Where to stay in NY

[Paddy1234]

Travelling over in middle of December
5 in our party, two adults and three children
Thinking of an Airbnb but not sure of the best location to get out and about
Can anyone give a few pointers ❤️

We went to NY in Jan 2018 and stayed in an air bnb in Harlem. We had a great time! Great subway link to central and lower Manhattan, some good bars and also so much cheaper than being downtown.

You can't get an Airbnb in NYC now unless the owner is there at the time or you're staying 30 days at least.

I know I have just read up on that - apart from booking.com are there any other sites?

@Paddy1234 I always switch between booking.com and expedia.co.uk

They tend to have different deals, but sometimes one is cheaper, and sometimes the other.

Stop spamming the boards @jadesamq. I've reported your posts to MNHQ.

We came back a couple of weeks ago, stayed in Brooklyn. Great location near the subway. About 25 minutes on the subway to most of the sights though of course a walk over the Brooklyn bridge is a must do anyway. We also took the ferry a couple of days which we really enjoyed - got off near Wall Street. The only downside was that with the length of the journey we tended to stay out all day and into the evening. There was the odd day when we all would have welcomed a bit of a breather but it just wasn't worth going back to the apartment.
And yes there are problems with Airbnb in Manhattan as we learned to our cost. We did book one but it got cancelled at the last minute (maybe he got busted), hence the replacement option in Brooklyn.

There are numerous posters on here who will tell you AirBnB is illegal in NY (which does include the borough's including Brooklyn) - that's partially but not at all completely true! NY is Air BnBs biggest market & there is an ongoing dispute between the two (which AirBnB is currently winning) but about 45% of apartments advertised on the site are deemed to be illegal (commercial lets by a landlord not living in the property). Legally the owner needs to live in the same building and there need to be three or less apartments.

It's a bit of a minefield but the cost of a nice apartment compared to a not very nice hotel room in Manhattan speaks for itself! We're flying out to NY next week and have a studio apartment in an upmarket area in Brooklyn for a great rate for 3 of us. It's through HomeAway - I spoke to their Legal team who have assured me that all their NY listings fall within the 'legal' let's (but then they would I guess!). I've also messaged the owner and she and her family live in the rest of the house.

Personally, I'd go for it as apartments win on the cost and comfort factor and to date NY State has only cracked down on the Owners flagrantly abusing the law and with multiple properties. But obviously it isn't without a small element of risk so do contact the Owner, double check the set up!

www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/1/9/18174095/airbnb-lawsuit-new-york-city

And no 're the 30 days rule - that's for Class A dwellings (i.e three or more apartments which are occupied by separate families). These are the properties that are illegal to let out under NY law. The properties such as the one we're renting out with less than three dwellings in one house are fine for lets less than 30 days!

We are a family of 5. We stayed in an Airbnb in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. Hosts were called Will and Jo - place was great - title is "luxurious brownstone duplex". It's about 5 min walk to the subway, 20 - 30 mins into Manhattan. Area was a bit quieter than expected - not as hip and upcoming as suggested - but it was winter and freezing!

Paddy, just in case you don’t have one in place, are you aware you need an ESTA? All info. Is here:
esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/