Visiting May20-27

Hi,

My wife and I will be celebrating our anniversary in May. I purchased plane tix without checking out hotel prices and they are high!

I%26#39;ve made tenative reservation for red roof manhatten for about $225 a night. Any advice for a cheaper better quality hotel? I%26#39;ve tried priceline for 4* and nothing within my price range.. their 3* are not good hotels.

Assuming we stay with Red roof:

From JFK to New York city: I heard that taxi will cost 45? Since we%26#39;ll have about 2 luggage and will arrive at 6am on the 20th, what is the best way for us to get to the hotel? I%26#39;ve heard the bus is cheap, any recommendations?

My wife would like to watch a broadway show. I don%26#39;t have a clue about the shows, any help with a good show and plce to get decent seats?

Is 7 days too many for new york? The hotel cost is probably more than what we want to pay. Is may high season?

Any advice of things to do and palces to visit would be great!

Thanks!

Visiting May20-27

Look into The Murray Hills Suites although you may not save that much. Link and click CHECK RATES.

tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60763-d9348鈥?/a>

or the Affinia Manhattan (best rates through their website for their ';guest rooms';

www.affinia.com/reservations/index.html鈥?/a>

The airport bus info is here:

http://www.nyairportservice.com/

May is a pleasant time to visit the city. It%26#39;s not the most expensive time but it isn%26#39;t the cheapest either.

Visiting May20-27

Radio City Apartments have availability for 20-24th May, studio apartment, 1 double, 155$/night. It%26#39;s bothersome to move for the last 2 nights, of course, but there is a remarkable price difference and the bonus of a kitchen, another possibility to save money. Check out the reviews here on Trip Advisor. You could make a cancellable reservation at another hotel for the last two nights. For example, you can get the Belvedere or the Affinia Dumont for 239 $/night for those dates on quikbook.com. The Affinia is more luxurious than RCA, so that may make the move more acceptable..

Maybe Priceline will offer something better closer to your departure date, but that last weekend is Memorial Day weekend, so it%26#39;s bound to be quite busy.

7 days is not enough for New York! We were there for 6 days in May 2005 and we%26#39;re coming back this year, 11-17 May, staying at RCA. To whet your appetite, read some trip reports here to get ideas as to what to do and buy a guide book. It%26#39;s a good idea to use the search function for more specific information on things like Broadway tickets and restaurants.

When it comes to priceline, patience is a virtue. That is the best tip I can offer to people considering it.

First, just confirm that Red Roof is cancellable and up until what date and time. That way you know how long you can keep checking out other possibilities.

Keep checking travelzoo.com. Starting in March/April you will probably see specials for May.

It is probably too early to get a good deal on priceline, so it is good that you stopped. Lately I have noticed (on betterbidding.com) that the most commonly won 4* hotels are the Grand Hyatt in midtown east, and the Hilton NY in midtown west. But they don%26#39;t open the floodgates this far in advance.

This is where patience is a virtue.

Keep an eye on the New York board on betterbidding. Notice what others are paying and getting.

Recently I was looking for a priceline deal. Months in advance I checked and nothing, then two days before my trip I got an excellent bargain when the Grand Hyatt opened up a block of rooms.

One thing I noticed during my ordeal was that when a hotel matching the description of the Grand Hyatt opens up on hotwire, it is likely available on priceline for a lot less.

So it is good to monitor hotwire and see what%26#39;s being offered for your travel dates. Two ways to help decipher what the hotwire properties are: There is a pinned hotwire list on the NY board at betterbidding.com, and if you click packages on hotwire (such as airfare and hotel), you will get a listing of hotels with their amenities and star ratings.

For additional help, post a question on betterbidding, and they will help you develop a bidding strategy.

It is quite early for May. I think booking the Red Roof for now is fine but you should keep checking websites like travelzoo.com (March/April would be the time they%26#39;d start showing specials for May I think) and quikbook.com for better deals. You can also keep trying bidding on Priceline. I agree stick with 4* hotels but it%26#39;s really early for a May bid. To what price did you bid?

The taxi from JFK to anywhere in Manhattan is a flat rate of $45. When you add possible toll and tip it%26#39;s about $55-60. The Express buses are good value at $30 for both of you if you%26#39;re staying right near one of their stops. The Red Roof happens to be right near Penn Station so that would work. YOu could also take the AirTrain to the Long Island Railroad which also goes into Penn Station for about the same price. It might be a bit faster but the LIRR will be crowded at that hour from rush hour.

