New York in December for 1 week advice

Johnnytoxic

Johnnytoxic

Johnnytoxic

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I've been dared to go New York for a week in December and its been said I would back out first.

Anyone got any recommendations, where to stay, what I would need to do. Is it crazy, yes I know it be cold.
 
I've just been to New York and took an unconventional approach to accomodation due to the fact even the crappest of holes on Manhatten was coming in at £200 a night.

Instead, I stayed in Newark. No, it's not as mad as it seems.

I stayed at the Hilton at Newark Penn Station. I paid only £90 a night for my room and the hotel itself is linked by covered walkway to Penn Station.

Penn Station is literally 13 minutes by train from Manhattan - the railway station in Manhattan is just a 5 minute walk from Times Square. You can also take the PATH train right into World Trade Centre station further down Manhattan - its only $2 but takes 25 minutes.

So in reality I was 20 minutes or so from the centre of New York... for 90 quid a night in a half decent hotel. It worked out really well.

Even more convenient if your flight lands at Newark. Mine landed at JFK :D
 
What's your budget?

I stayed in Essex House the first time around, it overlooked Central Park and the hotel was lovely.

Would stay there again without doubt.

If I was to go again I'd go in December, would love to go when it snowed, some may think that would ruin their holiday but I'd love it.
 
I went a couple of years back just after new years. Booked through Expedia and it came to about £1000 for two of us for 4 days.

Cant remember the name of the hotel, but it was a 3 or 4 star up near west 50th street. Took a couple of mins to walk to Broadway and was quite a nice cosy spot.

Was snowing and everything there, was pretty cold but I braved it. Right down to my boxers at one point!
 
[TW]Fox;20351052 said:
I've just been to New York and took an unconventional approach to accomodation due to the fact even the crappest of holes on Manhatten was coming in at £200 a night.

Instead, I stayed in Newark. No, it's not as mad as it seems.

I stayed at the Hilton at Newark Penn Station. I paid only £90 a night for my room and the hotel itself is linked by covered walkway to Penn Station.

Penn Station is literally 13 minutes by train from Manhattan - the railway station in Manhattan is just a 5 minute walk from Times Square. You can also take the PATH train right into World Trade Centre station further down Manhattan - its only $2 but takes 25 minutes.

So in reality I was 20 minutes or so from the centre of New York... for 90 quid a night in a half decent hotel. It worked out really well.

Even more convenient if your flight lands at Newark. Mine landed at JFK :D
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Will remember that !!!

The caveat is what time does the train run until ?
 
The YMCA is a cheap place to stay (not joking!)

Make sure you go to juniors for cheesecake, it is amazing.

http://www.juniorscheesecake.com/

It is a great city for going out drinking. I am afraid I cant recommend you any bars becasue I cant remember were I went out. I think I may have been here:

http://www.sakebardecibel.com/index.html#home

NY in the winter is lovely I expect you will have a really nice time.
 
Would 1k - 1.5k each be enough . If not a week, 4-5 days would be good.

Its mainly a dare for my agrophobia of different places.

Any things to avoid there or what not to do
 
Raymond Lin said:
Will remember that !!!

The caveat is what time does the train run until ?
Click to expand...

About 12am but the PATH train from 33rd Street or World Trade runs 24/7 and goes to the same place, just takes a few minutes longer.

Once you go down into the station in Manhattan you dont need to go outside again before going into the hotel room :D
 
I've stayed in the Helmsley Park Lane which is right over the road from the ice rink in Central Park. Fantastic hotel, great location and lots of good places to eat and drink at nearby. Not cheap but not massively expensive either :-

http://www.helmsleyparklane.com/default.aspx?pg=home

We were there in late November and it snowed heavily for the first time since we arrived on our third day. Waking up to it was amazing. There's something truly magical about being in New York and Central Park at this time of the year when the snow arrives. :cool:

Previous visit to that stay was the Wellington Hotel on 7th Avenue at 55th, just round the corner from the Helmsley Park Lane :-

http://www.wellingtonhotel.com/

It was the hotel that was featured in the Borat movie when he thinks the lift he is shown to is his room and starts unpacking in it. Not a bad hotel but at the time we stayed a few years ago there were two parts to it, the part that had been modernised and upgraded and the "old" part. I dare say it would be fully upgraded by now but we were unfortunate enough to be allocated a room in the "old" part and it was cold, not particularly pleasant looking and slightly grubby and unclean. The staff were pleasant enough and because we were only there for 4 days for a friends wedding, we initially complained but were not too concerned about the hotel falling below our expectations.

Agree with comments above, NYC in the winter time and snow is absolutely awesome but wrap up well and take warm clothes, hat, scarf and gloves with you. A good, warm waterproof and breathable pair of boots would be an idea too since you will do a lot of walking around and those city blocks take longer than you think to cover ground on. Take taxis everywhere and you will miss out so do as much walking as you can. :)
 
Johnnytoxic said:
Would 1k - 1.5k each be enough . If not a week, 4-5 days would be good.

Its mainly a dare for my agrophobia of different places.

Any things to avoid there or what not to do
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Lots to see and do to fill 5 days. I'd only ever visited for a weekend before I moved here.
 
I only stayed for two days. It's nice but it's expensive enough that I find if you stay too long you end up spending a fortune you could spend elsewhere. You mention a budget of up to £1500 each for 5 days in New York.

Last year I spent 16 days in California and Nevada including flights and Mustang Convertible hire for about £1500 per person and this year I did the East Coast from New York and Washington down to Florida for only about £1700 per person, again including flights and car hire (Infiniti G37 among other things this time). More expensive than last year but more big cities.

Makes £1500 per person on 5 days in New York seem pretty poor value!

If I had only a week I'd look at doing a two-city break - maybe see Washington or Boston as well?
 
if you want a 2nd city to visit nearby I would recommend Philadelphia, we were there earlier this summer and really enjoyed it, loads better than NY IMO
 
[TW]Fox;20351202 said:
Last year I spent 16 days in California and Nevada including flights and Mustang Convertible hire for about £1500 per person and this year I did the East Coast from New York and Washington down to Florida for only about £1700 per person, again including flights and car hire (Infiniti G37 among other things this time). More expensive than last year but more big cities.

?
Click to expand...

I assume that doesn't include spending money
 
My friend did a similar thing, booked a week in NY with something like 2 days notice just because he didn't have anything better to do :p As you're going on your own take a look at the hostels available, good prices and much more sociable as they are normally filled with backpackers etc.

I'd also be looking to stay in Manhattan - it's all very well staying in Jersey or outside Manhattan if you have company but on your own I'd much rather be in Manhattan where all the proper nightlife is.

I think my friend stayed at the Vanderbilt YMCA which is about $90 a night and in a top location - he said it was decent and best of all right round the corner from the Manchester Pub, lol.
 
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I have a question for you. Why do most people seem to go to NY after the summer? NY gets freezing in the winter with bitter winds. It's so much better when the sun is out in summer.
 
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