Lots of questions please help

Me and 4 other college kids are coming to NYC June 27th-June 30th. We are looking at staying at the pod hotel, hotel riverside studios, or hotel belleclaire. Which one would u go with? Hence we are college kids so we are poor lol. Also I%26#39;ve noticed that a couple of these hotels are higer up, meaning north of Times Square. How hard is the subway to figure out? We are from Nothern Maine we use snowmobiles to get around ha ha. How far away is the subway from these hotels and how long would it take to get to Times Square by using the subway.

Also is it best to call the hotel directly to get a room or should I use a website like hotels.com? Also which website is best?

I know LOTS of questions and I appreciate any and all advice you can give us.

Thank you so much

Lots of questions please help

I really can%26#39;t comment on the hotels, though you can see reviews on this web site. The subway is pretty easy to figure out, see GWB%26#39;s guide to the subway in the FAQ at the top. I would recommend not staying long in Times Square, there are a lot better areas.

Here is the subway map, familiarize yourself with it, think of it as a big snowmobile.

http://mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

Lots of questions please help

you can google manhattan transit authority (MTA)

the website has a subway map that is excellent

most lines basically run north/south-length of island

at least one line runs east/west-width

easy to use

most likely to get best rate direct from hotel

look for really good deals at travelzoo.com

get a StreetWise map of Manhattan; laminated

purchase at Barnes %26amp; Noble

Actually, all three of those hotels are north of Times Square.

The subway map, along with schedules of the different lines, can be found here:

http://www.mta.info/

You should also look at the Manhattan Bus Map on the same site, because it is much less distorted and shows all subway routes superimposed on the actual street grid.

I don%26#39;t think the subway is hard to figure out at all.

Please note that MTA does not stand for ';Manhattan Transit Authority';, so if you Google ';Manhattan Transit Authority'; you probably will not get much. The MTA is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, of which the New York City Transit Authority (which likes to pretend that its name is just NYC Transit) is a component part.

Use the web site, get all the info you can and then call the hotel direct and wheel and deal with the info at hand. The subway is extremely easy to navigate. We%26#39;re from the Ohio river valley and we still use pontoons to get around LOL. If I can get around on the subway, anybody can. Have a great time!

Hi gurt3829

The only one I%26#39;ve stayed at is the Pod (when if was the Pickwick Arms) Great location for shops, food and sights.

Enjoy

M

ELIMINATE the Riverside Studios. Did you not read the reviews?

tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60763-d224229-鈥?/a>

Let%26#39;s start from the beginning. How many are you and how old are you? (21?) How many are you planning to share a room? Are you ok with shared bathrooms?

The Big Apple Hostel in right in Times Square and has either rooms for 2 or dorm rooms.

http://bigapplehostel.com/rates.php

There are plenty of other options besides the 2 you picked.

As to whether to book directly with the hotel or thru a website, depends on where you%26#39;ll get the best price! If the price is better on hotels.com (or elsewhere) you can always contact the hotel and ask if they%26#39;ll match it. If not, you decide. ;)

Since you have some time, peruse the FAQ ';sticky'; at the top of this forum. In addition to GWB%26#39;s ';idiot%26#39;s guide to the subway';, there are links and threads on ways to save money, cheap and free sights and events, cheap dining (which can be 100% free of cain restaurants and fast food!) and other great advice.

I would suggest that you book soon, that weekend is always one of the busiest of the year (it%26#39;s Gay Pride, that sunday there is a HUGE parade going down 5th ave from Central park to Greenwich Village)

My partner is from Auguta ME, when I finally got him to move here he figured out the subway in no time, so don%26#39;t worry about it. There are lots of different subway lines, so different people will give you diferent directions, just like there are sevreal ways to get from Augusta to Bar Harbor, but you get there just the same.

Third party sites for hotel bookings, like Hotels.com, expedia, orbitz, quikbook or Travelocity do not have every room listed, so if they don%26#39;t show availability it does not mean that the hotel is sold out, just that the hotel has sold out of the rooms they allocated to that site. If you see a great rate at one of these sites most hotels will match it if you call directly. Most importantly, if you have any special requests you will do better dealing directly with the hotel.

I can%26#39;t comment on the hotels (look up reviews here on TA!), but I can tell you that employees of the subway and people riding the subway are very helpful, if you need help - just ask! It%26#39;s good if you have a sense of ';uptown'; (north) or ';downtown'; (south), etc. so that you can follow the signs which are well marked. The only thing you have to be careful about is the ';Express'; trains, which don%26#39;t stop at every stop...

The subway is a great way to travel and can get you to so many different places - don%26#39;t just hang around Times Square!! Also, it%26#39;s probably a good idea for you and your friends to get an ';Unlimited Ride Metro Card'; that allows unlimited rides on subways and buses for 1 day ($7) or for 7 days ($24):

http://www.mta.info/busco/fares.htm

For cheap/free things to do -

*Friday night Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) is FREE.

*Take the subway to Brooklyn and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan.

*Take the Staten Island ferry - it%26#39;s free and you get a nice view of Statue of Liberty.