Best Area to Stay In New York
Replies: 37 - Last Post: Jun 21, 2011 4:19 PM Last Post By: Fudgy_the_Whale
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Best Area to Stay In New York
Hi Guys,Sorry for a potentially annoying question but I haven't been to New York, so not sure which out of these is the best options (other threads say Manhattan generally).
We're a couple
We don't mind hostels,although it would need to be a private room
Our budget is maximum $120 p/night (both of us)
We'd like to do see all the usual tourist sites
We're only in New York for 5 nights, 4 days so do not really want to be travelling ages each day.
I found these options within our budget, please could you reccommend which area is best please?:
Greenwich Village
Lower East Side
East of Central Park
Thanks :)
1
If you're determined to stay in Manhattan however - I would suggest you stay south of 20th Street (so that covers Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side, plus more). We much preferred the southern end, to the usual Times Square / Central Park tourist precincts. We stayed at the Chelsea International Hostel, and unless they have refurbished it quite a bit over the last few years, I would not recommend it. Good location though, although I would have liked to be even further south (14th Street etc). The Chelsea Hotel might appeal to you.If you stay on Manhattan just buy a multi-day metro pass, and travel incessantly on both bus and subway - plus walk too - you can cover a great deal of country in four full days. Allocate at least half aday to the Met (on Central Park) - it's wonderful as a full-on American museum.
2
Thanks the the subway system, getting around NYC is fairly easy.For most tourists, staying around mid-town or south is best.
If you like staying out late, avoid New Jersey. The subway is 24 hours, NJTransit is not.
See FAQs 249, 256 and 268.
4
All those areas are good suggestions, but as Matt states, the Village is probably the most interesting of the three. After that I would suggest East of Central Park, primarily because of well Central Park and you can get to a lot of museums which are generally in the midtown area.have fun on your trip!
8
If you're relatively young and want to experience nightlife, Lower East Side and generally anywhere below 14th Street and above Canal St is best. Staying anywhere north of 14th St is only better if you like really touristy areas, or have business to do in Midtown, or aren't planning on going out at night much - there are generally more hotel options there.9
Much of Manhattan above 14th street isn't "really touristy" and some pockets south of 14th street are quite touristy in their own right. There are plenty of places to go out at night above 14th street and even young people inhabit them. Times Square is touristy, but covers a rather small area. Since we know nothing about you, it's possible you might even prefer certain midtown and uptown neighborhoods to downtown ones.Of course there's no shortage of schlocks who consider 14th Street a cutoff line that shouldn't be crossed, but you need not worry about such nonsense.
Since you did settle on a hotel in the Lower East Side and want to see tourist sites you might look into the Tenement Museum if you hadn't heard of it. Not my favorite, but lots of people are quite taken by it.
10
You should introduce the rest of us to those who willingly choose to spend time out at night in Midtown. It's not just about tourists. It's also about lack of any charm. There's something everywhere in NYC. The point was about the BEST areas for someone young to be at night. But don't let valid statements get in the way of twisting others' words.OP, I'm curious what hotel you found in LES for only $120.
12
The Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Centre, Times Square, Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, the United Nations precinct, and NY Public Library plus Bryant Park - are all very good reasons to visit Midtown during the day ... but further south in the evenings, I reckon.
