I'm currently in the process of planning a trip to New York with my mother and several of her friends. I think it will end up being about 4 other women and one of their daughters who is about 18, so about seven of us total. I am already cringing at the thought of how slow we will walk as a group of that size. I have a terribly fast pace no matter where I am and slowing myself to "keep up" with others ("
hold up" for others?) is nearly torture; I feel like I'm almost walking backwards.
I believe that my mother is the only one in the group other than myself who has been to New York City before, so it will be an interesting trip. I had invited some of the other women's daughters to visit me when I was living there for school, but they were all still in high school so their moms didn't feel comfortable sending them up to me alone.
Because most of the group is in their 40's-50's, staying in a hostel isn't really an option. These are small town ladies; they want the security of a hotel room with a clean bathroom of their own. Usually others my age are up for a hostel because young adults can somewhat compare hosteling to living in a dorm room... these women, not so much.
In choosing a hotel, I wanted to pick our location based on several factors. 1) For such a short trip, we need to be somewhere central so we can see as much as possible; 2) we need to have quick and easy access to the subway; and 3) remember how slow I said they'd probably walk? I want to be close to the touristy stuff... so we end up in... dun dun dunnnnn... Times Square. This is not my first, second, or even anything in my top 5 choice for areas to stay personally, but for this trip it will have to do. I also have to remind myself that when people visit New York City for the first time this is how they have always imagined it in their minds and is at the top of their list of places to see.
Of course staying in a Times Square hotel is anything but budget... just try to find a room for four for under $150 per night. I have chosen three hotels as potential places to stay. We have been
waiting to get a total on who is absolutely able to take off work to go
before booking, but I'm thinking we'll have to get two rooms with three -
four in each. I am hoping they will agree to go with the
Milford Plaza Hotel. The rooms will be right at about $245 each per night, for three nights, plus tax, bringing it to right around $200 per person for the entire stay. When you think of it that way, that's not such a bad price tag for the location and a nice, clean bed to sleep in. I like the Milford because it's on 8th Avenue, one block west of Times Square, but still close enough to see the lights, hear the noise, and be in the middle of the tourist traffic. We'd also only be about 2.5 blocks from the A, C, E subway line and about 5 blocks from the busy Times Square Station (t
he 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, & R lines.) It also helps my case that one of my friend's apartments is only 2 blocks south-west and there's a
Shake Shack one block away and across the street. That's really all it takes.
As for getting there, I don't think I can manage to navigate all of this group to the city the way I tend to do it myself. I drive, park, walk, run, train, subway, bus, and anything else necessary to get to New York as cheaply as possible without driving. This time we're doing it the easy way, which is to catch the Amtrak in central Virginia and ride the train all the way up from there. Luckily, the train is quite affordable at about $140 roundtrip per person. It leaves at about 7:30am and arrives at about 3:00 in the afternoon, but it's the simplest way to get there and all we'll have to do is show up and sit down. We'll be able to talk, read magazines, and just enjoy being together for the entirety of the ride.
For entertainment we have chose to visit the "
Top of the Rock" observation deck at Rockefeller Center and to go see
Chicago on Broadway. I've never been to the Top of the Rock myself, but I've been to the top of the Empire State Building and was nothing but fearful of heights; the view is iconic, but the atmosphere is hazy, the cars look like ants, and there is really no kind of skyline to look at. Everyone who I've talked to who has done both says that TotR was their favorite, being just slightly taller than most of the buildings around them and with a great view both uptown towards Central Park and downtown. This will cost $25 per person. Chicago will cost about $130 for an 8:00pm show. Everything else we do will be free, other than dining and any shopping.
We will also be purchasing the 7-day unlimited subway passes at $29 each... we would definitely spend more on single trip fares if we didn't do it this way.
So here's our budget for 4 days/ 3 nights (not including food or personal shopping):
- Milford Plaza Hotel ≈ $200.00 per person
- Amtrak roundtrip ≈ $140.00 per person
- Subway Pass ≈ $29.00 per person
- Chicago ≈ $130.00 per person
- Top of the Rock ≈ $25.00 per person
Total: ≈ $524.00 per person
Not so bad for four days in the city, staying in a nice hotel, complete transportation, and high-quality entertainment.
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