New York weekend

[magicstar1]

My 50th is early next year, and DH & I thinking of going to New York for a weekend in January - Friday to Tuesday.
I was looking at the Virgin Hotel, but does anyone have a different recommendation for hotels?

What would you definitely include as a must do on the weekend. We want to do some shopping, try a few diners, have a nice dinner etc.
Thanks.

It's very cold then. Not the same as here. Need long superwarm coats etc. Boots. Lots to do, think ice skating, etc. Find a hotel centrally in midtown. I like hilton mid town. Any chain is ok. V small rooms in general. Eating out is expensive, and tipping essential. Walk in the park, visit zoo, top of the rock, boat trip but just go on Staten island ferry. Go to Broadway.

If possible I would avoid January.

January is so cold - usually! Icy even.

What we do is make a list of what we want to see. Then pick a hotel that makes getting around easier. It’s a long haul from Central Park to The Statue of Liberty. So what makes you tick and what attractions do you want? You won’t have time for everything. Virgin is near the Empire State Building. It on Broadway I think. 3 mins walk from a subway station. So it’s Midtown and perfectly ok. Should be well priced.

Tipping is 20% and don’t forget the tax.

Curious to know what interests you about diners, OP?

We just thought we wouldn’t bother with a hotel breakfast and would try a couple of diners as they always look interesting.

Diners usually have very poor quality food. Think pallid eggs.

I was there once before in January for my 21st birthday so it was a long time ago! The cold doesn’t bother us, and I’d prefer it to the heat. The flights are a good price too so that’s why we were picking it.

Yes. The only diners that would be worth going to are the sort of famous, vintage-y ones, and you'd want to read the reviews beforehand.
There will be lots of what they call coffee shops, especially in the business areas, but they wouldn't be a destination for a special breakfast on holiday, imo.

The Wallace on the upper West Side. 5 mins walk to Central Park and the museums, 10 mins walk to Lincoln Centre. Rooms are small but well equipped and staff are lovely, nice bar , no breakfast but loads of coffee shops nearby. (we like Bluestone Lane ) Recommend saturday brunch at Maison Pickle.

Book direct rather than through booking.com as they often have good offers.

We’ve booked the Hilton double tree in near Hell’s Kitchen/time square.
Westway diner is on our list and has been recommended on a few of the New York tourist groups on fb.
Summit and 911 museum are on our must do list.

I actually found the hotel breakfasts I had in New York a really god part of my trip. I recommend a New York sightseeing Pass which allows you prebook attractions. It was good for us to structure our day

We’ve booked the Hilton double tree in near

Thats where I stayed last month, it’s a really good location.

I did a boat trip, Top of the Rock, Empire State Building, United Nation Tour (excellent), 911 Memorial Museum, Central Park and Natural History Museum, walked the sky line, walked around Times Square.

We mostly ate in Irish pubs in the evenings to keep the costs down and because our adult DC like big burgers and chips etc.

Circle line boat trip round the entire island of Manhattan is fabulous.

I stayed at Club Quarters Grand central recently, well placed for subway, walking distance to Times Square and Central Park.

A secret gem is the city of New York museum

We found the hotel breakfast poor quality (and DH who is a lot in NY in business hotels agrees with this). So we normally ended in coffee shops, we like Ole & Steen (scandinavian coffee chain), and treated ourselves one morning for breakfast at a dinner. Ask the concierge for recommendation, they do know where to go and what to avoid.

They aren't cheap though, we had two French Toasts with fruit, one egg benedict, juice, coffee and came out $75 + tips poorer.
But we only did it twice in 2 weeks so it was a bit special.

If you are interested in it, go and see the 9/11 museum. It is very good.

If you like shopping for clothes, try Centry 21. DD got a lot for a decent amount of money but be aware of the sales tax. Otherwise I found clothes shopping not that cheap anymore, exchange rates are not in our favour like it was 15 years ago when you would come with an empty suitcase and left with a filled one.

If the weather is good, sunny and clear, viewing platforms are great. Fairly new is One Vanderbilt near the Great Central Station. I think it's even better than the Empire State one.

Central Park to 911 museum is a long way! Hells Kitchen is slightly out of the way in my view. That’s why the op needs to think about what she wants to see. There are more off-beat places to stay such as SoHo which I really like. However from there to Central Park is some distance. The Highline is handier though.

We've used diners but I think hotel breakfasts are great. Sometimes we just use a local coffee shop.

Yes. Flights are cheaper in cold weather. Icy wind can cut through you!

There’s a great history narrated by Tucci, a 3 sided video wall with all the films and tv every filmed there in a montage , a music from the boroughs interactive map you jump on. We loved it.
https://www.mcny.org/

we are at Mary’s fish camp. Lovely

great night our ar Marie’s crisis cafe piano bat. Really basic but so fun. Read up on it before you go

Central Park was meh tbh

911. Must see.

We stayed in hilton mid town last year. 5 minute walk to most like central.park radio city empire state building. Chrysler, times square. Fab location. An ok hotel. nothing special. We did 6 nights and also did statue of liberty and twin towers etc and really could have done with more days there. Subway was an eye opener!
Enjoy. It's a great city!

We found it easy to use the Metro to spend time in Lower Manhattan. You can't run back and forth though.

I love the Highline but not sure if I walk around in January.

I only used the subway once to try it, I found Ubers brilliant. I got two or three each day and still walked 20-25k steps each day.

Last one. Son loves summit 1 Vanderbilt for views. Pics of them and the view were great

The subway is confusing. Traffic takes forever.
if you use it use city mapper. Or google maps. It tells you where to enter to get the right line.

finally takes cards now

We didn’t like 911! Too miserable. Not a huge fan of Central Park but lots of people like both. Very cold in January. I’d prefer the Met! At least the museums will be warm. The Highline will be seriously cold too! It’s such a brilliant idea. Hudson Yards is such a good addition to NY.

We did the Highline in December it was fine , really just depends on the weather . We also loved the Tenement Museum in the lower east side and the staten island ferry . We also walked up to Columbia , went to the Cathedral and walked back along the Hudson River . That was in February and the weather was cold but sunny