Author Topic: Hotel in New York City?  (Read 8711 times)

Runny

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Hotel in New York City?
« on: August 26, 2013, 04:47:54 PM »
Hello fellow Mustachians!

Could anybody recommend a cheap hotel in New York? My boyfriend and I were planning on staying there the week of September 23rd but the rates that I'm looking at are insane. I would also be open to swapping condos for a week (would require some convincing work with my boyfriend but I'm sure he would agree to it). We live in Montreal.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2013, 04:54:51 PM by Runny »

Russ

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2013, 07:55:05 PM »
AirBnB, or if you're lucky AirMnM

RhythmKats

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2013, 08:32:31 AM »
Welcome to NYC! Fall is a great time to visit.

+1 to AirBnB ( although there's been some pushback from the city regarding AirBnB)

You could also check out the Hostel on the Upper West Side
http://hinewyork.org

I think the West Side YMCA might rent rooms too. I'm not sure though.

Chris

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2013, 08:43:42 AM »
There are quite a few hostels in NYC with good ratings.

RhythmKats

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2013, 01:10:19 PM »
I was unaware of many of these hostels. The one in Queens, the Q4 Hotel, is close to where I live. I can vouch that it's a safe area...maybe not the most exciting area to look at, but safe. Also, it's practically on top of good transit options. Probably a 10 minute subway ride to Times Sq.

Also, be sure to eat in Queens! We have the best food from all over the world.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2013, 01:14:05 PM by RhythmKats »

ioseftavi

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2013, 06:11:55 PM »
Astoria here, checking in.  Food is indeed the best.

Second the opinion that you look for a hostel.  NYC hotel prices can be insane.  If you really want to stay in a proper hotel on a budget, you'll have the best luck looking in places in the outer boroughs (not manhattan) like Queens or Brooklyn - I'd particularly recommend Queens, since it'll likely be closer to many of the places you want to visit in Manhattan.

As far as apartment swapping, I'd actually be down for that (never been to Montreal!) but just took my vacation.  But who knows, maybe someday!

oldtoyota

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2013, 07:48:55 PM »
You can stay in an AirBNB or VRBO on the F Line in Brooklyn and be close to Coney Island as well as Manhattan. I just did that, and it was a blast. Plus, you can enjoy Prospect Park.

We paid around $170/night for a 1 BR with a kitchen, and the subway was at the corner.




Riceman

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2013, 10:23:24 PM »
Sohotel in Soho was great. Expensive by mustache standards but good for NY (200 night, which includes crazy taxes of 40+ a night).

penny

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2013, 10:40:08 PM »
Airbnb should be your first stop, don't be afraid of jersey city, queens, harlem, etc. LaQuinta in woodside is right by the subway and if there isn't a mets game, well worth it price wise. Otherwise I stay at the Jane http://www.thejanenyc.com/ and you can talk yourself into it having "character", it's a good value, and seemingly better than some hostels.  Other option is certainly priceline name your own price- there are so many hotels in midtown that never fill up, and they are happy to give rooms away in times square for a hundy (plus taxes). Not denying that is expensive, but certainly better than the going rate in the area. I've had much better luck scoring one of those 4 star hotel deals at the last minute, if that's a route your willing to take I'd suggest finding a place you can cancel in the event that works out.

Runny

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2013, 05:32:57 AM »
Thanks for all your suggestions! You guys are amazing (but I knew that already). I was looking into Airbnb but I've heard there has been some backlash against it in NY and a ruling considered it illegal. Also, I had found a nice room on Airbnb in Harlem, but I wasn't sure if it's safe area at night.

I checked out the Jane for the last week of September,  but it still seems quite pricy. Another hotel that we had found was this one http://www.vervehotel.com/.  We have a CAA card (I know it's not considered very Mustachian but it usually gives us great discounts on hotels; Ironically we're not even taking the car but the train from Montreal to NYC). It's in Long Island so I guess we could take the train into Manhattan??

Also, we found that a lot of the hotels, even the more expensive ones have bedbugs. We usually check the hotel name in the bed bug registry http://www.bedbugregistry.com/.

I'll definitely check out the hostels and other options that you recommended as well.

Thanks everybody! I can't wait for our one week getaway in NY!

RhythmKats

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #10 on: August 29, 2013, 12:49:04 PM »
Runny,

Note that the Verve Hotel is in Long Island CITY, not Long Island. Long Island City is part of Queens and the hotel is a few blocks from the 39th Ave N/Q subway station.

I live relatively close to this hotel. I've never been inside, but it would be a very short subway ride into Manhattan. Maybe 12 minutes to Times Sq. There isn't much happening in the area immediately around the hotel, but I wouldn't consider it unsafe, just quiet. Just be aware as you would in any big city and you should be fine.

Also, if you walk north 10 minutes (or take the subway a few more stops into Queens) you'll have plenty of great restaurants to choose from.

ioseftavi

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #11 on: August 29, 2013, 01:23:16 PM »
Also, I had found a nice room on Airbnb in Harlem, but I wasn't sure if it's safe area at night.

