family visit to NYC

G`day all..

ok.. now after much planning we will be bringing the kids to NYC (14,13,12) plus the missus and myself... we obviously want to see all the NYC sights and im after some help from you experts on accomodation PLEASE..

ive looked at the island map and figured the best place to stay would be mid-town maybe near times square, central park and broadway... this would make us fairly central to most things..

so im all ears for some help on where to stay.. no budget issues as this is a once in a lifetime trip.. ANY ADVICE WELCOMED!

cheers

stuart

family visit to NYC

I would start with ';hotels'; in the search box, scan those in the next screen that pops up, and go from there. Be sure to read the reviews of the ones that you%26#39;re interested in, they should help steer you in the right direction. That%26#39;s what we did when we selected the Shoreham on 55th Street and 5th Avenue. It%26#39;s close to everything and has clean rooms (when we were there in Nov) although we found them very tiny. For a family I%26#39;d go with a suite which would suit you better, or 2 rooms, if you can afford it. Recent prices have been $400/night and up. Good Luck and enjoy NYC!

family visit to NYC

G%26#39;day to you (I loved melbourne even though I was there to watch England get battered in 3 days)

Anyhoooo, at a push you might want to try the Salisbury or Radio City Apartments as they both have 2 bedroom suites, which sleep 5 - if you wanted to be in the same room

G%26#39;dday Stuart, what a great dad you are! Welcome to the other side of the planet.

We%26#39;re a fam of 4, coming to NYC in May. I did tons of research on family accommodation (makes one a bit squirrelly after 3 or 4 hours looking at tiny pix on the internet...).

The ones that were consistent for high family marks were the Affinia group: the Manhattan is near Penn Station. We%26#39;d originally booked into their 2 bed suite, which can sleep 5, but I just wasn%26#39;t crazy about the location vs the very high price (was almost $800/night Cdn). That was mainly for getting the kitchenette so we could contain my teen boyz food issues! NYWhiz and Bettina were really helpful pointing me to the Affinia Dumont where you could have 2 1 bed suites for less cost, or the Affinia 50 also has good write ups. The Salisbury gets great reports here. Radio City Apartments look fantastic, but I thing those bookings are willed down amongst families %26lt;lol%26gt;, they are booked light years ahead (when are you coming??).

We have finally ended up in the Hotel Metro a wee bit further uptown, it%26#39;s got a 2 bed room but that only takes max 4; no kitchenette, but breakfast included, and a significantly better price. You could book 2 rooms.(Coming from a family of 5, my father gave me and the hubby great advice: either have 2 kids or 4, but the 5 thing is gonna catch you up every time you go anywhere, and look, he was right!)

The thing you have to remember about NYC is: it%26#39;s is the biggest single expense, and you%26#39;ll kill yourself trying to find the ';right place';, but you spend relatively minimal time in your rooms. It is a very fast paced town, that%26#39;s part of the charm, and so as tourists we run hither and yon to take in all the amazing things that we%26#39;ve read about for years. As long as the room is clean, the service decent and you%26#39;re on the island, everything else pretty much goes by in a blur and the only time you%26#39;re IN the room you%26#39;re either sleeping, or running in to get ready to go OUT again.

Have an outstanding trip, mate. Cheers from the Oz loving Canadaland north of the 49th!

Stuart, it really depends on how many beds you need (can any of the kids share?) and if they need to be proper beds or if a sofabed for some will do. While you say budget is not an issue, I think you might be a bit stunned at hotel prices here. When are you coming?

The only suite hotel in Times Square is the Doubletree Guest Suites and they will allow 5 in a room. But their suites are mostly 1 bedrooms so the most you%26#39;d get in one of those is 2 double beds in the bedroom and a sofabed in the living room. They evidently have a few 2 bedrooms but those will be very pricey. You might have to phone the hotel for those (which is the case for several of the 2 bedroom suites). There are so few 2 bedroom suites in NYC it%26#39;s often cheaper to get 2 smaller suites as flyinmom said.

There is a relatively new place called AKA Times Square that%26#39;s had mixed reviews. Not sure their suites will sleep 5.

While a lot of visitors like the idea of staying in Times Square, it%26#39;s not the answer for everyone and there are more suite hotels outside the area. You%26#39;ll find more 2 bedroom suites outside Times Square and there are some more spacious 1 bedroom suites as well. The Affinia Dumont is very popular (midtown east) and has some 1 bedroom suites with 2 queen beds in the bedroom and a sofabed for 2 in the living room.

Hi!

First of all, you won%26#39;t see all the sights. New York is a big city with over 8 million people, and spread over 5 boroughs totalling 322 square miles. It%26#39;s one of the largest urban areas in the world. Manhattan, which it most tourists is New York City, is really only a sliver- and most tourists don%26#39;t even see much of anything but other tourists. So therefore, you need to make some decisions before you come. Do you want to see the main tourist sites that will be of interest to a family with pre-teens? Are you an adventurous bunch and enjoy eating different foods and meeting new people, or do you prefer staying on the well-beaten track? What kind of entertainment budget (unless you are a millionaire, budget is almost always an issue)do you have, and what kinds of things do you like to do? And most importantly, when will you be coming?

If you are coming in the late spring or during the summer, there are tons of outdoor activities, many of which are outside the normal tourist zone. We have great parks- exploring Central Park is a blast, but going on the subway to Prospect Park is fantastic (and if you like flowers, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden is right by there and totally unreal). We have a great zoo in the Bronx- much better than the dinky one in Central Park. Teens love walking through Greenwich Village, and the DUMBO area of Brooklyn can be exciting too. We have outdoor theater during the summer, and a lot of it is free. Our museums are world class, including many of the smaller ones. We have lots of great ethnic food, especially near the colleges, and most of those places are more interesting than any chain restaurant found in Times Square.

Please tell us a bit more about yourself and what you would like to see, and we%26#39;ll be happy to help you out a bit more.

When will you be here and what%26#39;s your budget?

There are many New York apartments available for daily sublet. It might be cheaper than a hotel. You won%26#39;t run into the ';maximum 4 per hotel room'; either.

Have a look at samsapartments.com for one. (I have searched high and low, and he is one of the few who responded.) I believe he has other apartments not listed on the website.

If you google ';new york city sublet'; you%26#39;ll get a million.

If you are interested in subletting an apartment, be sure to read the following thread from the FAQ:

RENTERS BEWARE! Apartment and house vacation rentals are not common in NYC. In fact, most are scams. Even if they are not outright scams, you could end up in an illegal rental and not even know it. Use a hotel instead.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k1563270鈥?/a>

I prefer private apartment rentals in NYC to other types of lodging there. But who is Sam, and how is it he has a bunch of furnished apartments?

The phone number on his site is a Sprint Cell. There is no address. There is no last name. Even email contact is only through his website. Most middle-school kids these days are capable of creating websites. Endorsements from prior guests are easy to fabricate. There is nothing to check out. I have never heard of Sam%26#39;s before, and I%26#39;ve looked at a lot of these.

Who owns these apartments, if they are owned (and if so they%26#39;re worth several million ...) Why are they available to NYC visitors? What has Sam got to lose (above and beyond mere dollars) if you send him money, count on him for a nice place to stay, and something doesn%26#39;t go quite right?

There are other options, but on this one I%26#39;m thinking not.

Sorry to sound so negative. I realize many visitors are interested in apartments. It just doesn%26#39;t seem wise to me to go with something with so many unknowns.

On the other hand, maybe it is legitimate.