Help with planning a trip to NYC

[Dznypal]

I’m trying to help a friend plan a trip to NYC around the Christmas holidays.
I know budget and NYC around the holidays don’t go together but I’m trying to get ball park figures and tips

Any ideas on hotels and prices at the this time
It will be my friend her son and his family. 2 girls around 12 and 6. They’re really not sure yet if they want to stay over the actual holidays or just before it gets super busy
Actually when does NYC gets busy for the holidays
Like is there a lull just before Christmas
Thanks

 

[Anthony1971]

Can‘t comment on pricing I just work in Midtown…. The week of Christmas and between Christmas and NY are very crowded. Prior it is hit and miss. With this… I walked to see the tree Friday before Christmas around 10am and it was fairly empty. Went with family the Friday night before NY and you could not move in the times sq and tree areas. Early December is not crowded especially before the tree is officially lit although it is usually lit for testing I guess. There is plenty of reasonable places to eat on side streets especially in the 30‘s between 6th and Madison ave. Reasonable is NY prices but decent food for a decent prices.

 

[rockawaybeachgirl]

I’m trying to help a friend plan a trip to NYC around the Christmas holidays.
I know budget and NYC around the holidays don’t go together but I’m trying to get ball park figures and tips

Any ideas on hotels and prices at the this time
It will be my friend her son and his family. 2 girls around 12 and 6. They’re really not sure yet if they want to stay over the actual holidays or just before it gets super busy
Actually when does NYC gets busy for the holidays
Like is there a lull just before Christmas
Thanks

Local NYC'er here - NYC is insanely busy from Thanksgiving week through New years. There is definitely NOT a lull just before Christmas - if anything I'd say maybe the first weekend in December would be the 'slowest' option but even that is relative.

Any decent hotel in Midtown is likely going to be $350+ a night EASY at that time - so one option is to look into areas just outside Manhattan that are close/easy to get to or from, like Jersey City or Astoria/LIC in Queens. Kayak is a good hotel to check prices, they are out already for next December.

Another thing to mention is to make sure that the look at the bed situation in the rooms - some rooms are equipped for only two people and even those for 4 can be tight, especially since it's a mom, son and grandchildren. All suite hotels like an Embassy Suites or Residence Inns might be better with kids of those ages and the mom/son thing.

One thing I would suggest if they do end up going at that time - do the Christmas touristy stuff early in the day. Every year I take my son to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. This year I took him to the 10am show (first of the day) on the 23rd. We went to Rockefeller Center first at around 9:15 and it was pleasantly empty - I was able to get a picture of him in front of the tree with almost no people in the background. We walked around 5th Avenue/St Pats Cathedral for a bit - also no crowds - before the show. After the show we walked back through \Rock Center around 11:45 to get to our lunch reservation and it was a madhouse! Such a difference.

Good luck to your friends and i hope it works out.

 

[Jimsig]

Where are they coming from? How are they getting there, driving, flying, train?

 

[clh2]

We had a great visit in 2012, from Sun Dec 16 and left Wednesday December 19. We did some things that cost money (saw the ”Newsies” on Broadway), and did other things that were absolutely free.

There was a phenomenal free display of Lion King costumes (as Lion King was celebrating 15 years on Broadway).

We took a free guided tour of Central Park.

We got a map online that detailed department store Christmas windows.

The lobby of the New York Times building was awesome! There is a display called “Movable Type”, I could have spent hours there.

The New York Public Library was gorgeous, as was Grand Central Station. We also loved the Bryant Park area, kind of a Christmas Market, with pop-up shops.

We were fortunate enough to get tickets to see a taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a lot of fun, and we had a ball!

Another fun thing, was just walking around a big toy store, AFO Schwartz perhaps.

The Rockerfeller Tree was fun too, as was watching the skaters!

You can spend some money in NYC, but I would recommend balancing a couple of “spendy” things with some lower cost things!

 

[Dznypal]

Thanks so much for all the great tips. I’ll for sure to let my friend know
There still at the very beginning of putting this together
Friends DIL is putting this all together I should have mentioned that.
There be a total of 5. Friend. Her son. DIL. 2 grand kids.
So that puts 5 in the room then I suppose that changes the hotel a bit thanks again
It sounds like there flying but that’s even not 100%

 

[Dznypal]

I gave all the info to my friend she was happy with what I gave her
she did come up with another question though

when should reserve a room
there still thinking for manhattan/times square just to be close to things
I didnt think of asking if they were renting car and driving to places
thanks again

 

[DisneyTexan]

there still thinking for manhattan/times square just to be close to things
I didnt think of asking if they were renting car and driving to places

Don't stay in Times Square. It will be too chaotic right outside the door of the hotel, and its possible there would be street noise issues even if they are on the 20th floor. A great hotel location is anything near a major subway station.

I can't imagine why they would need a car. The public transportation system in NYC is the best in the world, and it would be expensive to park a car at a hotel.

