New York with children

[Frazzled74]

We want to go for 1 week in October, are there any fairly budget hotels with a pool? Which areas should I look at staying in? I’m happy to be on the outskirts and travel in but only if it’s quite safe and not going to cost a fortune in travel. I’m only just starting to look into this trip so any advice is appreciated.

What is your ideal budget per night?. NYC is not cheap to stay in generally speaking and is an all year round destination for travellers these days.

Would consider staying in Manhattan itself rather than travelling in.

The Sheraton at New York Times Square has an indoor pool but NYC hotels generally do not have pools or indoor swimming pools due to space constraints. Is having a pool a real necessity here?.

No, I was thinking it might be nice to relax in a pool after sightseeing but I can see now that a pool is massively out of budget. Are there any areas I should avoid staying? I’m looking to spend up to £2000 for 10 nights hotel accommodation. I am now wondering if we should do a 10 day trip, 5 nights in new york and 5 nights somewhere else, slightly less hectic and possibly cheaper,we would need to travel by train . Has anybody any suggestions?

Try Pod51 or similar for decent and affordable accommodation in Manhattan. No pool, but a nice rooftop with city views.

We're going to New York at Easter with our DS who is 8 so watching with interest. I've been lots but never with children and I don't think I'd advise going for 10 nights as it's completely exhausting (and massively expensive)
We tried to book a hotel with a pool but it was too expensive plus many hotel pools are outdoors and only open in the summer. We've booked the Barclay Intercontinental next to Grand Central Terminal. It's a big, spacious hotel. Lots of the hotels in Manhattan have small rooms so we wanted something bigger and more comfortable.

I have travelled into NY by train twice. Once from Boston and once from Long Island and that actually involved a change of train and it was a horrible journey. Boston was a two city holiday and we enjoyed that!

I would stay in NY or Brooklyn with children. I’m not sure commuting would be any fun at all. You could look for other areas such as The Hudson Valley but that won’t be cheap either! Better explored with a car as well. You could do both if funds will stretch.

New York to Boston is a nice journey by train and Amtrak are about to introduce seat booking which will be an improvement. The express trains only have business class and first class and are very comfortable, with good food on board compared to a UK train.

Boston is less busy than New York but I'm not sure hotel prices are very much lower. You could easily say out of the centre, preferably near a T station, which would cost less, the T is a flat fare of (I think) $2.25 per person. In Boston Aibnb is fine, so you could get an apartment.

In New York we recently stayed in the RUI Plaza, which is just off Times Square, quite new, very good service and a great breakfast. No pool. We paid about £110 for a room with two double beds including breakfast, but that was the beginning of February so pretty off peak.

The hotels are sooo expensive! I have found a hostel in midtown so far that meets the budget and in Manhattan! Would Brooklyn be too hard work? I think 5 nights will be enough in New York , would Long Island be worth visiting for a few nights?

Hotels in New York generally don't have pools.
I personally would stay in manhattan you don't want to be faffing with travelling in and out every day.
We combined new York with Mexico but it was an expensive option.
New York is amazing but exhausting so I'd make your 2nd destination somewhere you can relax.

No. Don’t go to Long Island. We stayed with friends but it’s not really a holiday location to tag onto NY. It’s mostly commuter towns and beach communities to escape from NY during the hot summer months.

Autumn is expensive in NY. The weather is ok for sightseeing and it’s pretty! Half term will never be cheap. Brooklyn is ok as long as you stay near a station to get you into Manhattan. You could try Queens or Harlem too. I have not stayed in either of these areas though but others might have done.

I would say 5 nights is fine. If you advise us of your budget, posters might have some suggestions.

I’ve had a quick look for the end of October and there’s quite a lot for below £1500. I searched on www.booking.com and applied the sort facility for highest rated/best value. Some highly rated establishments came up in Harlem buts its connected by the subway. Like many areas it is now gentrified I believe. There are also several decent rated hotels in Manhattan but you might need to look at Hells Kitchen, Upper East Side and TriBeCa. If you want super cheap it won’t be very good! I’m assuming there’s 4 of you so budgeting for £250 a night is necessary and most won’t offer breakfast for that. You need to budget for all meals. NY isn’t a budget friendly destination.

