BS: Where to stay in New York City

Subject: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: CET
Date: 31 Jan 08 - 07:39 PM

This isn't entirely a non-music thread. Charmion and I are planning to visit New York for a few days before I leave for overseas. We have tickets to La Fille du Regiment at the Metropolitan Opera on 8 May. Any suggestions on some place to stay that would be convenient for the Met?

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: Peace
Date: 31 Jan 08 - 07:42 PM

http://www.hotels-rates.com/hotels/locations/New_York/NY/usa/2022/#visited=true&trafficLogID=505168430&JSESSIONID=480CF25A5E16E4

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: CET
Date: 31 Jan 08 - 09:25 PM

Thanks, Peace. That helps.

Any local intelligence from New York Mudcatters?

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: Peace
Date: 31 Jan 08 - 09:37 PM

CET: Last time I stayed in a NYC hotel it was somewhere on Av of the Americas (6th Ave) and the place was expensive and terrible. Holiday Inns may not be the best place in town, but one's pretty much like another in terms of what you could expect. Hope you have a wonderful time.

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: GUEST,Hard 8 :: ::
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 09:03 AM

I love to stay at the Milburn Hotel, 76th Street and Broadway. Very convenient by subway and bus to Lincoln Center. Most times I will walk, as it is only about fifteen minutes. High ceilings, windows that open, pleasant, not extravagent or luxurious, but decent. It is very quiet.

Part of the hotel must be a residence, as we once heard someone practicing the piano in a room upstairs.

Prices are shockingly low for NYC.

Most rooms have a tiny kitchenette, so you can make your own meals there, as there are some fine markets right around the corner. This includes Zabar's (80th & B'Way), one of the supreme delicatessens/bakeries in the world. Great fish, cheese, meat, fruit, and chocolate. Also, splendid croissants.

Another benefit of staying there is that you are almost right across the street from a very fine restaurant - Zen Palate. It is vegetarian, and although I am not a vegetarian, I must say, it was great food.

It is near the Am Museum of Natural History and a short bus ride to the Metropolitan Museum.

Hope you have a fine visit.

:: ::

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: EBarnacle
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 03:15 PM

If you are at the American Museum of NH, just walk straight across the park to the Metropolitan Museum. It is a beautiful walk.
Remember that the admission price posted in both places is a suggested price, not what they must charge. If you wish to pay less, you may.
Also MOMA has free admission on Friday from 4PM to 8PM.
Welcome to NY!

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: M.Ted
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 04:17 PM

I stayed at the Milburn for years, and love the neighborhood--Westside Market, just a hop around the corner, is the best grocery store ever(with cheap gourmet items, and literally dozens of hot or cold deli dinner items ) and open 24/7 with , and there are great little shops, restaurants, etc.

That said, I prefer either The Salisbury on 55th, or The Wellington, right next door--the rooms are bigger and nicer, and cost about the same(check Expedia or Travelocity of course, but I've gotten good rates from their reservation number), but the availability is better(Milburn can be filled with long term visitors for months), and they are a walk, rather than a cab ride, from the Theatres and Times Square. Carnegie Hall is across the street, and a lot of performers stay at the Wellington--

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: GUEST,Bob Ryszkiewicz
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 04:29 PM

A New York Hotel in Times Square...
http://www.youtube.com/user/SFLogicNinja
bob

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 06:46 PM

Venere is a good place to find accommodation in a whole lot of cities - I don't know how good it is on New York, but it was very useful when we went to Venice.

The thing we liked was that as well as information and booking links and all it feedback from customers - unfavourable as well as favourable, and reading through these was great fun. Especially comparing how people's reactions varied, and different nationalities too.   

I mean you'd get one person writing about how it was great the way the staff kept out of the way and didn't make their presence felt, and te next one would complain about the very same thing. And the couple who commented that a place was pretty, apart from the bedbugs...

Any time I was going to New York I think Venere might be my first online port of call. Apart from the Mudcat of course.

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: Leadfingers
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 07:46 PM

Best place I stayed in N Y was WAY up town - But that was in 1974 , and I met her in Bermuda !

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 09:42 PM

I have a friend who lives on the northish end of Greenwich Village at Seventh Ave. and 14th St. There is a subway downstairs and also at Eighth and Sixth Avenue, as well as walking over to Union Square, etc. His apartment is a one-bedroom with a tiny kitchen and nice sitting room, 1 bath, the usual. He sometimes does a bed-and-breakfast setup, literally moving out to stay with friends if someone wants to rent the place. He is a smoker, but does a pretty good job of airing the place when he has guests coming. This is the only part of it that is the downside, for non-smokers, or those who have an allergic reaction (like me, but I grin and bear it and take my allegra with me). Anyway, it's a fabulous location.

