Page 1 of New York short break advice

Hi

I want to take my girlfriend to New York in February for a few nights. I have had a look around the various holiday websites and they all seem to be around the £800 - £1000 mark for 3 nights, which is a bit too much for me. It's gonna be a shopping/couple of meals and a wander about kind of break.

Has anyone been on a short break to the Big Apple before and, if so, can you recommend how/where/when I should book. Is three nights too much? Am I being un-realistic with regards what I want to pay?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Nick

I did exactly the same thing last feb, aint got time right now but will give you a full lo-down a bit later. One word of warning though - its FUC*KING cold in february so take LOTS of Thick layered clothes with you. The wind is so chilly it pierces right through your coat!

thisngs to look up in the meantime:

Liberty Helicopters book through Expedia for a flight over manhattan - best thing we did.

The revolving restaurant at Marriot Marquis hotel Times sq.

HTH

Neil

try the following sites
www.travelsphere.co.uk
www.travelscope.co.uk

both have short breaks from £299 per person inc flights

which, i don`t think is too bad and probably a realistic price
hope this helps

Thanks, guys, keep `em coming.

Neiliboy, reason I picked February was cos it`s near her birthday and I thought it would be cheap.

Cheers

Nick

FM - me too for my missus! Feb 13th (and valentines!)

Neil

20th January - but she`s no hope of going then as I won`t have been paid since Christmas Eve!!!

Nick

Reasonable Hotel - very new and nouveau - ThirtyThirty in Midtown.
Reasonable Restaurant - Sea on 2nd avenue or Williamburg - the best Thai Fusion in the world and one of the least expensive.
Reasonable Flights - B.A are doing flights for less than £199.00 to NYC return.
Reasonable Transport - check the web for Limo companies - most of the time they are cheaper than cabs and more impressive - $50 from the airport.
Reasonable Theatre - if you can be bothered the Half-Price ticket booth in Times Square.
Concerts - try Ticketmaster.com or check out www.NYPost.com for info.

Hope this helps.

This item was edited on Thursday, 18th November 2004, 14:23

Hi flyingmonkey!

Myself and my partner went to NY for a three day break in December 2002 for my 30th birthday. Its bloody awesome! We basically did exactly what you`re planning on doing.

If you`re willing to take a slight gamble, you could try Priceline for your hotel. I`ve used them four times in two years and have been delighted every time. We stayed over a weekend and got the Marriott Financial Center hotel in downtown Manhattan for around £65 per night. It was a lovely hotel, in a cracking location (15 min walk to Battery Park and the ferry to the Statue of Liberty) and there was a subway station very close by.

Also, Ebookers have some pretty reasonable flight prices during February, particulary near the beginning.

If you are planning to use Priceline, have a look at Clever Bidding and Bidding For Travel for an idea of how to get a good deal.

Good luck! ;)

Oh! and while i`m at it - you can pay for your holiday by buying a bunch of Mini-Ipods for around £110.00 (internet price delivered to your hotel) and flogging them for the knockdown price of £160.00 - they are extremely light and hard to get hold of over here.

Regards

I would look up airlines own websites when booking flights. Depends on where you`re flying out of though. Aer Lingus are very good (and you save some money when converting from Euro to Sterling), Continental aren`t too bad either.

I usually go to New York every year sometime in December/January. I agree that February will be FREEZING cold, but it does pay off in other ways (reduced waiting times in lines, slightly off-peak so you`ve more chance of getting tickets for Broadway etc without having to pay scalpers premiums). Depending on what time you go in Feb you might catch the tail-end of the sales if you`re into shopping.

The Metropolitan Hotel (soon to change it`s name to Doubletree I think) is a great hotel. You can book it/view it on Expedia.co.uk

Very reasonable and it`s just been renovated. It`s quite stylish and has a great location on Lexington Ave (10 min walk to Bloomingdales, 5th Ave etc).

I live in Northern Ireland and fly out of Dublin. If I book online I can get 4 nights in the Metrpolitan plus flights for around £750 (give or take £50) for two sharing.

Also - In my opinion 3 nights isn`t enough (I go for 4 minimum). People who tell you 3 nights is enough either haven`t been to New York or have been and have blew all their £££ in 10 minutes (and can`t afford to do anything else for the rest of their stay!), or think that the city consists of nothing but the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty. You could spend a month there and not get bored of the place! I have friends who have lived there all their lives and haven`t seen half the of city!

If you want more info on anything just ask..

Have a great time!

David

This item was edited on Thursday, 18th November 2004, 14:56