Benton wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I'll be at NYC for three days at the end of April. My hotel budget is
$100
> per night, but I can't find any rooms with private bath available on
those
> dates.
>
> So I'm thinking on either the Days Inn or Super 8 hotels at North
Bergen,
> NJ. On the Expedia maps they are less than two miles away from the
Lincoln
> tunnel to Manhattan. My question is how complicated is to travel
to/from
> midtown Manhattan. Is there a subway to North Bergen? Is the Lincoln
tunnel
> a traffic jam so cabs would be too expensive? What do you recommend?
So many
> questions I know... :)
You face the problem that hotel owners are pretty smart. Any hotel that
is convenient to Manhattan will have prices comparable to Manhattan.
The lower the cost of a room the less convenient it will be. North
Bergen has a few rather unsavory hotels, so without a specific
recommendation I would avoid them.
Assuming you find a hotel near a bus stop, there is bus service from
North Bergen to NYC. No trains. Depending on when you go, it can take
anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours. Buses will be frequent during rush
hour, and quite infrequent at other times. So you should probably allow
an hour for the trip on average. The bus fare is about $2 each way. So
now you can afford $104 for a hotel.
Cabs get to charge double the meter, so $20 per trip is a good guess.
That alone would raise your hotel limit to $140, and you can get plenty
of good rooms under $140.
There IS a subway (the PATH) to Jersey City and Hoboken. But hotels
convenient to the PATH will be over your budget also.
There are hotels in Weehawken in the Lincoln Harbor complex; these are
very convenient, as they have fast ferry service to NYC (5 minutes).
But they are also outside your budget, and the ferry is $10 for a round
trip.
There are Manhattan hotels that should be within your budget. Try the
Pickwick Arms or Portland Square. Both have small rooms, and not all of
the rooms have private baths. But they are clean and relatively
conveniently located. Also check out the Milford Plaza, Olcott,
Excelsior, and Wolcott.
Also try the Best Western Seaport. And, if your business is a member,
Club Quarters (if it isn't you are out of luck).
As far as the airport is concerned, you take the monorail to a train
station, then a train to New York Penn Station. I think the one way
fare is about $7. An alternative is to take a Newark city bus from the
airport to Penn Station, Newark, then the PATH ($1.50) to Manhattan.
The entire trip will take an hour via PATH, about 30 minutes by train.
Larry
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