Report: New York, USA

johnny_adidas

just back from our weeks hols. we stayed up on W 77th street in the belleclaire hotel. room was great, very clean and tidy, lcd tv and modern decor. subway stops 2 streets up, plenty of nice restaurants and irish bars in the area. i know some people say it doesnt matter how the room looks as u wont spend much time in it but it was perfect for us as we spent most days walking around new york, shopping and sightseeing, and most nights relaxing in the room ahead of the next day. i have photos of our room that ill prob upload later or else ill link to them once i add them to the tripadvisor site as thats where we got the info for the hotel when booking ourselves

thanks to everyone for their advice on woodbury. in the end we drove up. as it turned out there were 3 car rental places directly across from the hotel. so we just got sat nav, drove up there, went back to the car when our hands were full and then only had to haul the entire lot a few hundred yards back to the hotel when we got back. driving was def the way to go. we did almost all our shopping for the week out there so we wudnt have stood a chance getting it all back by bus/train and then a cab from midtown. didnt even go near century 21 as we had everything from woodbury and just picked up some things here and there in midtown.


if anyone is planning to do the helicopter tour id def advise booking ahead. we walked into the office 10 mins before our timed booking and were put on the very next ride, to the dodgy stares of a few people who had been waiting and were told there was at least another 1hr wait. we went with new york helicopter and the middle priced tour so there was only the 2 of us which was perfect.

BuffyBot

Thread split from The New York Megathread

youcancallmeal

How was the helicopter ride? How much was it and do you think it was worth the money? Can't decide if we should do one when we go next week. Also any recommendations for nice restaurants?

johnny_adidas

our helicopter ride cost 254 for the 2 of us for about 15 mins or so. dont know if it was worth it. just gave us another way to see the city to be honest and seemed like one of the things you have to do while there. it was good but over a bit quick to really enjoy the views etc.

the top of the rock at night was prob my favourite view of the city (32 dollars i think). we did the empire state the next day. although it was worth doing both for the views during the day, i def preferred the TOTR to see the city all lit up. It has glass guarding so the view isnt ruined and there isnt much wind, whereas the ESB is open and its quite blustery up there.

I would recommend the bus tour of the city. we got the all tours package for 100 dollars for both of us. this was a hop on - hop off tour of the city. we did the downtown one on one day and the uptown one 2 days later. (48hours limit) it meant that we were able to get our bearings later in the week when we were shopping and knew what to look for when going to various touristy sites. we saw everything on those tours and they stop at all the major destinations. they have guides one all the buses who explain everything you are looking at rather than a tape playing. there will be guys on every corner in times square selling the tours so its easy to organise them.

to be honest there will be loads of restaurants wherever you end up. i couldnt fault any that we ate at (cant even remember their names anyway) but i wouldnt recommend you have go out of your way to eat at them either. there should be recommendations for the locality in your welcome pack in your hotel room anyway