New York

[loopsaloo]

Hi! Possibly planning a trip to NY.
Any recommendations for nice but not too expensive places to stay? Xxx

Hi! I got a deal on Expedia, it has some good places. But please be aware- I'd been told it was expensive once you got here but it is extortionate. A crappy fast food meal comes to at least £50 for 2 adults and a child... Any sit down meal, even boring and not special ones, are £100+. I'm spending at least £200 a day on food and drink (no alcohol) and I'm going for at least one cheapo/supermarket meal a day. So be warned!

We stayed at the Park Central hotel, the reception areas were nice but the rooms were a bit run down, however very clean so we were happy with our stay.

I mainly clicked on this thread to say pretty much what @OctopusBreath has said though, budget more than you could possibly imagine for spending money! Our first night we had 2 x burgers and chips, a coke and a pint of beer and it was $78, and that wasn't in a touristy restaurant. I thought I was prepared for how expensive it was but I really wasn't! Even McDonald's was €25 for two breakfasts.

We spent $1500 in 5 days and that didn't include attractions as we had bought passes before we went, about €300 of that was gifts/shopping but the rest was pretty much food and drink, we were drinking alcohol so could probably have knocked off $50 a day if we stuck to soft drinks.

This. We came back from NY on Sat, having done a 3 week visit to a variety of places on the east coast, and it was beyond expensive.

Hotel wise, we stayed in the Luma Hotel Times Sq, which was on 41st close to Bryant park. Booked through booking.com

Holiday Inns are decent, not great hotels but I only use them as a place to sleep and they’re great for that purpose. Clean, staff always on hand and always very well located.

I second the above re prices. One plate of pasta at a low key restaurant $30. That’s before tax and tip. Breakfast at Pain Quotidien or Pret, $15 upwards. Even fast food is expensive.

Yep, we went to Pret to get a quick lunch one day. Was in an area with lots of offices and locals using the store. Think it cost us $70 for 4 sandwiches and 4 drinks.

Theatre was an eye-watering $45 for 2 beers and 2 cokes.

Friend is in Canada at mo and said it's just as bad, if not worse there!

We had an amazing holiday, but spent an absolute fortune.

Define not expensive? Serious q, there's a huge range of accommodation. What do you have in mind?

FWIW, I think you can do well for food if you don't go to chains and go slightly off the beaten track. We had a lovely Japanese in a studenty area we ended up walking through and some fantastic cheap pizza by the slice near Times Square. And actually another Japanese near the big bus station.

New York doesn’t have to be expensive if you do it carefully. You can do it on a shoestring.
All of these are free:
Ferry to Staten Island (great views of the Statue of Liberty)
Grand Central Station
Brooklyn bridge
Central Park
MoMA on Friday afternoon (pay what you wish)
Browsing in Macy’s
Times Square
9/11 museum on Tuesday afternoon (pay what you wish)
The High Line
New York Botanic Garden on Wednesday (pay what you wish)
Guggenheim Museum on Saturday afternoon (pay what you wish)

We find that the portions are massive in the USA. For example, we share a large pizza at Juliana’s between two adults and two children, and a sandwich at Katz Deli can easily feed two adults! You can also get some really decent street food on a budget.

Radio City Appartments near Times Square - it’s an aparthotel so your apartment has a kitchen area with microwave/hob/oven plus dining table/chairs. Let’s you cut the cost down although even basic groceries are expensive in NY. Apartments are not fancy, bit shabby but very clean, comfortable with helpful staff. And very well situated, a few minutes walk to Times Sq (touristy), Central Park (huge), Rockefeller Centre, etc.
There are endless street food vans but for 3 adults, even these were $50 a meal for things like chicken nuggets/chips.
re SoL, although you can get a free view from the ferry, the cost for the actual tour was very reasonable especially if you do the full museum on a Ellis island re immigration which was very interesting. We spent about 5 hours doing the tour and at about $25 each (I think, can’t quite recall), it was money well spent.
Also go the the Public Library beside Bryant Park - free, amazing building and interesting museum including the original Winnie the Pooh toys.

I'd echo what most on the thread have said; it's very expensive. We stayed in a great hotel on Broadway in a quiet residential area this month (just got back) with a kitchenette and were thankful we didn't have to pay to eat out every day. But even food at the Fairway supermarket - obviously used by the locals- was very expensive. If we'd bought a ready made sandwich at the supermarket it was a minimum of 7 dollars each. We took a home made picnic out with us most days! Coffee at the museums (also expensive to get into, roughly 100 dollars per time for a family of four) was about five dollars a cup and a small cake or cookie would be about seven dollars. A subway pass with unlimited use for a week was better value than London at thirty four dollars and we used that rather than taxis. We had a fabulous time and I don't regret it - teen DDs loved it- but I was glad we'd saved up and that we had a kitchenette in the hotel rooms. Basically, it makes London look cheap 😳

Get attraction passes on groupon. Currently £167 for 10 attractions but this needs to be used before the end of the year. If going next year, wait for Black Friday deals.

have a good idea on what you want to see and plan accordingly. So combine top of the rock with a day at that end of Manhattan.

we are researching our third hotel for our trip in January. First one is closing for flats, second one is now to become a homeless shelter. I’d stick with well known names like Hilton in the hope to avoid having to research again.

We stayed at the Moderne Hotel in May. It was a great location and they were really friendly.

Hotel Edison in Times Square. Slightly faded Art Deco