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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

New York

172 replies

ShouldIbeEmbarrassed · 11/04/2021 16:43

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

OP posts:
CampV1bes · 13/04/2021 20:43

Nope didn’t want to shop till we dropped. Did want to buy the kids sweets in Dylan’s Candy store and a few tiny souvenirs along the way. All v expensive.

The thing with typing in pizza is you will still need to walk a fair bit to find your $1 pizza and actually after trying it once would rather broaden my horizons a bit having paid a fair bit to get there.

All for doing a few cheap activities but not ignoring activities we all wanted to do and were part of the reason for going.

Lkjhgfdsap · 13/04/2021 20:43

I think I saw it mentioned briefly somewhere already in the thread but I need to draw your attention to Ellen’s Stardust Diner. You are likely to need to queue for a few hours and you might question if this is worth it...it totally is! You basically get a free show while you’re eating dinner-the waiters/waitresses sing and dance while they serve you. Sounds cheesy and it is but it’s such a fun experience. Check out the website and think they have some YouTube links on there.

Also, the Levain bakery near Central Park does the most incredible cookies (again you might need to queue, but this usually goes down quickly and then you can enjoy your hot cookies in the park).

www.ellensstardustdiner.com/

Embracelife · 13/04/2021 20:44

It was this small supermarket on 6th avenue
Ernest Klein & Co's Gourmet Food
1366 6th Ave, New York, NY 10019, United States
We got good deal o n hilton midtown thru British Airways
No complaints
Very good location

Embracelife · 13/04/2021 20:44

Look out for happy hour

cyclingmad · 13/04/2021 20:48

When I went I planned my days by areas because I knew travelling up and down wastes time so for example

  1. I wanted to see central park and cycle round it. So I planned most of my day in that area doing everything else nearby including places to eat.

  2. 9/11, the last bookstore etc. Is all downtown so I planned a day around spending my time just in downtown

Etc.

Obv you can do half day or whole days but saved me so much time not having to go up and down back n forth on the subway.

Think of it like London getting from one end to the other is almost 40mins to an hour.

putcarpetdown · 13/04/2021 20:56

Has anyone mentioned The Tenement Museum? It’s great, our teens really enjoyed it. Good gift shop too.

You’ll have a great time!

denverRegina · 13/04/2021 21:06

"All for doing a few cheap activities but not ignoring activities we all wanted to do and were part of the reason for going."

As I said, that's great. But your insistence that it has to cost a fortune and your incredulity that anyone suggests it doesn't have to be is just odd and isn't helpful for those who might be on a budget.

Not everyone wants to holiday the way you do and that's ok, no need to get angry with people who do it differently.

We went on to several different places as it was part of a month long trip and splashed out elsewhere, for somewhere like NYC though we found the cheap eats were great and served us well.

denverRegina · 13/04/2021 21:09

Grouping activities together is a must! Or you'll be zig zagging all over.

Has anyone mentioned a food tour? Ziggy does a good one (you'll find him over on the TA forums).

The Roosevelt Island tram hasn't been mentioned yet either I don't think.

Check out Bryant park website for what's on. Nice place to sit with a drink and a pretzel in the evenings.

CampV1bes · 13/04/2021 21:09

Not angry just a bit Hmm that anybody can say NYC is cheap. If I’d read your posts before we went we’d have had a nasty surprise.

denverRegina · 13/04/2021 21:12

Only because you weren't prepared for holidaying on a budget.

I've actually named the places you can get good deals. I've named places that are free. I've told you how to easily find them. I can't walk you to them as well.

Google maps is your friend in New York. Not least for the subway. Really handy.

The city can be cheap. It doesn't have to be and it won't be if you don't plan well.

CampV1bes · 13/04/2021 21:17

We planned very well. We wanted to do what we wanted to do not what you wanted to do. What we wanted to do wasn’t free.

We used Google maps and were travelling in the US with 3 teens on a budget for 6 weeks as we’ve done in several countries. We know how to budget and plan thanks.

cyclingmad · 13/04/2021 21:24

Also plan it so its flexible e.g. I had 3 days and I could flex my days based on the weather. So I had originally decided to do Central Park on a Monday but I woke up and itd turned into a rainy day, so I just swapped my day with another.

This of course can only really work if you haven't needed to prebook activities

denverRegina · 13/04/2021 21:26

Crikey, I've hit a nerve obviously.

I'm not lying. It was very affordable doing it the way we did Confused and easy to use google maps to find what we needed nearby within budget.

Very very surprised that you cited Whole Foods as if it's the only supermarket there is when you've done a 6 week stint in the states on a budget.

