first timer needs advice

hi everyone

me and other half are from the uk and are looking at going to new york next early feb for my birthday.

I have lots of questions and would really appreciate any advice people can give.

1) Looking at staying at the Wellington? Is this an ok hotel? We%26#39;re not looking for anything great, just as long as its clean and in a good location for a good price.

2) what is the weather like in Feb?

3) we%26#39;re looking to go for 3 nights (fri to mon). What are the must do%26#39;s for a first trip to new york that we could fit into 3 days?

4) what%26#39;s the best way of getting from JFK to the Wellington? And roughly how much does it cost?

5) any othet tips for doing new york on a budget?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

first timer needs advice

Hi Kelly, and happy birthday (way in advance)

1) I manage a hotel so I generally don%26#39;t comment on hotels, sorry

2) it is (usually) cold in feb, about 30F, but check out weatherunderground.com with your dates.

3) pick a few things and do them don%26#39;t try to stuff too much in, you will enjoy yourself more.

4) a taxi will cost $45_tip+tolls, max $60. The subway will be $7 per person Take the airtrain to the Jamaca, then the E train to 7th avenue, you will have a short 2-3 block walk to your hotel

5) American Musume of Natural History and the Metropolitan musume of art are ';pay what you wish';. Frick museume is pay what you wish on sunday mornings. At the natural history musume special exhibits and shows are extra.

first timer needs advice

k%26amp;j - at the top of this forum is an FAQ ';sticky'; that has links to threads and pages on your exact questions. Check it out, lots of great info. If you can%26#39;t find something, let us know.

Also, when you post back, please give us some specifics on tastes, budget, dislikes, etc - ';on a budget'; is too subjective. Detailed questions get detailed answers.

1) It is ';ok'; as budget hotels go, but since early Feb. is a relatively inexpensive time to visit (for hotels), you probably can do much much better. The Wellington is a hotel used very often on air/hotel packages and I think for that time of year, if you book separately, you can wind up with a much nicer hotel.

2) Usually cold, sometimes snow. wunderground.com has a trip planner that will give you historic temps for previous years.

3) No 2 people like the same things. Doing an overview tour is usually a good idea. Given the weather, I%26#39;d consider one of the tours from

onboardtours.com

since they use closed (ie heated!) buses vs. the hop on/off buses which are open on top.

4)There is no ';best'; way to get to any hotel. There%26#39;s cheapest, fastest and easiest, usually not the same thing. Have you seen the FAQ? It%26#39;s got that and lots more.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k1948627鈥?/a>

5) There are very few questions that haven%26#39;t been asked before. ;) There%26#39;s a search function just above, just if you search nyc on a budget or some such, lots of previous posts. Here%26#39;s an article kateoz posted a while back from Time Out magazine with some ideas

timeout.com/newyork/鈥ocket-watch

Here%26#39;s a budget guide from NY magazine

nymag.com/cheap

My top ideas

Eat a nice lunch (many restaurants do prix fixe lunch, always cheaper than dinner) and grab a casual dinner of pizza, pasta etc.

TKTS booth for a show

Take advantage of free stuff (from the STaten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty to free walking tours)

thanks so much for your replies.

It really helps with where to start as i had no clue! Will definitely check out the sticky%26#39;s at the top of the forum for more ideas.

good news about the heated buses! Was hoping to do something like that. I don%26#39;t mind the cold (actually prefer winter and wrapping up warm).

I%26#39;m not sure yet what our overall budget would be. We%26#39;d like to do the main tourist things I think. And really just try and find the cheapest way of doing them to save some money.

Other half would really like to catch a sports game whilst we%26#39;re out there, something like basketball or ice hockey. Does anyone know where the best place to get tickets is for those and if Feb is ';in season';?

thanks again

Both basketball and ice hockey are on in Feb. Look on the Madison Square Garden website and check 2008 season schedule for the Knicks and the Rangers.