Tuesday, March 30, 2010

NYC w/Five Teenagers in August / Accommendation

My family of five (twin 18 year old boys, 15 year old girl) will be hosting two teens(18 yr. old boy and 15 year old girl) from France this August . Seeing NYC is on the top of their wish list. I%26#39;ve been reading the posts on this sight and have seen recommendations for Times Square for teens. I know we will need 2 large rooms to accommandate 7 people. Any suggestions? Something with a refrigerator would be ideal --teen boys can eat! Ideally, we would stay 2 nights.



Also, what are MUST Do%26#39;s for foreign exchange kids to see?



Any help is most appreciated.



NYC w/Five Teenagers in August / Accommendation


We have stayed at the Doubletree Suites Times Square with our teens and really enjoyed it. they have a refrig and microwave in each suite. Are you doing a guys in one and ladies in another room type thing? Radio City Apartments also get lots of good reviews on here. Since you will be there such a short time, Doubletree is a good location ...you could walk to Rockefeller Center and TOTR, Central Park, ESB, etc. The visitors center is just a couple doors down for free internet use, and a McDonalds 2 doors down for those cheap, late night teen snacks! Yes, the teens will be awed by Times Square in the evening. You are also right next to the subway for going to Statue of Liberty, Soho, or other areas. Have a great time!



NYC w/Five Teenagers in August / Accommendation


Merely to forewarn you of the risk of learning the hard way, ... absolutely stay away from anything with the name ';WooGo';, which you will find prominently advertised on all the regular online sites like Orbitz, which often prevent adverse feedback reports from being posted by travelers who%26#39;ve had bad experiences with sponsors they list. For truthful feedback about this illegal scam, particularly with regard to WooGo Lincoln Square on W 153rd and 154th streets, check the site http://kellybritt.com/ or messages in the forum at tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k594812-鈥?/a>




Porchparty, thanks for your advice. I had thought about Doubletree, but not the Radio City appt. I%26#39;ll check into both of them. Thanks.




Also the Best Western Hospitality House has got rave reviews on this site. The 2 bed apts are supposedly VERY roomy and there is also a sofa bed couch. Look into that one as well. I am staying there in Sept.




I%26#39;d recommend Radio City Apartments, if they have availability. It has two bedroom apartments with lots of room and a great mini-kitchen complete with apartment sized range, apartment size (not a mini) refrigerator, clean, new bathrooms. The price is right at $250.00 per night. The only negatives are no conceirge service and a very poor view. I took a group of 15 people to the city two weeks ago and rented 3 one bedroom suites. It worked out very well. The location is terrific. I love the Doubletree Guest Suites, it is my favorite in NYC for families, but with the size of your group and the age of the kids you would need two suites. That may be too expensive.





Here is my list of must do sites:





1. Top of the Rock during the day or after dark.



2. Central Park: Teens love to rent row boats at the Loeb Boathouse-they have a reasonably priced ';market'; restaurant located inside the high end restaurant.



3. The Metropolitan Museum, especially the Egyptian Exhibit. Even if the French teens have seen the Louvre%26#39;s exhibit, the Mets will keep them interetested.



4. Lower manhattan/World Trade Center site/Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.



5. Canal Street for shopping (inexpensive souveniers) and dessert or a meal in Little Italy. Little Italy is great fun for teens on Saturday nights in the summer as they frequently close the streets to traffic and it creates a festival atmosphere.



6. NBC Studios tour or visit to MTV studios.



7. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan for an awesome view of lower Manhattan.



8. BROADWAY SHOW! If you can splurge go for one of the latest like Wicked. If not, look for discounts on one of the old favorites like Mamma Mia! or Hairspray.



9. NYU/Greenich Village. Very colorful area that any teen I bring to NYC loves to see.





Enjoy! You are a wonderful host to bring these children into this magical city! Moms




Thank you everyone for your great suggestions about hotels and ideas of things to interest our large active group of teens. I appreciate all of your guidance, this site is the best. The list of activities is awesome. The kids will all love the weekend. Dumb question, though... What is the Top of the Rock?





The best rate at Doubletree for the weekend of August 11-12 is $329.00 per room. Since we need 2 rooms, that pretty much is out of the picture. Unfortunately, Radio City Appt. are completely booked for 2 weeks. I tried to be very flexible with my dates for that hotel. The first opening they have is after our foreign exchange kids will have left. I%26#39;ll check out the Best Western Hospitality House next. Is that in the same general area?





Our kids are off to France in a couple of weeks. Their host families are planning activities and trips on that end. I bet they don%26#39;t have a site like this to help them plan.





Thanks again, everyone, for all your help.




Top of the Rock is the observation deck of the Rockefeller Center. See:





www.topoftherocknyc.com





(hi porchy)




What is your total hotel budget for the 2 nights? I%26#39;d check these two sites for the specials. My preference would be for 3 rooms.





http://www.quikbook.com/specials_10009.asp



http://hotels.travelzoo.com/new-york-hotels





Are you driving up? If so, perhaps you should consider staying on the New Jersey side and commute in. This would be a bit cheaper I would think. Stay somewhere serviced by the PATH train for convenience (eg, Jersey City).





www.panynj.gov/path




We stayed at the Affinia 50 recently. It%26#39;s not in Times Square, (It%26#39;s around 50th and Lexington), but the rooms are great. They are spacious with a full kitchen.





If you see a show, I would absolutely recommend WICKED for this age group. I would check the box office for tickets and I have purchased many broadway show tickets off of E-Bay. I even purchased some partial view tickets in the first 6 rows for this show in March. I%26#39;ve seen tons of broadway shows and I was not dissapointed with the tickets. I could not see the very back corner of the stage, but could see everything else and was only a few feet from the actors. Great Show. If you don%26#39;t have any luck in getting tickets before you go, it%26#39;s worth your time to try the box office when it opens the morning of the day you want to go. Sometimes, tickets will be released that morning for sale. The box offices usually open around 10:00 a.m.




Keep checking the Radio City Apartments%26#39; website for availability. I needed 3 one bedroom suites for the weekend of June 16. I started checking the website in March. It always showed no availability until 10 days prior to our departure. I was able to book three suites at that time. I made reservations at another hotel but cancelled them when the Radio City Apartments became available.





We liked the Radio City Apartments. They did not have the amenities of the other NYC hotels but for the amount of time we were in the rooms, they were perfect...and you can%26#39;t beat the price! Moms

No comments:

Post a Comment