Where in Harlem?  The side of town and height (north to south) makes a huge difference.  Parts of it are very much not safe at night, other parts are OK.  Source: I lived in Harlem for 4 years, all of it in a not-safe area.

Please post the nearest intersection or PM me the details if you like.

Runny

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #12 on: August 30, 2013, 05:21:01 AM »
oops sorry, Long Island City. Sorry I got confused RhythmKats. I've heard from several people that Queens has amazing food.  Are there any (affordable) places you can recommend? Also, would you happen to know if there are any good grocery stores in the area?

ioseftavi, I tried finding that room in Harlem on Airbnb again, but I can't find it. In general, which areas would you consider safe?

ioseftavi

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #13 on: August 30, 2013, 06:22:36 AM »
ioseftavi, I tried finding that room in Harlem on Airbnb again, but I can't find it. In general, which areas would you consider safe?

Safe areas would be the area around Columbia University, which is really not quite Harlem.  It's the lower half of the sub-neighborhood of Morningside Heights.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morningside_Heights,_New_York_City

Central Harlem, directly north of central park, is OK (not great, but OK) up to perhaps 116th street.

East Harlem is not OK.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Harlem#Social_issues  The very lowest part of spanish harlem, maybe 96th-100th streets on the East Side, isn't too bad - it's more like the upper east side than it is East Harlem.  North of that, it goes downhill pretty quickly.

Hope this helps!

EDIT:  For what it's worth, I'd recommend the stuff that RhythmKats is recommending.  I live in Queens now (Astoria) and most of the queens neighborhoods that have been suggested are miles better than Harlem in terms of safety and appeal.  Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, would all be my first suggestions.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2013, 06:25:45 AM by ioseftavi »

Peony

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #14 on: August 30, 2013, 06:48:09 AM »
I don't think you, as a traveler, need to worry about the debate over AirBnB in NYC at this point. That would be a problem for the person renting out their place, who may be running afoul of their lease or of city laws regarding hotel taxes and such. It would not affect someone staying in an apartment or a room for a few days -- there are no "illegal B&B police," and if there were, the likelihood they'd find *your* situation is pretty much zero. I recently stayed in an AirBnB rental in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, and it went without a hitch. We paid about $80 per night for a small apartment. While I wouldn't recommend Greenpoint as a base for sightseeing (dicey transportation if you're not already really familiar with NYC), the idea of a Brooklyn or Queens AirBnB rental is a good one. Next time, maybe plan ahead for an apartment swap. A friend in Montreal swapped her Little Italy place for one in Brooklyn and was able to take her 3 kids for a really reasonable NYC vacation. She arranged the apartment swap via Craigslist; once she had found the couple to swap with they agreed on the mutually-acceptable time period.

RhythmKats

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #15 on: August 30, 2013, 08:36:08 AM »
Hi Runny,

There aren't any grocery stores that I know of in the immediate area of the hotel. On this map, I'd check out either Trade Fair on 36th Ave (D) or Western Beef (F). They'd be a little bit of a walk, but not too bad. http://goo.gl/maps/L8GfN,

As far as restaurants...most things in Astoria are reasonable by NYC standards. I know there are a few other Astorians lurking around, so maybe they can chime in also. Below are a few places I suggest.

http://www.thekingfalafel.com (Middle Eastern) This guy is a rock star in the neighborhhood! It's a food cart, but it's really good. He's located on the corner of Broadway and 30th Street, right off the Broadway N/Q stop). The location listed on Yelp is wrong.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/café-triskell-long-island-city-2(French, crepes)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/arepas-cafe-astoria (Venezuelan)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/john-brown-smokehouse-long-island-city-3 (BBQ)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/seva-astoria (Indian)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/basil-brick-oven-pizza-astoria (brick oven, neapolitan style pizza)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pachanga-patterson-astoria (contemporary Mexican)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/los-portales-taqueria-astoria (Mexican)

Dessert
http://omoniacafe.com (good for Greek Desserts)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/al-sham-sweets-and-pastries-astoria (Middle Eastern desserts) located in the Little Egypt section of Astoria, which is cool to walk around if you have a chance.

If you're here on a Friday night and looking for a place to grab a beer, http://thequeenskickshaw.com is kind of a hip bar that usually has good music on Friday nights (no cover).

I'm kind of food crazy and could go on and on....But generally speaking, if you get off the train at Broadway or 30th Ave in Queens, there are lots of restaurants/cafes on both of those streets.

Dr. A

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #16 on: August 30, 2013, 08:45:00 AM »
Also, there's a fantastic beer garden a bit further up on the N train:

http://www.bohemianhall.com/en/Index.php

minimalist

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #17 on: August 30, 2013, 10:59:54 AM »
Four years ago, I found a luxury apartment in Brooklyn for $175 per week (2 BR shared with the landlord) on Craigslist. I stayed there for two weeks and saved a lot of money by cooking and making coffee at the apartment. I just took a quick look at Craigslist and there are still deals to be had.

Runny

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Re: Hotel in New York City?
« Reply #18 on: September 01, 2013, 08:39:53 AM »
Thanks everybody for your comments and tips! I borrowed a few NYC travel guides from the library but getting advice from you guys is way more valuable!