Bubbles, what about montauk though?it looks restful and holidayish ,although I know most restaurants ,shops will be shut for the winter. I will have another look on booking.com.
Options so far are 1)3 nights Manhattan, 4 nights Montauk, 3 nights Brooklyn.
2)5 nights Brooklyn , 5 nights Boston
Ideally we want 5 city sightseeing days and then 5 days to be more chilled and less expensive, budget is £2000 for flights and other transport, £2000 accommodation and £2000 spending.
Thank you for all the advice and suggestions so far, please keep them coming.

How many will you be in total? I stayed in a double double (so sleeps 4) in Manhattan between Times Square and Meatpackers - first time 2 of us, second time 3. Not sure of the cost as we got flights included but i reckon less than a grand for 5 nights.

Sorry I meant to say there will be 4 of us.

Search up double doubles - obviously rates differ in different hotels, but that's probably the cheapest option?

How old are dc? I personally wouldn’t consider doing it with the under elevens. It is so packed, frantic, totally full on and busy everywhere (we have a house in london so we are used to very busy cities) and I am not sure they will truly appreciate it until they are older. Not sure you will either keeping young kids safe.

New York is super expensive and very hectic - 5 nights is probably the max with kids. Look at going to upstate New York perhaps to somewhere with a pool and grounds to explore for the second half. We did 3 nights and it was plenty with younger kids

They are 14 and 7. They are used to London , it is more for the older one but I think the 7 year old will enjoy most of it, she’s pretty good at fitting in with our plans as long as she gets a few rests and ice creams.
I’m interested in upstate New York ? Have you got any specific place suggestions?

Def 3/4 nights max in that case. 14 year old will love it 😍 7 year old will enjoy cruise, Statue of Liberty and rickshaws hurtling through the streets. Central Park to let off steam. Take both light clothes and warm clothes it was (unexpectedly) roasting in October when we there last.
We always stay at the W. It is central and cool, great staff and beds to die for.

I went last October and stayed in an Air B&B in New Jersey. It was great and I loved going ‘home’ at the end of the day. If you stay in Hoboken it’s so very easy and cheap to get the train. Or you can get the ferry over.

I loved every second of it.

Join the ‘NYC the place to be’ Facebook group.

Look at attraction passes (I bought an Explorers pass from Travel Republic which was the cheapest I found. Also look on Groupon).

Going at the end of Oct you’ll get the Halloween and some Xmas decorations. (Think the Rockerfella tree goes up right after Halloween).

In upstate New York, check out the Mohunk Mountain House. Not cheap, but really great for families.

We took the DC to NYC and did 4 nights followed by 5 nights Florida (the flights were really reasonable) but Florida might be a bit hectic for you if you're looking to relax. We had been to Florida before so we just went to a couple of parks and water parks rather than Disney.

Yearinyearout that’s funny because I’ve just priced up super cheap flights and hotel in Orlando for 6 nights, but park tickets are so expensive. I’m just wondering if we could go to one and spend the rest of the time relaxing by the pool,? Ithink I would prefer to stay nearer to New York though.
Twingygirl the Mohonk Mountain House looks amazing but out of my price range.
New Jersey is also a good option, thank you O4FS and springwalk for the tips.

We have just come back from NYC, it was me, DH, DD1(11) and DD2(9).
We stayed at the New Yorker Hotel in a New Yorker Suite which had a lounge area with a pull out sofa bed and 2 double beds in the bedroom.
The hotel is right across the road from penn Station/Madison square gardens so pretty much in the middle of things but still quiet. It’s about a 10 minute walk from Times Square, broadway and 25 minute walk to Central Park.
We bought city passes as that covered all the things that we wanted to do, but do think about what you really want to do and look up the cheapest way to do it beforehand.
We walked most places as we didn’t want to miss out on anything but the subway costs $2.75 per person per ride so could mount up.
Food is expensive and we kept forgetting to add tax so was more and then there is tips as well.
We booked through travel republic and got a good deal £2000 for 4nights room only and return flights with Virgin.
We were lucky enough to be able to travel on the Friday as we had an inset day, it would have been £3000 on the Saturday.
February is the cheapest time of year to go as the weather is unpredictable but we were lucky as it wasn’t too cold until our last full day there when it was -3.

Thanks Rainbow, I will look at that hotel.

Make sure you have some tip money.
It’s expected in America
Also, as others have said , some prices don’t include tax, so make sure you ask.
New York is amazing, but definitely hectic