New York

[ShouldIbeEmbarrassed]

Looking to book 4/5 day break to New York, first time going so looking for some tips please, such as area to stay, hotel recommendations and mostly what sort of spends we would need each day for 2 adults and 2 teens. Thanks

I hate to piss on your parade but when you book make sure you get the ability to change your booking.

There is still a presidential proclamation in place banning the entry into the US of UK citizens.

Who knows if it will be lifted by October.

@SJaneS49 wtf?

"But there were plenty of people, such as yourself screaming ‘it’s completely illegal!"

I haven't said anything about it being completely illegal, because it isn't. It's risky though as there are many that are and get closed down. The only person here that could be accused of "screaming" is you. You don't need to repeat the law to me, I know it.

"I saw absolutely no reviews of a single person turfed out of their let. Not one."

Yeah, they don't leave those reviews up

Honestly, it happens. Much more than you clearly realise. And cooking meals and staying out in the sticks really isn't the "best" option for most people visiting NYC.

You have a fair point that if there were tourists chucked out of their lets, Home and Away might have removed them. However the 4 we looked at had virtually back to back reviews from renters on the reviews. So..

Essentially you were implying I was handing out dodgy advice, instead of the legally correct advice I did. Done properly (checking with owners, reading reviews,I even spoke to Home & Aways legal team) it’s a great option through a reputable company. Not one you’ll be taking obviously.

As for NY being cheap, where do you usually holiday? Scandinavia?!

Wow you are all fab, I've been writing down lots of the places you are all suggesting as good places to visit and the list is soooo long I'm already thinking we'll have to visit several times at this rate 😁

The discussion going on about Air B n B, whilst great info it was something we'd probably not look at anyway so whether it is or isn't illegal wouldn't matter to us but thank you for the info.

A couple of you have mentioned the issues surrounding whether we will actually even be allowed in to the US, again thank you and yes we are fully aware of that and will take it into account before we book or put things in place in case it's worst case scenario but let's be honest we all need something to look forward to and this is my families something to look forward to at some point in the hopefully not too distant future.

This might be good. Can I come too?

www.gpsmycity.com/gps-tour-guides/new-york-1915.html

Don’t forget to walk in Central Park. You might see people playing baseball too!

let's be honest we all need something to look forward to and this is my families something to look forward to at some point in the hopefully not too distant future

I totally agree! One of the few things that has kept me sane over the past year is planning a trip that we're hoping to do this summer ... fingers firmly crossed.

"Essentially you were implying I was handing out dodgy advice, instead of the legally correct advice I did. Done properly (checking with owners, reading reviews,I even spoke to Home & Aways legal team) it’s a great option through a reputable company. Not one you’ll be taking obviously.

As for NY being cheap, where do you usually holiday? Scandinavia?!"

I gave examples of why we found it cheap and what we ate. Many of the sights are free, public transport is easy and cheap, decent cheap food options are easy to come by.

That's a hell of a lot of faff you went to to stay outside of the city and have to travel in and out each day. Contacting legal teams? No thanks. I use air b&b but never in NYC. It's all good until it goes wrong and then it will complete ruin a trip.

As the OP doesn’t plan to use AirBnB or similar it’s all irrelevant really @denverRegina. Personally I thought it was a great option, Home & Away delivered exactly was promised - a legal and very stylish let. We’d happily do it again in full confidence. I don’t usually go to the lengths of contacting legal teams obviously & quite frankly wouldn’t have done it it wasn’t for various Mumsnetters insisting any apartment let was illegal, which of course isn’t the case. My replies were pretty strident - I’ve spent the last 5 day’s with my mum while my Dad is very ill in hospital and I’m tired out and grotty and apologise for that. Your initial comments on how lucky we were to get away with it and how silly it would be to contact owners to double check set ups did suggest i was suggesting something pretty dodgy though. Which frankly was not at all my experience or that of many others.

Anyway, apologies @ShouldIbeEmbarrassed for the AirBnB debacle! I would really recommend a stroll in the historic part of Brooklyn if you do go in October. Some of the household Halloween displays really are fantastic.

NYC isn’t cheap it really isn’t. It made Copenhagen seem positively frugal. There are not cheap places to eat on every corner as many of the places you go are touristy with tourist prices. The attractions are ££££££. We did the free stuff but wanted to do Ellis, Liberty Island museum and The Pedestal, Top of the Rock, The Met, Tenement, National History Museum some interesting places to eat....Most people don’t go to NYC just to do free stuff. Even Shake Shack for 5 was $60(£44), Top of the Rock for 5 is $290(£211) and a quick late afternoon add on. If you’re not self catering add on another attraction, dinner, subway, ice cream, drinks,house keeping tips snd tips for everything else and it’s ££££££.

Joe’s Pizza isn’t on every corner and even then is $8 a slice with a drink per head. And as for cheap supermarkets.....

I meant you got lucky, as in, you didn't get a dodgy one. It is well known in NYC that there are many illegal lets, my point was contacting the owner isn't really foolproof as if they are illegally letting they probably tell lies too.

Anyway, you're right, we've derailed the thread but I stand by my claims NYC can be cheap!

How?

I went with my two teens. We had a fab time. They loved the Starlight Diner. We used the passes and for us they did work out cheaper. Also gave us opportunities to do things we would not have considered - inc hiring a bike to cycle the route around Central Park. That was a highlight.

We did find it expensive. Not sure how local people in New York eat on a daily basis. No equivalent of M&S/Sainsbury's Local etc where you can grab a meal deal. Or obvious supermarkets. From what we could see anyway. And booze is incredibly pricey.

