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

Do look at Affinia Gardens with BA and see if it’s in your budget.It’s opposite a massive hospital and the rooms are often used for patients to recover( I guess it’s cheaper than staying in hospital). The rooms/ suites are massive and the sofa bed is very comfortable. We had a 1 bedroom apartment suite with BA. Our twin teen boys were happy sharing one of the beds in the bedroom( they’re huge), we had the other and dd had the sofa bed in the lounge for a week which she loved as she had her own TV. TV also in bedroom. There is also a pull out chair you can sleep in. There is a dining area the other end of the lounge and a great fully stocked kitchen( massive fridge, proper oven) in another room. Dd could carry on sleeping whilst we made breakfast, sat and ate in dining area. It’s in Upper East side. Lovely staff and Central Park is walkable. Free hotel bikes to use.

Thanks Newnormal99 I'll try BA for that as well, Hilton Midtown is also the one we keep coming back to.

CampV1pes I'll definitely have a look at that hotel as that seems a good set up thank you.

My teens are DD/DS hence them wanting separate beds.

I'm afraid that my teen boys, then 19 & 15 did put up with sharing a queen ? size bed. But they were content with that decision as it meant we got a Central Park location.

Do speak to the BA staff on the phone but do your research on hotels individually. With Affinia Gardens the Junior Suite sleeps 6 but has 2 double beds and the sofa bed in one room. The 1 bedroom apartment also sleeps 6 but has the 2 double beds in a separate bedroom. The pics below are of the lounge in the apartment we had and the junior suite with it all in one room. Booking on phone with BA is much better. Flight times make a huge difference and we could tell them our research which they looked into. It didn’t come up when I tried to book it online. They worked hard to get the cheapest deal and I think reserved it. Ring with a few in mind.

This has been a really useful thread, thank you OP, and I too like to have something to look forward to and plan.
We were planning to go to New York this summer but are now obviously putting it back to next year. Also going with two teens. Good to hear the tip to telephone BA holidays directly. TUI and BA do seem to have the best deals. Thank you to @CampV1bes for the tip on Affinia Gardens hotel. I'd found Hotel Beacon as that has suites with a kitchenette for a reasonable price but Affinia looks worth checking out too.

Thanks @CampV1bes

I need to go back and confirm my shortlist. I cannot book my dates until Monday and sale Ends Thursday I think so I need to be ready to book as won't have much time after. I have had a couple of quotes from elsewhere (although a couple did include a second destination) I'm just not sure how much price will jump for Easter holidays hence not being able to do final shortlist. I will probably look Saturday / Sunday with a shorter duration to get an idea.

I will look up the affinia - I remember seeing that one in the list.

Thanks

We saved loads in the BA deal. We got car hire for the whole 6 weeks so cheap. Enjoy! I’m so jealous. Starting to work out our next big trip, will be a while.Tempted to do the same all again.😂

@CampV1bes

Sorry one other question!

I had discounted affina gardens due to location as was looking at mid town / chelsea area as it seems like a lot of what I want to do would be bottom end of manhattan.

Was it a pain to get places or did you just cab / subway it anyway so didn't matter?

How long was it to walk to midtown area?

Were there plenty of cheap eats places around for breakfast dinner etc?

The Roxy is great for Lower Manhattan. You'd have to check the beds situation.

Either way, as long as you group your sightseeing by location travel around Manhattan itself is easy and cheap via public transport.

"One of the things I'm finding is all hotels have 2 x double beds"

That is the standard configuration of hotel rooms in the US. Single sized beds that are commonplace in the UK are not seen in the US in hotels. If you want more beds and/or more space you need to look at suite based hotels.

We took the subway as there is a really good subway station just yards from the hotel. Says it would take 36 minutes walking to Midtown( not sure what bit you’d be interested in). Not sure I’d want to walk in order to conserve energy.

