gavin18787
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Registered: 22nd Feb 05
Location: Basildon, Essex
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Looking to book a holiday there
Never been there or america for that matter. Who have people booked with etc. Advice places to stay etc etc
Drives supercharged Tec with torque  
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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most people seem to stay at the novotel in times sq. its a great location and a perfectly nice hotel 
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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I'll give the same advice I give everyone else going to NYC - skip staying at an expensive Times Square hotel.
SoHo, NoHo and the Villages has a lot more soul, more quirky shops and restaurants and is significantly cheaper.
Manhattan is so small you can easily see everything in a week, no matter where you stay.
If you want to travel halfway around the world to shop at the same brand name stores and eat at the same chain restaurants you see at home, sure, stay in Times Square.
Want to see a more interesting side of New York, stay in the lower part of Manhattan.
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stuartmitchell
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Registered: 24th Apr 04
Location: Kirkliston, Edinburgh
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I agree With Balling.
We stayed at Sheraton Times Square 
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gavin18787
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Registered: 22nd Feb 05
Location: Basildon, Essex
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quote:
Originally posted by Robbo
most people seem to stay at the novotel in times sq. its a great location and a perfectly nice hotel
That happens to be the one I am looking at on last min. Does look nice
Balling tempted by what you say but its for the Mrs birthday so probably same chains and shops as home is partly what she wants 
Any recomendations for those areas?
Drives supercharged Tec with torque
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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Precisely - i agree with balling in principle except most people who go there are going for their firts time and msot liekly with a bird. if you can afford it, staying in times sq is super cool but its the same as london, staying on the outskirts and gettign tube in is super easy but beign super central is part of the charm nonetheless
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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quote:
Originally posted by gavin18787
quote:
Originally posted by Robbo
most people seem to stay at the novotel in times sq. its a great location and a perfectly nice hotel
That happens to be the one I am looking at on last min. Does look nice
honestly, everyone i know who goes to NYC stays there i liked it, the weird twin lifts aside lol
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willay
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Organiser: South East, National Events
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Registered: 10th Nov 02
Location: Roydon, Essex
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Going in November, booked flight with Virgin and found a hostel hotel type dealio on the Internet, doing 5 days.
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Aaron
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Registered: 9th Aug 04
Location: Cottingham, East Riding
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I'll be there this time next month. Booked through Thomas Cook as we're first timers. Staying at the Hotel Metro.
We've got the following booked:
NHL game at the garden (Rangers vs LA)
Empire State
Top of the Rock
Some boat trip
That museum with the odd name
and probably some other stuff which i can't remember
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RichR
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Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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I've just got back; stayed at the Novotel, it's ideally placed and I somewhat disagree with Balling-Noho and Soho are quite south whereas Times Sq. is pretty central, as such it makes a great base for heading in any direction and given that the transport network is so good, I'd rather stay in the centre of the action so to speak.
The hotel is excellent and has been voted as the 'best view from a bar' anywhere in NYC as it is a balcony over Broadway looking straight down towards Times Sq. Wifi is available a cost in the rooms but there are four macs in the lobby along with a printer which are free to use; lift situation can be tiresome but just don't use them at peak times. I was on the 26th floor with a great view of the Hudson and Intrepid.
I took a trip out of NYC to New Jersey to watch NJ Devils vs NY Islanders at the Prudential Centre; we ended up in the home team's bar for beer and wings before the game which was awesome and probably a little more authentic to normal NHL teams than Rangers at MSG.
I did the Empire State, Staten Island ferry past the Statue of Liberty; The Intrepid Museum was awesome and we did a ridiculous amount of walking around Central Park and spending time in Little Italy, Noho, Soho etc. went to a great seafood restaurant off 5th avenue called 'City Lobster'.
Highlight was going to Eleven Madison Park which is a 3 michelin starred restaurant recently voted the fifth best restaurant in the world. It's not exactly cheap, our bill was $925 but it was excellent and each of the 16 courses was fantastic in both quality and taste.
