New York with kids

[Fibonacci]

Planning to go with dc (8 and 11) but without dh, in Easter holidays, for 3 to 4 night stopover on way to see dh on West Coast.

Can anyone recommend somewhere child-friendly for the 3 of us to stay -- we'll want to share a room, not too pricy. Know NY quite well so not afraid of travelling on subway etc.

How far in advance do I need to book accommodation?

Also, any recommendations for activities for children, last time I was in NY was young free and single and will have a very different perspective on it this time.

TIA.

Bump -

Someone must have stayed in NY with their children and be able to advise me?

if oyu do a search you might find stuff

We (me, DH, Katz and Katz DH) went to NYC last May, along with 3 girls, aged 7y, 6y, and almost 4y.

We went for a week and had an amazing time, so much so that me and DH are going again for 5 days this summer (hopefully) with DD (will be 8y) and PILs.

We stayed in a house on Broad Channel Island, about 45 mins ride awat from Manhattan, mainly as there were so many of us.

I am currently looking at 3 bed apartments and am looking at holiday-rentals website. 3 beds are cming up as about £1000 for 5 nights.

The best value, but with good reviews and good location, hotel is coming up so far as the Hilton Garden West 35th. That is coming up as about £120 a night for a room suitable for 3).

There is so much to do in NYC with children.

We had a thread running before and after we went here on MN - in this section with a similar title.

But in summary we did:

• Rockerfellar Tower
• Libery Island
• Ellis Island
• 48 hour bus hopper
• Duck Tours
• Central park
• Natural History Museum
• Children's museum of Manhattan
• Guggenhiem
• Times Square
• the big toy shops etc

This next time we are definitely looking to book a show.

I stayed at the Beacon Hotel (upper west side, on Broadway) for a few days in August - me plus 2 DCs (6 & 11) in a large room with two double beds and mini kitchen area (fridge, hotplates, microwave, sink), plus bathroom. Big room, good quality. Hotel facilities are limited, but staff were very friendly, and there was a good cafe next door where we went for breakfast (huge portions of pancakes and waffles). Opposite is a brilliant deli/supermarket if you want to buy things for lunch or supper. It's a short walk to the subway and Central Park, and has loads of restaurants nearby. I'd definitely use it again. Only booked a few weeks in advance, and got what seemed to be a good rate: $195 a night for the room, plus taxes.

We spent one night later in the holiday at the Novotel Times Square, and I was much less impressed with the room and value for money.

Thanks for advice both - have booked hotel that is both eco-friendly and child-friendly in midtown and seems reasonable value for money.

Would love to hear what your dc's favourite sightseeing was.

Hula I stayed in the Hilton on W35th St in August, with a girlfriend.

It was quite a small room I thought - a double double, i.e. two beds, but there wasn't a lot of room to move around the beds. There was also quite a wait for the lifts sometimes in the morning.

Excellent value for money though, and we didn't really spend a lot of time in the room anyway. And free wi-fi. And free hot drinks in the lobby in the morning. It feels quite small and friendly too - there was only quite a small lobby.

It also seemed a long way from places we wanted to go - MoMA. Met, etc and we caught the bus a couple of times back from the Central Park area at the end of the day.

There's a nice little place at the end of the block and across the road (opposite direction to Macy's) called Oxford Cafe which does whole pancakes/bagels/bacon/eggs thing and has lovely sarnies laid out ofr lunch. Plastic cutlery and paper plates drive me mad though.

About sightseeing - Hulababy's list is pretty good place to start. We only had about three days so didn't do as much as that. I would say the biggest hits were the toyshops (FAO Schwartz and the ToysRUs on Times Square with a ferris wheel inside) and bookshops - the Strand, and one of the big Barnes & Noble branches; Central Park, including the zoo; trips on the subway and the Staten Island ferry (for views of the Statue of Liberty - we didn't do the actual tour); general movie-location spotting, eg Central Park Zoo and Grand Central Station, both featured in Madagascar. Oh, and the food.