Cheaper New York accommodation

Hi there!

I will be travelling with a group of 11 (yep! including my husband, 2 gals and in laws) to NYC in November this year and will be spending 21 days exploring NYC, Washington DC, Niagara Falls, and a week in Orlando (and probably take a 3-night cruise to the Bahamas).

Quite a lot of cover but my main concern is really the accommodation in NYC! The hotel rooms are really expensive as the average cost per night per room is approx USD400. I%26#39;m not sure if it%26#39;s because I%26#39;m researching too early thus there%26#39;s no special offers yet. I do hope so! If not, I don%26#39;t mind staying slightly away from town center and I am looking for a nice and clean hotel or suite-type of hotel within walking distance to public transportation eg subway to the various tourist attractions in downtown NYC. I also hope this hotel can be near any other reputable car renting company so that I can pickup the car easily and drive to Niagara Falls. My budget is around USD200-250 per night per room. Hope I%26#39;m not asking for too much :)

Can someone help pleaseeeee???

Thanks a zillion in advance!!!

:)

Cheaper New York accommodation

I%26#39;m going to go out on a limb and say $200-$250/night in November for a suite-type hotel is going to be near IMPOSSIBLE. You do realize that the average hotel room in NYC is about $300/night.

Suite-type hotels will probably run you about $500+/night at that time of the year. You might want to look into the Embassy Suites in Secaucus, NJ where you can get 2 suites. http://www.broadwayfocus.com/nj_nyc/

You might want to look at getting 3 hotel rooms in Queens.

Cheaper New York accommodation

Hi Broadwaynyc

Thanks for the quick response! Just to check - how far is NJ to Manhattan? Do I take a subway?

That website that I linked explains about transportation options.

Hopefully, somebody will chime in about your Queens options. Also, look into http://www.collectionofresidences.com which is in Woodside Queens.

Try Newton Hotel - I can recommend it see reviews on trip advisor

Don%26#39;t know how many nights you%26#39;re in NYC, but you might consider spending a few staying in Manhattan for the experience and then moving to a New Jersey hotel. The Doubletree Club in Jersey City is one suite hotel near a PATH train (like a subway) into NYC. The other option is to go to the Secaucus/East Rutherford/Meadowlands area of New Jersey where there are a bunch of suite hotels like a Residence Inn, Embassy Suites and others. That%26#39;s a bus ride away. Consider using a rental car if you stay there to get around locally.

If you don%26#39;t mind using a rental car the whole time, the Holiday Inn Ft. Lee, NJ is very affordable but you%26#39;d have to drive in and out of NYC and park the car for the day. Not a suite hotel.

For 11 people, if you rent a car, you%26#39;ll need to look into either 2 cars or a van.

Hi all

Thanks for all the advice!

Let me share my draft itinerary and hope you can help to provide some feedback :

My arrival into JFK is early morning 7am on 20th November and I intend to stay one night before I set off to Niagara falls the next day to catch their Friday fireworks. I%26#39;ll be exploring the Falls area for 3 days and drive down to Washington DC for 2 nights before coming back to NYC on 26th. I decided to break my NYC stay up as I would like to catch the fireworks in Niagara falls then the Macy%26#39;s parade on 27th November. Thus for the 1st night I%26#39;m still contemplating whether to stay outskirts after getting the rental car from the airport and drive into Manhattan for some initial sightseeing. Doing so I hope I can save on the 1st night of accommodation :)

On 26-28th in NYC I still haven%26#39;t decided if I would still be having the car or return it first and then explore the area by foot/subway/buses. Then I%26#39;ll fly down to Orlando for 5 days to visit the theme parks, and also spending another 4 days on the Bahamas cruise before returning to NYC for antoher 2 nights before I fly back to Singapore.

Not sure if this is a good itinerary as I%26#39;m breaking NYC into 3 parts but it%26#39;s really because of the fixed dates for the various events such as fireworks, Macys parade and the cruise dates.

cheers!

I will make a few suggestions. First, the drive to Niagara Falls is long and boring. Instead of staying in NYC for a day when you arrive,

**I would FLY to Buffalo, NY from JFK sometime during that arrival day.**

Flights from NYC to Buffalo are not terribly expensive. I think you can get fares from NY to Buffalo for $79/person. Yes, it will probably be more than doing it your way, but

%26gt;rooms that night in Niagara will be cheaper than NYC

%26gt;hotels near JFK are awful and there%26#39;s nothing to do around there if you stay.

%26gt;It%26#39;s an hour into Manhattan and it will cost over $200 to get your group into Manhattan with luggage.

%26gt;You will probably be jetlagged that day anyway, and using it to travel is a better use of time than wasting a day to drive.

You can then decide whether to rent a car/van in Niagara or just use public transportation to get around.

**I also think that 2 days in Niagara is plenty. You don%26#39;t need 3.

**I would then think about flying to Washington too. Jetblue.com

makes both of these trips (NYC to Buffalo and Buffalo to Washington) but you%26#39;ll find other options on

kayak.com

Hi

My wife and I decided to stay outside Manhattan when we went to NYC in December in order to save some money. Most Manhattan hotels were above 300 USD while Quality Inn in Long Island City was 160$. And the hotel is only 2 stops away from Manhattan on the subway :-) I have posted a review of the hotel in my NYC trip report on gardkarlsen.com/NYC_travelogue_2007.htm

Regards

Gard

Hi nywhiz, gardkelsen

Thanks for the alternative suggestion. I%26#39;m definitely game to get another flight to Niagara when touch down at JFK but with a large group some people (especially the children) may not be able to take it after 24-hours flight from Singapore :)

I%26#39;ll explore the hotels outside of downtown areas such as NJ, etc but I%26#39;m really a little worried about the subway if it%26#39;s safe especially at night heading back to the hotel. Is there anywhere I should avoid?

I%26#39;m currently also exploring renting apartments instead of hotels....

cheers

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