California RN visiting NYC - Would like help planning my trip please :)

starbin, BSN, RN · Jan 22, 2007

Hello ... I will be visiting NYC in the beginning of February and I am asking for suggestions on the follow:

#1 - I am looking for a nice, clean budget hotel accommodation. I am looking for a hotel with a private bathroom and under $150 a night. Suggestions?!?!?!

OR - I found a few places - can I get your opinion on these: Hampton Inn Manhattan-Seaport-Financial District 320 Pearl Street OR Metro-Home Sutton Place 310 EAST 55 OR Bentley Hotel

#2 - I am also looking for a good Broadway show and a dance show. I am open for any suggestions on the Broadway show and would like to see a modern/Afro dance troupe show.

#3 - Finally, I would love some suggestions on restaurants. Any type of food (an all vegan menu would be awesome!!!)

Thank you so much!!!!
:wink2:

O!! O!! february is not a very good time to visit NYC. The cold is terrible in Feb. Hampton inn/manhatten should be a nice place to live at. I am a new yorker never had to stay at NYC hotels so can not help in choosing one.

There are plenty of broadway shows you can choose from. Most of them require advance booking or u would have to stand for 2 hours in the line. I would rather visit yahoo travel and so some research on where to stay, where to visit and all restaurants and the shows.

Mission · Jan 22, 2007

Try newyork.citysearch.com for restaurants.

A great (off-broadway) show to see is "No Child", honestly one of the best plays I've seen in a long time. If you want a full song and dance any of the Disney shows are good, Beauty and the Beast is going to be closing soon so you might want to try that one. Bebe Neuwirth (love her) is in Chicago again, I think that'd be worth seeing. Ailey is out on tour so I don't know of any good modern/Afro stuff going on but you can check the daily papers when you come, they usually have performance listings. DanceBrazil is performing at the Joyce theater (http://www.joyce.org) next month. I think Evidence is supposed to be there now, or at the end of the month, they do a cool, or so I've heard, modern/afro/hip-hop performance, I'm not sure if they'll be there in February.

KellNY, RN · Jan 22, 2007

Well, if you want to be near Broadway, Times Square, etc, I'd stay away from the Seaport area, it's way too far to walk, and you'd need to take I think 2 different subway lines to get there. Cabs are a possibility, but can get very expensive (and they get pissed if you under tip!).

Broadway Shows--Mama Mia was great, as was Hairspray. Wicked was supposed to be good, I hear.

There are a bunch of comedy clubs where you can buy tickets off the street for $5-$15 a piece (these are usually legit, what they do is, each comedy club who's not sold out sends their employees out to sell cheap tickets, because a-cheap seat better for them then empty seat and b-they still make money on the 2 drink minimum). Carolines does this, as does the Laugh Factory and the Improv (sister and I go there sometimes). And it's 1st come 1st sit, so for the price of one entree at TGIFridays, you could have 2 people sitting front row.

For food, they have a few Pax's which is natural and organic and vegan foods. More like a cafe than a full service place though. There are lots of authentic Thai, Paki, Indian places with LOTS of vegitarian selections (and can be vegan often, upon request). No specific suggestions, but wherever you stay, take a walk and see what smells good. Many places have menu's posted outside so you can see prices, specials and selections.

Have fun! And be sure to visit central park and maybe take a horse and carriage ride if you have time (and a blanket--brrr!).

Kellny

Kait · Jan 23, 2007

O!! O!! february is not a very good time to visit NYC. The cold is terrible in Feb. Hampton inn/manhatten should be a nice place to live at. I am a new yorker never had to stay at NYC hotels so can not help in choosing one.
There are plenty of broadway shows you can choose from. Most of them require advance booking or u would have to stand for 2 hours in the line. I would rather visit yahoo travel and so some research on where to stay, where to visit and all restaurants and the shows.

Hey KellyNY!

You seem to know about NY and the weather...I'm looking to travel to NY to work, and I was thinking about late February. I'm not in THAT great a hurry at the moment, I was thinking of the weather, too! Would you mind telling me what March is like? Thanks!

To the original poster...I wish I could help, but I always stayed at the youth hostel in NY :)

~Kait

Mission · Jan 23, 2007

March is sometimes worse than February as far as weather goes...wind whipping around buildings is a nasty thing. The best months to be in New York are May and September.

KellNY, RN · Jan 24, 2007

Kait--Well, it seems that weather right now is unseasonably warm (even with this "cold front" we've been having, warmer than usual). March is usually okay as far as weather goes-we go into NYC every March for ds's birthday. If you're going as a tourist (esp with kids, believe it or not), it's not so bad. Go into ESPNZone, walk 50 ft, go into Toys-R-Us and warm up (and that place is huge), walk 50 ft, go into a tourist shop, walk 100ft into a star bucks and get a cocoa, walk across the street into Bubba Gump's and warm up...well, you get the idea.

But like anyother place in this neck of the woods, the better months would be April, May, June, (July and August as long as it's not a super hot day--super hot for us being in 90s), Sept....

And to the OP (or anyone else reading)--Please try and see the "Bodies Exhibition" I think it's about $25 per person and it's AMAZING! Real human bodies in diff positions, preserved with silicone and polymers. Awesome! (and it's at the South Street Seaport, if you end up staying there) It's leaving NY at the end of Feb.

What you might think about doing is staying on Long Island hotel and take the train into NYC each day. You could pay $150 a night and get a LOT more than you'd get for that price in Manhattan (an indoor pool and much bigger room--as opposed to two beds crammed into a closet, which is what you'll get in NYC). There are lots of things to do in Nassau County (the county bordering NYC)--Long Island Children's Museum, Cradle of Aviation Museum, huge mall (Roosevelt Field), historic estates and farms within 15 minutes of the hotel and train station. The LIRR-long island rail road-would be about a 30 min train ride into Penn Station-which is in the heart of NYC--walking distance from Empire State Building, Times Square (incl. broadway), and a major hub for all subways if you want to go to the seaport.

The American Museum of Natural History is very easily accessed from the subway system and is a great place to visit-with or without kids. It can be free if you're broke--though I don't suggest taking advantage of their 'donations only' admission. It also borders on Central Park, and the observatory offers some BEAUTIFUL views.

Feel free to PM me. Either way--enjoy your visit.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Jan 24, 2007

Check out this thread:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f98/new-york-city-trip-planning-201220.html