Let me know if you want to contact him and see if he's interested. It wouldn't necessarily be less expensive than a hotel, but it would probably be a lot more comfortable.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: EBarnacle
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 10:07 PM

Some friends of mine came over from Denmark and stayed at a rather strange hotel called the Pod hotel in the mid 40's off Lexington. The rooms are rather spartan but apparently the price is right.

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Feb 08 - 10:07 PM

Try the Excelsior, across the street from the Museum of Natural History on 81th Street. It's gotten more costly in recent years, but stil less than the mid-town places. And for women, there used to be Leo House on 23rd Street, run by the RC church -- not luxurious but very moderately priced. Or go for the bed and breakfast option -- there are lots in NYC.

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: CET
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 08:29 AM

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I might pass on the hotel in the video - looks like a medieval torture chamber.

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 01:05 PM

See if you can find one near Cooper's Union. Then you can visit McSorley's Old Ale House, the Twilight Zone of American taverns: Click here

And they've still got a potbelly stove, an orange tiger cat, sawdust on the floor, cheese and raw onions, and excellant ale.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: GUEST,fretless
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 01:18 PM

Some folks may remember the Pod hotel, listed above by EBarnacle, as the Pickwick Arms. A reasonably priced mid-town east alternative (shared bathrooms, etc.) to NY's more expensive hotels a generation ago, and apparently still one today.

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: bobad
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 01:24 PM

Charley, don't forget McSorley's urinals.

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: CET
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 01:37 PM

Charley, McSorley's looks like my kind of place. However, forgive the ignorance of the unitiated: what is Cooper's Union, and where is it in relation to Lincoln Center?

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: GUEST,fretless
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 07:37 PM

Cooper Union (no 's) is a college in the East Village. No connection to Lincoln Center, which is uptown and on the West Side, except that Lincoln gave a famous speech there in 1860.

Two things to keep in mind when you consider accomodations: New York City (Manhattan) has a really fine (OK, a bit shabby, but still competent) public transportation system, so you don't have to be terribly worried about finding a hotel in one part of the core city or another, and it is a great woaking city. Both facts take the pressure off of finding a hotel in the "perfect" neighborhood.

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 09:08 PM

Those urinals at McSorley's are about three feet opposite the doors of the tiny, horrible little stalls in the one bathroom in the place. They refused to serve women for years, and when women finally got in there, they refused to put in a new women's bathroom. Last time I was there (about 1980?) the bathroom was a tiny stinky little place where you can barely use the stalls because they're so short (no knee room) and you had to visit the bathroom in pairs so someone could hold the stall door shut.

There are better places to spend your time. Get out of Manhattan--it isn't the only part of NYC. Go to Brooklyn, and if you get to the Brooklyn Museum be sure to give yourself an entire day. It's wonderful.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Feb 08 - 09:07 AM

"...I mean you'd get one person writing about how it was great the way the staff kept out of the way and didn't make their presence felt, and te next one would complain about the very same thing. And the couple who commented that a place was pretty, apart from the bedbugs..."

I have always assumed that the so-called customer reviews on websites were written either by the owner ("unmatchably charming") or by their nearest competitor ("plague-laden bedbugs").

I do not see any way to mitigate this situation, aside from ignoring my carefully cultivated and preciously guarded sense of cynicism.

:: ::

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Feb 08 - 12:04 PM

CET-

And there's a subway station at Cooper's Union, only a block from McSorley's, assuming you walk in the right direction. Google a map just to be on the safe side.

The bathroom situation for women is the same as reported above. McSorley's is not about to change that. So one is left with the choice of being "flexible" or finding a more mainstream tavern.

When I was there last year, for the first time in over 30 years, it appeared the same. Maybe a few more cobwebs on the display suff behind the bar. I rather liked the experience.

The cat was a different one, though, but perfectly happy to be scratched behind the ears and under the chin.

They also had a book that explained all the stories behind the stuff on display, and the various characters who have worked at or frequented the place for the last century or so.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Where to stay in New York City
From: GUEST,irishenglish
Date: 04 Feb 08 - 01:36 PM

Plenty of places to stay near Lincoln Center, I would say it depends on budget and what you're looking for. There is a Holiday Inn at 57th bet. 9th and 10th, and the Skyline Hotel on 10th and 50th (if you go to that one, ask for me, Robert at Druids, my local pub across the street). There are a number of smaller hotels around as well, but as a New Yorker, I tend to only notice the big ones, Like the Hilton, etc.