I recently spent a night staying at the relatively new Club Quarters World Trade Center property in downtown New York City. If you don't want to read any further, my comment would be to consider this property - it was excellent value for money (the value I suspect will disappear as word gets out).
The night I spent there was Feb 13 - ie night before Valentines Day and Presidents Day long weekend for some states. Most hotels in NYC were either full or quoting prices >$300USD. Others in the $100 range largely (at least according to the reviews on trip advisor) came with free bed bugs, no heating, no hot water or a combination of all three. I however managed to get WTC for $119++ which was good value at the time.
Getting there: I landed at Newark, and didn't want to pay for Taxi, and have had experience of shuttles taking a good 90 minutes or so, so opted for public transport. This involved airtrain to the Newark Airport train station, and then train to Newark Penn station ($7.75) where I changed (by basically going through a barrier and across a platform) to the PATH train ($1.75) to take me to WTC site. Then after arriving it was probably on the 10 minute side of a 5-10 walk from there. No real dramas - about an hour from collecting bags to arriving at hotel.
Check in: Done on guest interface screen which spat out a reciept with room number and a key. I was helped by agent, but if busy this would be efficient way of checking in.
Room: Very clean, two single beds, smallish - but for New York quite OK. Curiously plumbing was just like it at home (I did notice this - the water sat low in the toilet and flushed like a typical Aussie toilet, and the shower had a stock standard mixer which allowed you also to adjust pressure - as opposed some crazy thing you have dial around and can't adjust the pressure!) Bed/pillows comfortable. Temperature control good. Ipod dock on clock radio. Complimentary Dean & Deluca snacks which included three 100-150g tins with mixed nuts, english toffee caramels and "swedish fish" (jelly confectionary). I had to ask how much these were as I couldn't find anything - was told they're for free! Fridge/minibar stocked on request (a plus, many US hotels do not have a minibar at all).
Inclusions: Happy hour (2 hours) in lounge free of charge - beer, wine, soft drinks, cheese, cold meats, biscuits, dips and vegetables for dipping. Breakfast in lounge free of charge - bagels, strawberries, cereal, toast, pastries, tea, coffee, juice.
Location: Downtown, so a bit away from the hub of the (weekend activity) and times square, but close to Century 21! Subway <5 walk (#1 line) or <10 walk (range of other lines), so getting around not a problem.
Downside: Luggage retrieval from storage took 10mins, this coupled with PATH trains running to a 20min instead of 15 min frequency meant I nearly missed my train connection back to the airport - but nevertheless I made it with about 2 mins to spare.
The night I spent there was Feb 13 - ie night before Valentines Day and Presidents Day long weekend for some states. Most hotels in NYC were either full or quoting prices >$300USD. Others in the $100 range largely (at least according to the reviews on trip advisor) came with free bed bugs, no heating, no hot water or a combination of all three. I however managed to get WTC for $119++ which was good value at the time.
Getting there: I landed at Newark, and didn't want to pay for Taxi, and have had experience of shuttles taking a good 90 minutes or so, so opted for public transport. This involved airtrain to the Newark Airport train station, and then train to Newark Penn station ($7.75) where I changed (by basically going through a barrier and across a platform) to the PATH train ($1.75) to take me to WTC site. Then after arriving it was probably on the 10 minute side of a 5-10 walk from there. No real dramas - about an hour from collecting bags to arriving at hotel.
Check in: Done on guest interface screen which spat out a reciept with room number and a key. I was helped by agent, but if busy this would be efficient way of checking in.
Room: Very clean, two single beds, smallish - but for New York quite OK. Curiously plumbing was just like it at home (I did notice this - the water sat low in the toilet and flushed like a typical Aussie toilet, and the shower had a stock standard mixer which allowed you also to adjust pressure - as opposed some crazy thing you have dial around and can't adjust the pressure!) Bed/pillows comfortable. Temperature control good. Ipod dock on clock radio. Complimentary Dean & Deluca snacks which included three 100-150g tins with mixed nuts, english toffee caramels and "swedish fish" (jelly confectionary). I had to ask how much these were as I couldn't find anything - was told they're for free! Fridge/minibar stocked on request (a plus, many US hotels do not have a minibar at all).
Inclusions: Happy hour (2 hours) in lounge free of charge - beer, wine, soft drinks, cheese, cold meats, biscuits, dips and vegetables for dipping. Breakfast in lounge free of charge - bagels, strawberries, cereal, toast, pastries, tea, coffee, juice.
Location: Downtown, so a bit away from the hub of the (weekend activity) and times square, but close to Century 21! Subway <5 walk (#1 line) or <10 walk (range of other lines), so getting around not a problem.
Downside: Luggage retrieval from storage took 10mins, this coupled with PATH trains running to a 20min instead of 15 min frequency meant I nearly missed my train connection back to the airport - but nevertheless I made it with about 2 mins to spare.
