could eat at Sarabeths just by it - might need to book in advance.

We stayed at hotel Hugo in soho. I really hated time square so good for us, still easy to get around on foot / subway / uber but a bit of a different vibe to the area and lots of nice bars / shops close by.

Thanks Mrs and Buster will bear in mind.
Anyone any experience of BA over Virgin?

We flew BA and it was fine. Actually, better than fine - the cabin crew were hilarious and kept us well supplied with booze! (6 middle aged women going to NYC for a 40th celebration).

The aircraft was clean and well stocked and the inflight entertainment was good. Flight was on time. Be prepared for a hell of a wait at immigration though; it took us an hour and forty minutes to get to baggage. And don't forget your ESTA!

I've flown both BA and Virgin in the past few years. Honestly, not a huge amount of difference between them - I'd go for whoever has the better price and flight times. Don't forget there are several airports in NYC and the UK so make sure you know which one you are going to and from!

Ok thanks both, not much better them, will go for the best price and times that suit us. In the past I have always found BA v good and reassuring ( v bad flyer) but the last few times I have used they were not so good. This was short haul though.

Again both much of muchness for me too. One thing, we booked on ba in Dec and booked t5 Heathrow parking accordingly. When we could actually check in turns out it was American Airlines operating the flight and therefore went out of T3! But of a pain but hey ho! AA were also pretty much the same as ba / virgin.

Check the flight codes to make sure it does not start with AA and starts with VS or BA if you don't want to fly with AA.

Annoyingly the original booking did not give flight numbers!