For shows, there are many ways to get tickets, some at discount. Since your wife wants the show, perhaps you should let her chose which one. Playbill.com is a good place to see what%26#39;s playing and read reviews. Theatermania.com is another good site for that. Both of these sites have discounts but you have to register (for free) to see them and they generally are good for a few months at a time so May discounts may not yet be posted. Broadwaybox.com is a website with discount codes that doesn%26#39;t require registration but again it may be too early for May. Certain of the top shows are never available on discount.

As to the length of the stay, 7 days is not too long, but if you%26#39;re a person who doesn%26#39;t like to stay in one place for too long, you could certainly take some day trips out of the city or even spend a few days elsewhere. May is generally a lovely time weatherwise and nice for seeing a bit of countryside. Here are 2 websites with ideas for day trips. The Rockefeller Estate, Kykuit is a great day trip and can be done on the train or I think there may be a boat cruise up the Hudson.

littleviews.com/home/newyork/day_trips.cfm鈥?/a>

www.gabiwrites.com/index.cfm鈥?/a>

You need to get a guide book or do some reading online. If you tell us some more about you and your wife (interests etc.) we can make some suggestions.

Getting from the airport:

I%26#39;d highly recommend the AirTrain to the E subway train at Jamaica to 42nd Street/8th Ave/Times Square. The AirTrain is $5.00 (you pay as you exit the AirTrain). Take it to the Jamaica Station. Then by a MetroCard ($2.00 for a single ride, but you might as well buy more rides) to get on the subway and take the E train into Manhattan. Stay in the back of the train. Get off at 42nd Street/Times Square.

Another option is the NEW YORK AIRPORT SERVICE BUS.

Info at: http://www.nyairportservice.com/fares.html

Take the bus from outside of your terminal to the Port Authority bus terminal, at 8th Ave and 42nd St. The fare is $15 one way or $27 round trip.

Theatre: You can get discounted same-day B%26#39;way show tix at our two TKTS booths. Cash only. The one at the South Street Seaport opens at 11 AM, earlier than the Times Square location.

http://www.tdf.org/TDF_ServicePage.aspx?id=56

But, for hot shows such as Wicked, Mary Poppins, Jersey Boys, you probly won%26#39;t find them listed ';on the boards'; at the TKTS booths. So buy your tix in advance via above-mentioned websites. (playbill.com, broadwaybox.com, theatremania.com...)

I think you%26#39;ll find plenty to do for 7 days. Since (hopefully) the weather will be nice, you can spend a day getting out of Manhattan, checking out Brighton Beach and Coney Island, the Bronx Zoo, the Bronx Botanical Gardens, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and the Brooklyn Museum, Prospect Park, a baseball game, etc.

This is a collection of trip reports written by couples. (It gets more organized on the second page.) Most were first timers. Steal an itinerary!

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k472956-鈥?/a> Collection_of_trip_reports_from_couples_great_ideas-

Also, you should start checking out maps and books. Frommer%26#39;s website has great sample itineraries:

www.frommers.com

Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it!

I will need to cancel Red Roof by 3pm the day prior to my first night.

I guess I can wait a bit longer. I waited for Monterey/Carmel a few months back and did not get any room in the class that I want, even up to the day before my arrival. It appears that the 20-24th are especially high. I will wait for those days. I realized that Millenium UN Plaza is at 179 plus tax for 24-26th. I might just book it instead, a nice big room. I read soem where you can%26#39;t even move in your room because it was so small.. i want to avoid those!

I bidded up to $185 for a 4* with no luck. I%26#39;ve gone up to about $140 for 3* with no luck.

Is there place to put your luggage on the airbus and subway into new york? I guess since it%26#39;s so early in the morning on a sunday, it shouldn;t be crowded at all.

Another alternative is maybe stay on NYC for a few days and spend the other 4 days traveling to other states? How far are other states from new york? Like New Jersey, Philly.. a friend recommended that.. a road trip might not be bad.. or even a 3-4 day tour might be fun?

Thanks!

Is the Millennium UN Plaza cancellable? If so, you can book that now and still test out the priceline waters in another month or so. Those rooms are reported to be spacious and have views of the city or East River. Nice upgrade over the Red Roof.

Yup I have red roof from May20-23 then 24-26 at Millenium. I hope that

I can snag a 4* closer to my departure date. Off thing about red roof is that charge by the # of people, so if there are two people it%26#39;s 20 more.. i mean how are they gonna find our if there are two of us or one of us? I%26#39;ve never had this issue, here in california and vegas, you pay for a room and it doesn;t matter if u have 1 or 2 people.

I will need to pay attention to what has been won and where.

Now the hard thing is to plan what we wanna do and so forth... 8 days is a lot to plan out..

Maybe renting a car and driving to other states might not be such a bad idea afterall!

Any advice?

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