New York with teen

[Herbie56]

Haven’t been to NYC in over twenty years and would like to take my 18 year old son for a short break mid April. There are some decent packages on Expedia, but I’m not sure which neighbourhood to stay in. Is Manhattan the best bet for ease of access or is it better to be somewhere midtown or even Chelsea for more authentic experience. Would love some tips. Many thanks.

Midtown is a small, central part of Manhattan. It’s commercial, loud, bustling and has large high-rise hotels. It’s very central to most of the main sights and has excellent subway access to the rest of the city. Lower Manhattan is more historic, laid back, and has more boutique hotels and apartments.

Thanks for this, since posting I’ve found a couple of similar threads and the general consensus seems to be to stay in midtown.

We stayed about 5 mins walk from times sq and that was great too but personally I didn't want to take my kids until they were both 21

Hi, we went to NYC last summer with 14 and 16 year olds having been last 10 years ago. We stayed at the Hilton Motto Chelsea which was perfect for us, really good transport - subways on 6th & 7th, walkable to Chelsea, easy to get to Brooklyn etc, But not too busy.
we all loved Hamilton (first show for 3 of us, but the best performance), ferry to brooklyn from wall st, pizza at Juliana’s, Brooklyn bridge, all the usual stuff. We’ve never really liked Times Square and prefer stuff that’s off the beaten track (if that’s even possible).
top tip was to use AI to plan your days. We listed all the stuff we wanted to do and asked it to plan our days to minimise crowds and travel, and it worked a treat.
enjoy.

Took my 16 year old a couple of years ago. Loved it. Stayed at the Riu Plaza Manhattan which was fab - breakfast included which set us up for the day, but it is just off Times Square. So if we go again, I'll look to stay midtown. Times Square is great, but don't feel the need to stay right in the thick of it again!

We always stay in Times Square so relatively easy access to everything. For your first trip there I’d definitely recommended staying central.

I run a New York trip at my school so take 50 teenagers every other year.

we used to stay at the Edison on Times Square - really lovely hotel. We now stay in Midtown as the Edison put its prices up. I miss the ease of Times Square, it means you can pop back to your room to drop stuff off etc.

Midtown is at least a 20 minute walk for most things - well it is when you have 50 kids trailing after you 🤣

We also stayed near Times Square. We went when our kids were 9 and 12, just before Christmas and we all loved it. Easy to get lots of places.

I think Times Square is a bit grim tbh, but there are nicer places in Midtown around Bryant Park and the NYPL. Midtown is good for getting around, but you could try Greenwich Village if you want somewhere a bit less corporate.

Chelsea, stayed there with DD15 at the time at the Moto, great base, good food options round there.

Hi I took my 16 year old boy for October half term. Honestly wherever you stay in Manhattan you will have a wonderful time as the subways are so close and the shops, cafes, diners etc we stayed on the upper west side and it was fantastic. Try the New York media boat: a speed boat around the island, and we also took a helicopter tour (booked on trip advisor) everyone was friendly and helpful. Wishing you a lovely time!

Have done both. And both were great. Slightly easier being in the theatre district, just for getting to sights / Central Park. But Chelsea / Greenwich village are much cooler. You can’t go wrong really. Manhattan isn’t very big and it’s easy to get around.

We stayed in the financial district. We were next to the memorial pools and 9/11 museum. Great hotel, big room with kettle, fridge and microwave. One of the few rooms we found that were double doubles without the hugely inflated costs. Brilliant diner 2 minutes away where all the locals go. O’Haras pub across the road and you could walk to the subway, Brooklyn bridge and the ferry for the statute of liberty within a few minutes.

@Herbie56 I’ve been a few times with dc. We have stayed near Times Square twice but it totally depends on what you wish to see and do. I’d plot your top sights on a map and see what area is nearer.

Brooklyn isn’t handy from Chelsea for example. Chelsea Market to the Brooklyn Bridge will take you the best part of an hour to walk. You would be handy for The Highline though. So think about what you want to do and position yourselves for the best access.