Family stay in NYC

masit · 07-03-2020 10:08pm #1

Booked flights to New York with the kids. Me, wife and 3 kids. They will be 13,10 and 7 and time of travel. Now the hard part starts, looking for a place to stay. Have looked at Airbnb and some places look good in the likes of Brooklyn, Queens area. Any recommendations in this part of the woods. My wife and I have been to NYC 2 years ago so I'd have a fair idea how to get around on the subway.

What is the area north of Manhattan like to stay. Yonkers, Bronx or further out. Would like to stay within 30-40 minutes from Manhatten. My wife knows someone out there, I think its Westchester where they live. What is the metro north like to get into Manhatten? Looked up some time tables and they give around 40 minutes to get to Grand Central Station from the likes of Yonkers.

1 thing we are thinking of is hiring a car. Have lived and visited Europe lots of times so left hand drive is no issue. I think it would be cheaper for some of the things we want to do. Jersey gardens, Woodbury common. Would love to go to Washington for a day. Train seems expensive for the 5 of us so if we done all the above the car would be cheaper. Whats parking like in some of the areas I talked about.
Thanks in advance

circular flexing · 08-03-2020 12:46am

Ignoring the fact that it's easy to get scammed on AirBnb, it's somewhat illegal to rent out whole apartments or houses on AirBnb in NY. So you could book it and it might be fine, or you could find your booking cancelled shortly before you arrive or worse you could be evicted during your stay.

I would always recommend staying close to where you want to spend most of your time. So if you want to spend most time in Manhattan, then I wouldn't stay any further than Brooklyn. Coming in from Yonkers (for example) not only would you spend about 2-3 hours in and out, you would also spend about $50 per day on train fares. Car might be cheaper but I would say parking around Manhattan would eat up most of the savings and possibly tolls as well.

seannash · 08-03-2020 12:50am

Agree with the above
Imagine coming to ireland to visit dublin but having your accommodation in Dundalk. Its a vastly different experience.

Having lived there for 8 years and living in the east village for 5 of those id say find a location below 14th street especially as youve been before and probably seen all the normal tourist attractions.
Time to really see New York.

seannash · 08-03-2020 1:01am

Also just to add, New York is a fairly boring holiday for most kids unless you really plan it out.
What are your kids into. There will be things for them to do but its very limited.
Six flags is a great day out for kids so perhaps plan that rather than drag them around places only adults might find interesting. (Woodbury commons is basically a massive Kildare village)
Theres some basketball courts over in soho/west village where street players play regularly and attract a crowd, that might appeal to them.

Daisy 55 · 08-03-2020 1:44am

Our kids liked New York. Some good sights, shopping, restaurants!
Be very careful with the area. For instance, some parts of Brooklyn are lovely. Where we stayed was not! Will never be forgotten though!

masit · 08-03-2020 9:01am

seannash wrote: »

Also just to add, New York is a fairly boring holiday for most kids unless you really plan it out.
What are your kids into. There will be things for them to do but its very limited.
Six flags is a great day out for kids so perhaps plan that rather than drag them around places only adults might find interesting. (Woodbury commons is basically a massive Kildare village)
Theres some basketball courts over in soho/west village where street players play regularly and attract a crowd, that might appeal to them.

Thanks for the reply’s.

Would like to stay away for the main tourist area and experience the real New York. Go to the local store, cook for ourselves. That’s why we were looking at the Airbnb option. Might have to investigate it more. Although, don’t fancy spending a week with 3 kids in a hotel room, lol

The kids have a list of places to go already. After booking flights we were wondering did we give yourself enough time to do everything. From watching YouTube, the kids know more places to visit than my wife and I. Going at the end of October and will be there for Halloween.

Heard of six flags. Most look it up to see will it be open in October.

I’m away from the computer today so might not be replying. Any more info will be appreciated

webpal · 08-03-2020 9:37am

You could stay somewhere like here and get the 320 into Manhattan, it only takes a few minutes and costs a couple of dollars. It's the second stop out of PABT. NY is a big city, especially for a 7 year olds legs, I would recommend staying somewhere that you can go back to and rest for awhile if need be. We had that problem and moved hotel to radio city apartments (which are ok but you did say you don't want to stay centrally)

masit · 10-03-2020 6:41pm

Would anybody who lives, has lived or visited New York know what the South Williamsburg area would be like. Found a aparthotel place there, just off Flushing Av. Nearest subway is Flushing Av, 10 minute walk.

Also seen a place over in New Jersey. It's Holiday Inn Holland Tunnel. Transport links into NYC are not to far away.

The place in Williamsburg is bigger but older and the 1 in Jersey is smaller but newer.

ReturningForY · 11-03-2020 3:41am

masit wrote: »

Would anybody who lives, has lived or visited New York know what the South Williamsburg area would be like. Found a aparthotel place there, just off Flushing Av. Nearest subway is Flushing Av, 10 minute walk.

Honestly, that part of Williamsburg/Bushwick is pretty horrible. Coming from Ireland, I think you're not going to feel super safe walking around there at night.

Edit: by "that part" I mean anything within a ~15 mins walk of the Flushing Ave Station.

masit · 11-03-2020 9:24pm

ReturningForY wrote: »

Honestly, that part of Williamsburg/Bushwick is pretty horrible. Coming from Ireland, I think you're not going to feel super safe walking around there at night.

Edit: by "that part" I mean anything within a ~15 mins walk of the Flushing Ave Station.

I had a feeling someone would say that. The search goes on.

ReturningForY · 12-03-2020 11:19pm

Yeah, you know I just don't know it's worth doing accommodation in NYC on the cheap. People do it because when they see the prices here it's crazy. But then you end up staying way out and spending hours commuting every day, or end up in an area like around Flushing Ave Station which just feels sketchy and not great for a vacation. May be worth just sucking it up and paying for something central and good.

Family stay in NYC

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