Hotel? Apartment? Manhattan? New Jersey? Brooklyn? Test AirBnB for the first time? Several things to consider when choosing accomodation in New York. We chose this:
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Hotel accomodation in New York is expensive, especially for the hotels located at Manhattan. We got an offer for a hotel with swimming pool for about $130 per night, in comparison with other hotels between $200 and $300 per night. For a long time we considered spending up to $300 a night.
Our concept was to spend as little money as possible on flight tickets and accomodation, so the plans was changed a lot of times. The first part of this series was about how to dind the cheap flight tickets.
Planning the accomodation for this trip took some time, and the prices increased too much. After several hotel bookings, we finally chose an AirBnb-leilighet on the New Jersey side of Hudson River. Travelling with kids, aged five and eight, we wanted a swimming pool, more quiet surroundings and a room/apartment not giving us the feeling of claustrophobia in the afternoons and evenings. With the expensive double rooms on Manhattan in mind, we chose living just outside the city.
Living outside Manhattan had some pros, but definetly some cons as well.
Hotel?
Our first choice was Royalton Park Avenue (Hotels.com), a nice hotel at Park Avenue with a "roof top" swimming pool. We booked a big double room with two double beds. We canceled this booking because of the price. Over $300 per night was not included in our budget.
We also considered The Marmara Manhattan (Hotels.com) on Upper East Side. A week would cost about $1500 for a 60 square meter suite, but this hotel has no swimming pool. We also waited a bit too long, and the offer was over before we got the chance to book.
The Watson (Hotels.com) was also considered. This hotel got a swimming pool and the price was pretty ok. The last hotel we considered, and also booked, was Best Western Bowery Hanbee Hotel (Hotels.com) in Chinatown. The price was just below $200 per night, with a junior suite and a living room. Some guest complained about noise from the streets in the reviews, which led to a cancelled booking for us. Another hotel we got recommended was Hilton Garden Inn Tribeca (Hotels.com), a really nice hotel for families.
Room vs apartment
Så hva gjør man så? Vi hadde aldri prøvd AirBnb før og syntes det var litt skummelt. Ikke var vi erfarne med å finne overnatting i New York heller. Og viktigst av alt: Vi visste at New York har innført begrensninger for hvordan man kan leie ut boligen sin via AirBnb. Blant annet må verten selv bo i enheten. Flere bekjente har fått sine bookinger kansellert med kort tid før avreise, og har dermed måtte betale dyrt for hotellrom istedenfor. Derfor kikket vi litt på New Jersey, både på hotels.com og på AirBnb. Et leilighetskompleks skilte seg ut, og kom faktisk opp begge steder: Monaco Apartments, Jersey City. Via hotels.com fikk leilighetene som var tilgjengelig der, ganske dårlig kritikk, grunnet "manglende resepsjon" og slitte leiligheter. På AirBnb skilte denne leiligheten seg ut, både i overkommelig pris, utseende og beliggenhet. Vi gikk for den og angrer ikke! (Se bildegalleri nederst)
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Vår tanke var at ungene ville være trøtte om ettermiddagen og kvelden, og det var fint å trekke seg tilbake til et roligere område. Vi hadde ikke planer om å spise på fancy restauranter på Manhattan, og kunne like så godt spise på en av de mange restaurantene i nærmiljøet. Vi fikk basseng, treningsrom, biljardrom, lekerom og kinosal med på kjøpet. Prisen var rundt 2000 kroner per natt. Etter hektiske dager i storbyen var det både luftig og deilig å komme hit for å slappe av. Til nærmeste tog var det fem minutter å gå og rundt ti minutter til nærmeste båtterminal. Sentralt med andre ord.
Samtidig må vi innrømme at alt ikke var fryd og gammen med transport, for enkelte dager brukte vi veldig lang tid fra leiligheten til vi ankom der vi skulle. Spesielt i helgen tok det lang tid til området rundt Central Park, gjerne rundt én time per vei. Det er heller ikke gratis med tog, og du må ha ny billett på Manhattan. Bor du innenfor New York er det langt rimeligere med transport.
New York hotel reccomodations: (sponsored links from Hotels.com)
Accomodation on Manhattan, not to expensive and with room for a family of four:
Hilton Garden Inn New York / West 35th St
Cambria Hotel New York - Chelsea
Hampton Inn Manhattan / Times Square
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