Have a brilliant time. Oh and make the most of the jet lag by getting to the obvious tourist places early, will save you a LOT of queuing time.

There are at least 2 wholefoods where you can pick up takeaway food.

And most of the sights aren’t free, far from it.

Whole foods makes Waitrose look cheap. X it by 5 and it’s £££&

We live in central London. Most places look ‘cheaper’ to us!

High line
Bryant park
Chelsea market
The vessel
Staten Island ferry
Brooklyn bridge
Central Park
Battery park
9/11 memorial
Charging Bull
Central station
New York Public Library
Ghostbusters firehouse
Friends apartment
SATC apartment
Coney Island boardwalk
Times Square
St Patrick's cathedral
MOMA on certain days
Chelsea galleries

All free.

There are so many cheap food options.

We liked Dunkin Donuts for breakfast or a bacon, egg and cheese from the street vendors. Generally around $15 total for the 4 of us.

There are pizza places everywhere but we never paid $8 a slice! At Joes it's less than $3 a slice.

East Broadway pizza was good and cost $1 dollar a slice. Two bros is good and again, it's a dollar.

Lunch deals are found all over but I'd recommend TriBeCa Tavern $10 dollar burger or sandwich and pint of beer.

Los Tacos no 1 in Chelsea market was around $3 each. Donuttery was good and cheap there too.

Wah Fung Fast Food in Chinatown always has a queue of locals outside. For a reason. Around $5 for a decent meal.

Carry chillys water bottles, all hotels have ice machines.

$15 for an hours boat hire in Central Park.

Like I said, once you start wanting to go up the Statue of Liberty, see several Broadway shows, go up all three viewing platforms then it will start to cost you.

Don't know where you bought your TOTR tickets because they're $38 dollars each. That's around £28.

It definitely doesn't make Copenhagen look frugal! You won't get a dollar slice there!

I don't really understand why you'd be shopping at Whole Foods whilst in NYC either but we did get a few bottles of beer for the room and some snacks.

We went to a Food Mart though, not Whole Foods. Reasonable prices there for the little bits we needed.

I think it's all about prior preparation and planning.

Sign up to the Nathan's Famous newsletter and you'll get coupons for dollar dogs and sides etc. Good if you plan to visit Coney Island but they also have vendors in other locations.

Korea town is good for cheap eats too at decent quality.

Judge Roy Bean has a lunch special until 5. Really good wings and sliders. With alcoholic drinks and tip our bill came to $36 for 4 of us.

But I wouldn’t want to do half of that and wanted to do what we did which was £££. I didn’t pay a fortune for flights and hotel to waste a day to schlep over to Coney Island just to walk on a board walk and ignore attractions along said board walk or to look at a cathedral or ghostbusters firehouse....

Joe’s pizza with a topping is over$6 a slice.

Don’t like Donuts for breakfast.

You need to be in tight place for $1 pizza, we never saw them or lunch deals. $10 per head not cheap anyway.

Donuttery is yet more doughnuts. Chelsea Market was heaving, too busy to eat and bar your tacos $$$$$.

Didn’t want to do China Town this time.

Top of the Rock £28+£10 at sunset x 5 $$$$ imvho

Was cheaper in Copenhagen -hot dog stands v cheap and nice, fab supermarket, buffet restaurants v cheap, small enough to walk and most we wanted to do bar Tivoli which you can do at night cheaper was actually free.

I’m the queen of prior planning and trying to save money but you can’t plan your every move and actually need to do what you want to do snd not make economising rule your trip.

Dunkin donuts don't just sell donuts! I had coffee and a cheese savoury.

There really are dollar slice places everywhere. Just because you didn't see them doesn't mean they aren't there.

A slice with a topping at Joes is $3.75.

Just because you didn't want to do any of the things I listed (which seems a little strange as they are many of the most popular sights in the city) doesn't mean you couldn't have.

But then the fact you don't find just over £7 a head for a hot meal with a beer or soft drink cheap means you're version of ££££ are different to my version of ££££

Having an itinerary doesn't mean "economising rules my trip"

We could've afforded to eat in high end places had we wanted to. We preferred to take it into the park though and Chelsea market wasn't heaving at all. Maybe we picked a good day

Joe’s Pizza is $2.75 +$3.50 for a topping

You need to add tips on top of your $7 a head we never saw. NYC is huge hardly surprising we rarely saw dollar slice places. Also it’s exhausting, often you need to sit down to eat.

Your list missed out the major attractions, museums, galleries, shops and the type of places you’d want to eat and experience on holiday. All of which are $$$$$$

We did some free stuff alongside the expensive stuff. Self catered and planned to the nth degree, it was still $$$$$.

Ok that's fine. Your dollars are getting longer 😂

Honestly, I've given plenty of examples of great things to see and do in the city. If you don't want to do them don't, my point stands that it can be surprisingly cheap.

You wanted to go shopping. That's great. The last thing I want to do on holiday is shop. I'm there to see new places and sights. Some people are there to shop. Good for them. As I said, that's when it gets pricey.

It's easy to find cheap pizza (for anyone that wants one ). You simply open google maps wherever you are and type "pizza". You don't need to itinerise the life out of it but I think it's great if it helps anyone on a budget be able to visit!

Hotels have ice for ice buckets . Usually ice machine down the corridor. We bought milk and cereal for breakfasts in local corner shop. (There are some) individual cereal in disposable bowls) and cheese for sandwiches . Kept milk and cheese in ice bucket overnight. Asked reception for kettle which they supplied.

Big apple greeter was great book in advance.

Let your teens research and plan.

Security queues for staten Island ferry were very long.

On off bus tour ticket good for overview