#8, that is partially not really true (some people, but not "much of NYC's workforce"), and partially extremely misunderstood/misinterpreted. while some people live further distances away, the way Newark Airport is set up and connected with the city (especially if you expect to get around via airport shuttle) makes it inconvenient for daily commuting. not to mention that most people who commute from distances like that have their own cars and more money, monthly light rail transit passes, live in areas which are popular with other commuters, etc. and thus their commute is simpler than the usual airport shlep.
the most obvious point is that it's virtually impossible to avoid rush hour traffic between NJ and Manhattan unless you left your hotel at 6AM each morning and came back quite late at night (like after 8 or 9). another thing to remember is that the commuter trains that service NJ generally run very sporadically late at night -- which means timing your exit perfectly if you want to stay out late in the city. i have friends who live in New Jersey and can only go out for drinks if they constantly look at their watch because in order to be home by 2 or 3 they HAVE to be on that 1:08 train, as there isn't another until 2:28.
not to mention that there is a huge difference between the required daily grind commute and how most people would want things on their vacation. maybe i'm just really in the minority here, but when i travel i generally want my trip to be enjoyable and convenient. i don't want to spend 3 hours on tenuous multi-leg journeys just to save $30 a day on a hotel. i'd like to stay somewhat close to where the action is, not an hour or two outside. i'm willing to commute an hour each way to work, because, well, i'm getting paid to. and that's what i travel to escape FROM in the first place...
the best thing to do, if a far flung airport hotel is really all you can afford, would be to go somewhere where hotels are more affordable, or where the local airport is closer or better connected to the city.
Of course #9 and everyone, the ideal is to stay in NYC itself. I said an airport location only if she couldn't find suitable affordable accommodation in the city. Remember the OP's maximum budget is 'just' $150.
NYC hotel prices have astronomically increased during the last several years. They've become quite unbelievable.
For example, the Chelsea Hotel ('a dive, but a historical one' as someone mentioned above) now starts at $195 a night for a single and $225 for a double.
If I was the OP, I'd try Hotwire and Priceline and hope the nights desired aren't heavily booked and that there are significant discounts available. If I were my 50's like the OP, I certainly wouldn't stay in a less than 1-star hotel just to be in the city.
OP, if some of these posters were from Australia, California, or western Canada, they wouldn't think a NYC airport location was at the edge of the world.
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<hr>. . . if the ONLY thing you can find that suits your budget is at Newark Airport, you should probably just pick another city to visit that is more in your price range.<hr></blockquote>
No. Sorry. NYC's worth some inconvenience.
<blockquote>Quote<br><hr>OP, if some of these posters were from Australia, California, or western Canada, they wouldn't think a NYC airport location was at the edge of the world.<hr></blockquote>Huh?
#12, people from the western U.S. or western Canada have quite different reactions to distances than people from the northeastern U.S., even when they both live in urban areas.
Newark Airport is 20 minutes or less from Midtown Manhattan outside of rush hours (and under an hour during these, in my experience), yet that is a colossal inconvenience to some posters here—one that led one poster to say don’t even bother to visit New York City if you have to do that.
In Los Angeles, major sights are spread out over some 75 miles, and locals hardly bat an eye. People are used to travelling long distances, and there's no real central core for most activities as you find in Chicago or other older cities.
Ideally, the OP will find a suitable place in the city, and this entire discussion will be irrelevant.
It is the reverse of your previous argument - where you said locals commute long distances regularly, and are tolerant of it, so why shouldn't tourists be prepared to consider it. It seems to me non-NYC people would be most keen not to commute too far on holiday, whatever their background. That is the point and attraction of NYC - it's one of the very few compact cities in the country pound-for-pound, where walking is feasible. Anyway - probably all academic I agree.
As the NY Times has assured us, NYC hotel prices have exploded. I doubt there's any hotels near LaGuardia. Newark and Kennedy are now decently connected to Manhattan by rail and/or subway.
#13, firstly, most people who live outside the Northeast have cars and drive everywhere. Things are more spread out. Los Angelenos cover more distance, but they do it by car. the NYC metro area is compact, but that doesn't mean the times are shorter. especially when you're an outsider trying to understand an unfamiliar system, and even moreso when you're commuting in a way the system isn't set up for. Newark is fairly well connected to the city in terms of the usual traveller's route -- i.e. shlepping in and out every once in a while. it's not set up well for daily commuting, especially not for the kind of convenience someone traveling in an unfamiliar city (and on vacation) would want.
also, i don't know whether you live in the NY area and have ever been to Newark Airport, but actually, no, it is impossible to do in under an hour. when i fly out of newark, i take a cab from my place in brooklyn to Penn Station (about 15 minutes), and then take New Jersey transit out to the airport. the whole thing takes about an hour and a half. even assuming they'll be spending their time in midtown manhattan and not brooklyn, that's still a commute of an hour and 15 minutes, each way. driving would be comparable at rush hour, which in NYC is a very large span of time -- like from 6AM to 10 or 11 AM, and then again from 4PM to 8 or 9 PM. and city traffic spikes again around noon. not to mention the friday afternoon rush to get out of the city for the weekend, and the sunday evening rush back in. they would have to be coming and going at very odd hours to miss all traffic.
not to mention something that hasn't been mentioned yet -- Newark, NJ, has one of the highest crime rates in the country. it's not a nice place. honestly, unless you book a relatively swank hotel that you have direct evidence is a part of the airport complex, i wouldn't trust that some random $65 a night "3.5 star" hotel is going to be in a safe area, or even necessarily that close to the airport. i don't think it would necessarily be dangerous, per se, to stay somewhere like that, but well, you get what you pay for.
Until the OP gives some feedback, especially to the question posed by #1 and again by her in #16, I suggest we take a break from discussing alternatives. They may not be needed.
#17, just one small point. The hotel ratings used by Hotwire and Priceline's 'name your own price' service are nearly the same or the same as as AAA auto club diamond ratings. If you're not using these sites and are a frequent user of 3-, 4-, or 5-star hotels, you are probably spending an average of some $100 more per night.
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