 

[Jimsig]

I gave all the info to my friend she was happy with what I gave her
she did come up with another question though

when should reserve a room
there still thinking for manhattan/times square just to be close to things
I didnt think of asking if they were renting car and driving to places
thanks again

They should reserve a refundable room any time and then keep checking back for price drops as well as check other hotels.

Are they flying in or planning on driving to NYC? If driving, from what direction are they coming from as there are places to park outside the city and take the train in. For example I will usually park at Stamford and take Metro North in, takes about an hour. It's only $10 a day to park there and I have seen hotels that charge $75 or more. Unless they are used to driving in a big city driving in NYC is not for the faint of heart if you are trying to find out where you are going. Also anyplace they would drive in the city they would have to pay for parking and that can add up on top of what they would be paying to park at the hotel. If flying in there are ways into the city that don't require a car.

 

[AlohaNow]

If they are Costco members they should look into booking a hotel through Costco Travel. The last time we went to NYC we got a phenomenal deal on the Marriott Marquis in Times Square that even included round-trip airport transfers. I don’t know if phenomenal deals are available during the holidays, as demand will be way up for NYC, but it’s worth a check.

 

[livih99]

I went this past year during the first weekend of December. We did Friday/Saturday and drove home fairly early on Sunday. Friday was way less busy than Saturday, on Saturday it was pretty difficult to move around in busier areas (Rockefeller Center, 5th Ave, Bryant Park, etc.). I'll also reiterate the whole bed situation. It was kind of hard to find hotels that had more than one bed, and the ones that did were not cheap. We ended up staying at the Marriott Courtyard New York Manhattan/5th Ave. We stayed partially with points so I don't remember how much it would have been paying cash. We really enjoyed it though, especially the location. Right off of 5th Ave next to Bryant Park, which is the area we wanted to be in.

 

[livih99]

I didnt think of asking if they were renting car and driving to places

I would definitely recommend against this. They would have to pay not only to park at the hotel (which can be well over $50 a day) but also anywhere else they go. NYC is probably the most walkable city in the US and if they're going to something further or don't want to walk that much, the subway is fairly cheap and easy to navigate and there are taxis and ubers/lyfts everywhere.

 

[Deb1993]

Great suggestions - definitely try to make a trip downtown to the Wall Street area too.

 

[mjkacmom]

A way to save money and deal with a lot less crowds would be going right after new years. Renting a car and driving it around nyc is not a thing. We sometimes drive in but book a garage through an app like parking panda and leave it there until we are going home (we can also bus, train, or ferry in).

 

[Kestryl]

So we drove to NYC, but that's because it was last minute and flights were $800 a person, and I wasn't about to pay that. We stayed in Queens and our hotel happened to have parking for $20 a night.

That said, I don't recommend driving in NYC if you have a choice. It's incredibly chaotic, traffic is awful, and between tolls and gas and parking it's expensive. It was our best option at the time, but seriously, I don't think it's a good idea overall.

We used public transport while we were there. It worked out great. We never needed a taxi (or Uber or similar). Just hop on the subway, make a transfer or two, and ta dah, we're there.

I personally would get a room as soon as it make sense, but I also book refundable rates.

We ate a lot of pizza while there. (And a chicken bucket... Yankee Stadium, what a trip.) One of the places we went to was cash only, so be prepared for that.

 

[SwanVT2]

Keep In mind that any of the TV shows do not allow kids to be in the audience. We enjoyed staying near the public library, 5th avenue and away from the bustle of Times Square but still close enough to the action. Check out the Hyatt

 

[AnnaS]

Besides some already mentioned,
summitov.com
Train, bus or taxi to get around
My cousin was just here last month from Italy - Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott/NY 5th avenue. He said location was perfect. Price reasonable but it was end of January.

 

[mikehn]

This is about THE worst time to go to NYC, thanksgiving through the new year. There is absolutely nothing budget, none, nada. Traffic and congestion is just suffocating. I am totally serious.

 

[fofinia]

We went to NYC this past June. We are a family of 5. And we were going to see Hamilton. I wanted to stay close enough to the theater to walk. We stayed at the Hyatt Place Midtown/South 52 W 36th St., New York, NY. We had a two queen and a pull out couch. The room was tiny after the bed opened up. But we only stayed two nights. The breakfast was really good for free hotel breakfast. They added chives to the scrambled eggs. I thought that was a nice touch!

I'm one of the few who wanted to drive in. I don't like public transport very much. Parking two buildings away from our hotel ended up being $50 a night. I could've paid less through a parking app. But the parking was further away and I didn't want to deal with it. The best part for me... I traded in rewards points from one of my credit cards - Chase Ultimate Rewards- I traded them into Hyatt reward points. I traded $450+ worth of reward points for enough Hyatt point s to get two nights covered. The rate for those nights was $650 per night. I felt like I got a deal!! I learned about Hyatt's reward program by reading the I love credit card thread!

 

[Dznypal]

I think my friend is in for sticker shock. Not only price was but also crowd wise.
She thinks they can just pop over to Rockefeller to go ice skating
Her daughter in law is planning all of this and really doesn’t have anything booked
How soon should they book the hotel.
She’s interested in what I’ve been telling her