A First-Timer's Guide - Choosing a Hotel (2)

It’s probably a good time to talk a bit about geography and location, because you’ll want to be assured your're staying in a safe area near all the great landmarks and attractions of the City.

New York City, as you most likely know, is made up of 5 boroughs – Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan. When people talk about visiting New York City, they’re usually talking about the borough of Manhattan. This is the part of New York that includes most of the major attractions and landmarks, not that the other boroughs don’t have their share.

Most of the popular hotels are located in Manhattan. In fact, they are located in a small, rather compact section of Manhattan commonly referred to as Midtown.

If we look at an enlargement of that area, we’ll see that midtown Manhattan is where Times Square, the Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, Radio City, Central Park, Carnegie Hall and the Theater District are. Macy’s, the Empire State Building, Bloomingdale’s, 5th Ave shopping, Restaurant Row, Madison Square Garden, Penn Station – all located in midtown Manhattan.

Here's a little geography and geometry lesson – all the avenues in midtown Manhattan go north and south. All the streets go east and west. All, that is, except Broadway which goes diagonally through midtown. Where Broadway crosses an avenue it creates a triangle, which New Yorkers in their infinite wisdom call a square. Broadway and 7th Avenue – Times Square. Broadway and 6th Avenue – Herald Square. Broadway and 8th Avenue – Columbus Circle. Oh well, so much for geometry!

Fifth Avenue separates East and West in Midtown Manhattan. Midtown East is noticeably quieter and more upscale - the hotels in this area attract more business travelers and seasoned New York City visitors. Hotels on the East Side include
Doubletree Metropolitan
Intercontinental Barclay
New York Helmsley
New York Palace
W New York
Waldorf=Astoria (pictured)



Midtown West is home to Times Square, the Theatre District, Restaurant Row and Carnegie Hall. The area is more favored by tourists because there are lots of restaurants, Broadway theaters, souvenir shops - and most sightseeing tours depart from Midtown West. The most popular hotels are

Crowne Plaza Times Square
Doubletree Guest Suites NYC
Hotel Edison
Flatotel
Hampton Inn Manhattan Times Square North
Hilton Garden Inn Times Square
Hilton New York
Hilton Times Square
Jumeirah Essex House
Marriott Marquis
New York Renaissance Hotel
Novotel New York
Park Central Hotel
Sheraton Manhattan at Times Square
Sheraton New York
Sofitel Hotel
W Times Square
Warwick New York
Wellington Hotel
Westin New York at Times Square

For a great interactive map of Manhattan hotels, along with nearby attractions, restaurants and theaters, click here or paste http://nyctrip.com/pages/citymap.aspx into your browser.

A First-Timer's Guide - Choosing a Hotel (1)

NEW YORK CITY ACCOMMODATIONS

New York City has a virtual plethora (I don’t know what that word means, but I like how it sounds) of hotels and motels in every price range. The adage and caveat that “You get what you pay for” must be observed, though.

Generally speaking, hotels in the popular midtown Manhattan Theatre District are somewhat more expensive than, say, a local John’s Notell Motel in another part of the US. Consider however that a Sheraton, Marriott or Hilton in midtown Manhattan is going to be within walking distance of the best live entertainment in the world (Broadway), the best shopping avenue in the country (5th Avenue), the most famous park in the world (Central Park), the most famous skyscraper in the world (Empire State Building), the largest department store in the world (Macy’s) and the 24-hour neon glamour of Times Square.

So can you get a cheap hotel room in New York? Sure. Just beware. There are several factors that determine why a hotel room is cheap:

1. Location. If you want to be in the middle of all that New York City has to offer, your cheap hotel room probably won’t put you there. Instead you’ll be spending money on taxis, parking and tunnel or bridge tolls. Wouldn’t you rather have a conveniently-located hotel so you can get an early start – or a late night – and still have a place to relax in between?


2. Features and amenities. Don’t need your own private bathroom? Don’t need a doorman or security guard to make sure your temporary residence is off-limits to intruders? Don’t need someone to ask directions or get you a taxi? Don’t need heat or air conditioning? Don’t need a wake up call? Don’t need a quick cup of coffee or tea in the morning? Aha! C’mon, live it up. Spring for the private bathroom. Feel safe and secure when you finally turn in at night. Treat yourself to a good hotel. You deserve it.


3. Age and cleanliness. These two factors don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand, but they’re both important. When was the hotel last remodeled? Shag carpeting is a giveaway.

“But really,” you might ask, “how much time will I spend in the room anyway?” “Well,” I might answer, “at least a third of your vacation!”

So how does the novice New York-bound traveler know where to stay? Here’s good advice:
You or your travel agent should check with a New York City expert like New York City Vacation Packages (NYCVP). They not only can make sure you’re staying where you want to be, but their prices are very good too. For a listing of Manhattan hotels, and some general information about each, click here.

Here's some more advice that will NYCVP will give you: there is real value to be found by utilizing your travel agent and NYCVP. You'll learn that you can save a lot of money by understanding the seasonality of New York City.

For instance, if you stay away from the City's PEAK SEASON and instead travel during its LOW SEASON you'll save a ton on hotel accommodations. As an example, a 5-star hotel room that's $700 a night in peak season is under $300 a night in low season. A 4-star hotel room that's $650 a night in peak season is under $200 a night in low season!

So when is "LOW SEASON"? January, February, July, August, Christmas week and certain holidays like Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends - great times to be in the Big Apple because you'll save lots of money!

There are more ways that your travel agent and New York City Vacation Packages can save you money. Give them a holler and you'll find out that New York City doesn't have to be an expensive place to visit!

Coming up - more valuable money-saving info. Stay tuned.

A First-Timer's Guide to New York City - Intro

New York City - Gotham - the Big Apple - the City that Never Sleeps - whatever you might want to call it - is now the most visited destination in the United States.

In 2008, over 47 million visitors traveled to the City to enjoy its many famous attractions, entertainment venues, department stores, restaurants, sports teams, museums and neighborhoods. They came for pleasure, they came for business, they came for culture, for romance, for excitement ... for 47 million reasons!

New York City has so much to see and do. It's arguably the Greatest City in the World - it's the safest major city in the US - it's a great vacation destination - and yes, believe it or not, it's even friendly. Why, they even wrote songs about it ... so Start Spreadin' the News ... New York's got it all!

New York is home to some of the biggest, the best, the liveliest, the newest, the oldest, the tastiest, the matchless, the greatest and the utmost. The coolest thing, though, is that New York City is a perfect vacation destination for adults, kids, families, seniors, grandparents, honeymooners, groups and singles. Did I leave anybody out?

But with so much to see and do - and never enough time to see and do it all - it's so important to enlist the aid of a New York City expert to help you. I'd suggest you contact your travel agent or New York City Vacation Packages (www.nyctrip.com or 877-NYC-TRiP). An even better idea is to visit your travel agent and have him/her contact New York City Vacation Packages.

Your travel agent or New York City Vacation Packages (NYCVP) can help you make the most of your vacation time and show you how to take advantage of special prices that will save you money on accommodations, sightseeing, entertainment and meals.

In future blogs I'll let you in on some of the secrets of the City-

• how to plan the perfect itinerary
• how to dine without spending a fortune
• how to get tickets to "sold out" concerts, theater and sporting events
• how to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in comfort
• how to avoid lines at popular attractions

What else would you like to know? Send an email to jocovp@comcast.net and your topic may be a future blog on Joco's New York!