Re eating out due to self catering we weren’t looking for places to eat nearby. The kids used to nip out for breakfast on their own( nice safe area)but it was McDonald's etc. We had specific places elsewhere we wanted to eat in so weren’t really looking for places near hotel. Also we were so tired at the end of each day it was nice to flop and cook. We ate out mostly at lunchtime bar Carmines which was easy to get to on subway. Google and see what comes up.

There is a useful albeit extortionate supermarket very near. Useful for bits like milk. Kids used to pop across to buy ice cream for after tea.

@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

That's normal for the USA and usually you can just ask for an extra bed to be put in the room, which is a folding bed, but it's fine for young DC. As you have two teens though you might find it's not sufficient and NYC hotel rooms tend to be smaller than in other places so an extra bed might make the room really cramped.

We stayed at Radio City Apartments one time, which has 2-bed apartments with a double in one and two twins in the other. I appreciate if you're looking for a package that probably won't be possible, but see if you can find a suite or apartment hotel. Yotel has rooms with a double + bunks, although again that might not work with older DC. If you're looking to book with BA or Virgin holidays though, call them and discuss what you want.

www.radiocityapartments.com/
www.yotel.com/en/hotels/yotel-new-york

We tried to get the 2 bed Radio City but it had gone. Was really glad we were in a quieter place when we saw Times Square.

We were looking closely at Yotel too. Can’t remember why we went for Affinia in the end. The Yotel with the big rooms might not have been with BA.

We for a good deal at the Park Lane - opposite/ overlooking the bottom end of the park. The first time we stayed we managed a room that you could look at the park and the cityscape (it was on a corner).

We're staying at the Hilton Midtown too! I researched loads of places and kept coming back to it.

Midtown has a shop ground floor with essentials eg milk snacks cereal easy to get something to eat.... but the supermarket on 6th nearby is much cheaper
But really good location to walk to Broadway central park times sq totr etc all directions and to get subway

And if you agree to three hours of timeshare selling you can get free breakfast and voucher for theatre!!

Well having been able to put in actual dates (albeit 2 days less as return flights don't go live until Monday) I find my front runner the Hilton Midtown is not showing as available

I have a shortlist of

Shelburn Affina and Hilton garden inn both midtown
The Roger
Knickerbocker
Hampton Inn Times Square
Dominick

I have a feeling the Dominick will go over budget when I add in extra 2 nights but I think that and the Knickerbocker and maybe Roger are currently front runners.

Such a great tip about the BA sale. I normally diy book, but I feel more comfortable booking a package the way things are. I've gone for the Intercontinental Barclay. Hopefully we'll all be able to go on our trips, fingers crossed!

This is dds dream, can anyone give me a rough budget for a package with a basic hotel?

@dancemom

This is dds dream, can anyone give me a rough budget for a package with a basic hotel?

Go on the ba.com website and put some dates in will give an idea it often works out hotel plus flights is not much more than just flights . Plus if you book as package it s atol protected

@dancemom

The ba sale has 4 nights from about £454 pp up I think.

Agree with PP having looked at prices on booking.com for hotels their packages are way cheaper.

An unexpected thing is to go fishing in the meer in Central Park. They give out rods and fish food. You throw them back in and have a funny story to tell.
The Cooper Hewitt museum (near enough to the meer) often has really interesting and very interactive exhibitions. A plus is the garden out the back where you can have lunch or coffee, and play pingpong. Or Friday night cocktails if you are there in the summer.
Rent the city bikes.
A trip the the Queens museum is worth it. There is a model of NY made by Robert Moses (an important urban planner) that will stun you. And Queens is the most diverse neighborhood in the world now (I think). The food choice over there is mind blowing.
Do a subway art tour.
Hang out at the Lincon Center by night.
Sigh - lucky you.

Don’t forget to factor in tips in your budget .

The Dakota building and Strawberry Fields were ‘ must see’ for me , and on the way to Central Park we saw Diana Ross coming out of her house and getting into a cab right next to us . Amazing .