AOwlAOwlAOwl · 13/04/2021 21:40

Go see some sport - basketball or ice hockey in one of the big arenas - MSG if you can
Would totally recommend booking a tour of the UN building (they even stamp your passport!)
You can also visit the Federal reserve but tickets are super popular and I couldn't manage to book any for our trip.
Ellis island museum is also worth going to.
One of the big art museums deffo.
On the whole, I didn't love the food. Apart from a pizza in Brooklyn, a reuben from a jewish deli and a little Punjabi canteen that served food as good as you'd find in Birmingham, it was mostly very forgettable.

MNOverinvestor · 13/04/2021 21:59

Some hotels, like the Moxy and the Ace have bunk rooms that can work out really well, value-wise.

Original poster
ShouldIbeEmbarrassed · 13/04/2021 22:03

Embracelife the Hilton Midtown is looking good at the minute to us, so good to hear you mention it.

One of the things I'm finding is all hotels have 2 x double beds and we'd prefer I double & 2 single

OP posts:
CampV1bes · 13/04/2021 22:26

No Whole Foods not only supermarket, Morton Williams only supermarket anywhere near our hotel and even more pricey. We used Trader Joe’s cheaper but not cheap and involved lugging groceries on subway as not near hotel.

Embracelife · 13/04/2021 22:28

@ShouldIbeEmbarrassed

Embracelife the Hilton Midtown is looking good at the minute to us, so good to hear you mention it.

One of the things I'm finding is all hotels have 2 x double beds and we'd prefer I double & 2 single

Not sure why you would prefer a single and double? ? What difference does it make?
denverRegina · 13/04/2021 22:32

"Not sure why you would prefer a single and double? ? What difference does it make?"

Presumably because the teens want a bed each rather than sharing if possible. Not easy to find in the US.

denverRegina · 13/04/2021 22:36

The RIU Plaza definitely have a 3 bed option though

AnneElliott · 13/04/2021 22:39

I agree that BA do some good hotel deals - we stayed at the Waldorf Astoria.

One place we loved was the US Intrepid which is a military museum but also has the Enterprise ship at the top. Had a great day there.

Umbongoumbongo999 · 13/04/2021 22:42

We took our teens 14 and 16 pre-covid. We stayed three nights and then took flights down to Miami for a further week.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Midtown, we were trying to keep accommodation costs down as we knew we'd be out most of the day.
The accommodation was fine. We had a high floor and the views were amazing

We booked one of the New York passes that allows you to choose a number of attractions flexibly over 1,2, 3, 5 or 7 days. We really enjoyed top of the rock, more than Empire State. We saw Hamilton on Broadway on the matinee then Book of Mormon on the evening. I pre booked with an attraction tickets site and we got front row seats both times. Even ds enjoyed BoM and he really is not a musical theater fan.

I thought food was expensive, although we did a couple of deli places (inc Dean and DeLucas) and also food carts for hotdogs in C Park. Sometimes we just wanted to sit down for an hour as on our feet for so much of the day. The coffee places downtown were constantly packed and really a struggle to get a seat. Some of the restaurants and cafes were really dirty. I saw toilets in Starbucks that would make you cry. Not my experience of travelling elsewhere in the US.

The kids were naturals on the subway, hoods up and on their phones!

We did the open top bus tours over a couple of days, cheesy as it was it was a great way to cover the major sites and actually had really good/funny commentary.

Times Square is overrated, full of scammers trying to swindle tourists. Do not stop and gave your picture taken with a giant Mario. They will hound you til you pay them. The cops are everywhere and totally wise to the scam artists/beggars/hustlers.

My teens loved the shopping. Sportswear for DS, custom made Converse and BTS memorabilia for DD. Its a great city to travel with teens and I was surprised by how intrepid my dcs were. They were glad to flop on beach for the next week though!

Original poster
ShouldIbeEmbarrassed · 13/04/2021 22:49

Embracelife exactly what denverRegina has said, my teens don't want to share a bed so that's why we'd prefer a double bed and 2 single beds

OP posts:
cyclingmad · 13/04/2021 22:53

When it comes to hotels just pick location and whats is bare minimum comfort you need. You will hardly be in it. I was up and out early and came back late, actually only used it to sleep and shower in.

Newnormal99 · 14/04/2021 06:52

@ShouldIbeEmbarrassed

That's the issue I have as well! I rang BA and they said to get a shortlist of 3/4 hotels from their website abs then call them to make the booking and they could go through the rooms on the phone. I think they mentioned it was mainly the chains that had them at a reasonable price.

I think my top contender at moment in the Hilton midtown as long as I can get a triple room. I'm just trying to weigh up cost of hotel vs desire for separate beds for my DD's!

Looking on booking.com some of the triple room options were so expensive!

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