New York City in June- firstimer About This Page:

[Suzie-Q]

My husband surprised me with concert tickets in New York City this June for a Christmas present. Neither of us have ever been and we've been surfing the net looking at hotels and tours etc etc and are overwhelmed! I have taken so many amazing travel tips from the Passporter Boards (Princess Sharon and ChezP both led us to amazing tours in San Juan and in South Beach so I am going to check the forums for any trip reports from them in New York, for sure) and so this is where I am turning for help. Anyone got tips for good value hotels or B&Bs in Manhattan?
We are thinking of doing the hop on/hop off bus tours as a good way to explore and planning to bring great walking shoes and putting the miles on! thanks

[bluejn]

Sorry I have no answer on where to stay, but we live an hour north of the city and have gone for the day to a show or christmas shopping or just to hang out. You will have a great time.

[Her Dotness]

Manhattan is ultra-prime real estate, so there really isn't any place decent people would want to stay in that's along the lines of a Holiday Inn Express or the like unless you know where to look.

You might check the Holiday Inn site for the Chinatown HI. We stayed there several years ago and happened onto a VERY reasonable room rate (for Manhattan!). It had a fabulous Chinese restaurant that wasn't expensive either. However, we're HI members which may have made a difference.

The pick-your-price-range websites may be your best option for a fairly inexpensive stay in a nicer hotel than you could otherwise afford, although you may not get a great deal of choice exactly where the hotel is.

The problem for you is that June is prime time for vacationing in the Mid-Atlantic states clear up to Maine because the weather isn't generally as steamy hot as in July or August. Prices, as a result, reflect the extremely high demand. Plus, lots of colleges have graduation in June, so you may be competing with families looking for rooms for that reason.

We once stayed at a very comfy B&B in Brooklyn, using the nearby train to get into Manhattan a few times. "Mom & Dad taxi" was our primary transport means as it was close to DH's parents. I would check for B&B's in the outlying boroughs, asking how near they are to public transit if you find one that sounds likely.

I recommend forgetting walking as much as you intend. From one major site to another can be 40 blocks or more. Manhattan is one BIG island. City buses or the subway are very easy to use and much less expensive than taxis. Using those, you can do the hop on/hop off you're planning much more readily. DH says most of the tours he recalls go a certain route that you pay to take and are not ones you can get off and back onto later. Of course, there may be some he's unaware of. As a native Brooklynite, he didn't do tours.

His parents retired from Brooklyn to Jersey about eight years ago, so I'm sorry we can't advise you more specifically. Been too long since we spent much time anywhere but DBIL's home on Staten Island.

Perhaps someone will come along who can.

You might check a bookstore or public library for the Arthur Frommer budget traveler guidebooks. When I worked in a bookstore, we sold quite a few of Frommer's New York City on $25 a Day, a very helpful guide to everything from where to eat and stay, how to get around, to inexpensive sightseeing. One of those may be a better guide for your purposes than any of us here.

[chezp]

Glad my trip reports have been able to help out.

It's been a long time since we were last in New York City, 2008 I think. We only had 24 hours there, but packed a fair bit into that time. I'd already visited a couple of times before we got married and we spent some of our honeymoon there as well, so we've seen a lot of the city on our various trips.

[CRCrazy]

I've done a couple of quick trips to NYC. We happened onto a decent rate at a Wingate by Wyndham right near Madison Square Garden - stayed there for three nights I believe. If you were traveling in the winter, they offer a great price under $150/night, but in June, it's more likely to be in the $300/night range anywhere in Manhattan. The nice thing about the Wingate is that they offered 2 double beds for the same price, so there was room for my mom, and my two daughters. There aren't many reasonable places where you can stay four in a room (the girls were still children then.)

My daughter attends college at St. John's University in Queens. When we went down this September, we came down a day early and got a room in Long Island City. Much less expensive, and a quick subway jaunt to Manhattan and the Theater District. However, parking was ridiculous. The hotel we stayed at had "limited" parking available. That meant two spaces. Even though I had "reserved" a spot for $30/night, there was no spot to be had. I had to find on street parking, which made me nervous since we had all her things in the car.

The Wingate was directly across the street from a parking garage in Manhattan - expensive, but everything is in Manhattan.

[CRCrazy]

The hop-on, hop-off bus was fun, and gave us a good overview. You may want to look into a CityPass if you are planning on doing the museums, etc.

If you want to actually climb the Statue of Liberty - you'll want to book that ahead of time - spots fill quickly.

[notjustamom]

Where is the concert and when in June? B&B's will not be found in NYC. What price range hotel are you looking for? Everyone's version of value is different. NYC is like WDW - if you go in knowing you won't see it all you won't be disappointed. Think about / pick your top must do's and go from there. I'll give any tips / advice / help that I can.

[Shawnam1868]

We've had great luck at the Skyline in Hells Kitchen. A quick walk to Times Square, great prices, and a rooftop pool.

[CinderAbby]

Depending upon your time in June, all I can say is watch for school tour groups - they might impact where you go. I say this only because when Abby was in the 8th grade, we went to Washington DC with a stop in NY first for the 9/11 Memorial (didn't do the museum as it opened the day after we left) and the Statue of Liberty. If you go later in the month, it shouldn't be a problem but I'm thinking the first and second weeks could be busy.

[Huntermom]

I no longer stay in NYC (family a half hour out) but think people should look to options that are a mass transit ride away if they want to save money.

NYC is huge and hot and crowded in the summer. It should also be experienced by everyone.

If the rates seem high, compare them to Disney. It surprises me that people complain about $300+ a night in cities but don't blink an eye at paying that or more at Disney. You also don't have to pay a ticket price on top of that.

You can do/see a lot in Manhattan for little cost. Central Park is free and IMHO worth a half day or more of exploration.

ETA: City pass is $114., the same as a Disney Day. It will last many more days. http://www.citypass.com/new-york

[wheatenwalker]

The Hilton Garden Inn in Tribeca is nice, clean and generally reasonably priced..great location, easy to walk to 9/11 museum , the Village, Chelsea and SoHo. Chinatown and Little Italy are super close too.The subway is right there ( the 1.2.3) which will get you to midtown in a flash and its a very short walk to the A,C,E. Lots of great places to eat in Tribeca too..

[poohmaine]

We had a lovely stay at TRIP, W 35th Street, it was just 2 blocks from Penn Station (we arrived by train). We could walk to Times Square, but it was far enough away from the chaos to be able to relax. I would also recommend taking the subway instead of a tourist bus to get a feel for the real NYC.

Do not miss walking the Highline! It should be in full bloom in June and will be wonderful! Do Top of the Rock instead of the Empire State Building (Make sure you climb all the way to the tip-top (a lot of people miss the stairs). We did it at night and it was magical!