Had a couple of hours to kill the final morning so we went to Madam Tussauds which wasn't worth it. We also went to Minus 5, the ice bar at the Hilton which was terrible beyond words and not worth the entry fee or the extortionate price of drinks.
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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There's also Grand Central Terminal (Station), Ground Zero, MOMA, Guggenheim, AMNH, Juinors Cheesecake Factory off the top of my head
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RichR
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Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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Don't waste time or money having hotel breakfasts either; find little cafés and diners especially away from the main drags-look for places that look like locals are using to get the best experiences; had some amazing pancakes one morning with bacon, egg and maple syrup-they were awesome but I couldn't find the place when I tried a few days later!!
9/11 memorial is definitely worth it and then the piers around Brooklyn bridge from 6-17 have some really cool outdoor bars and pop up street food areas. It's kind of from the end of Wall Street up to Brooklyn Bridge and one or two blocks back; can't remember the name of the area.
We had one huge bonus on our flight home which was seeing the Northern Lights for about an hour so try and get seats on the left hand side on the way home if you have a night flight.
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RichR
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Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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Did Grand Central Station, Guggenheim, Rockerfella and a few other things. We didn't go to do any shopping but did to Macy's which was a bit dull but then we weren't there to go shopping.
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Tiger
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Registered: 12th Jun 01
Location: Leicestershire Drives:Astra VXR
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I've spent a month in New York in total, I'd go back tomorrow. Loved every minute. Stayed in a hostel in Chelsea, got to meet loads of other people from different countries and was right next to Madison sq garden.
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gavin18787
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Registered: 22nd Feb 05
Location: Basildon, Essex
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Cheers for the comments. Do you have to book some of those things listed above in advance then?
Drives supercharged Tec with torque
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RichR
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Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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The only thing I booked up front was the Ice Hockey and a helicopter night flight; the helicopter trip got cancelled because of noise complaints for taking of and landing after dark. We got up pretty early every day and did the tourist things early doors; there were only 5 people in front of us to go up the Empire State Building as we got in the building at 0730, we were on the observation deck within 20minutes.
The Statten island ferry looked like it was going to be horrendous as there seemed to be a several hundre people in front of us but we still got on the first one that arrive and got seat on the aft deck.
The 9/11 memorial took about 25/30 minutes to get in without tickets including all of the security checks and those with tickets didn't seem to be much quicker.
Didn't queue at all or have problems with anything else we did; might be worth pre-booking theatre tickets if you want to go-there's a place on Times Sq. which sells cheap tickets but the queue was over an hour every day and you don't know what tickets they have until you get to the front; our hotel tried to get is tickets to the Lion King but they couldn't get two seats together.
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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Gavin, remember to scout the hotel lobby for vouchers.
Usually they'll have a foldable city map with vouchers on the back side.
It's mostly between 10-20% discount at the door. Don't think we payed full price for entrance anywhere, so it quickly adds up.
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RichR
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Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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Good point; even if your hotel doesn't have them in an obvious place. Ask the concierge or reception; we got discount at several and queue jump with discount at th intrepid museum.
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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Macy's is so shit
I applied for a job in NYC last week, true story
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RichR
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Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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I went up the wooden escalator to floor 8 and came down again and straight outside; She was looking for a black clutch bag for the night of our meal which was the only reason we went in but it was terrible. They're doing loads of building work in side at the minute which made it worse.
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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Yeah my ex walked in all starry eyed and came out 10 mins later very disappointed ha
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gavin18787
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Registered: 22nd Feb 05
Location: Basildon, Essex
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Also would january be a risky time to go
Drives supercharged Tec with torque
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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most likely be very very cold (likely between 0 and -10) and snowy. its a very windy city due to the tall buildings so not ideal
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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quote:
Originally posted by Robbo
most likely be very very very very very very very very very very cold
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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true dat. I went end of March and it was -5 most days, albeit sunny. the sheer cold, wind and jetlag is not a good mix
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