New York has never been a cheap place to visit, but it can be done affordably. Hotels can be book for the $100-$125 range, great meals can be found for less than in the suburbs, Broadway shows can be seen for half-price, parking coupons slash costs, and a stroll down the avenues or Central Park and relaxing in public spaces in skyscrapers are experiences that are free.
I just took a three-day, two-night mini vacation to New York City. Surprisingly, it was affordable. My hotel right in the middle of town costs less that one I had to stay in for a convention in Phoenix, daily parking was less than Madrid, a fine French meal with wine and all the trimmings for two was less than $100, a night of entertainment with singing and laughter cost only $42 and I had a selection of Broadway shows for half-price.
I started the hotel search on Expedia and then Orbitz to get the lay of the land. Ouch! Nothing in my price range was listed for less that $200-and-something. Then I went to Priceline.com and through a bidding process ended up finding a room at the ParkCentral Hotel for $118 a night at the corner of 7th Avenue and 55th Street.
Before driving into town, I checked online for the closest parking garages to the hotel. The hotel’s valet parking was listed at $43-a-day plus taxes. I really only wanted to check whether this price was reasonable or not. It turned out that it was normally reasonable. However, online, I found parking coupons at Central Parking Garages within two blocks of the hotel for only $30 a day!
A pre-matinee snack of coconut soup and crispy duck rolls with a glasses of wine at Yum Yum Too on 46th street on the corner of 9th Ave. only set us back $20 plus tip.
Dinner at Brasserie Cognac (French friends swear it is one of the best French spots in town) at Broadway and 55th was exceptional. An appetizer of Gougeres or melt-in-your-mouth cheese balls, mussels and steak and fries, a split plate of ice-cream-filled profiterole for dessert and a bottle of French pinot noir came to less than $100 before tip and tax.
Broadway shows were available for around $125 for a pair of tickets from the TKTS booth on Times Square, or head to the TKTS office at South Street Seaport for smaller crowds.
We walked down the avenues, got a tour of Rockefeller Center, the Christmas tree and the skating rink, wandered through St. Patrick’s Cathedral and saw the Christmas decorations and the altar swimming in poinsettias, strolled through Central Park in the snow, browsed the outdoor shopping stalls behind the public library along 42nd St. between 5th Ave. and the Avenue of the Americas, saw the Christmas windows at Saks Fifth Avenue and soaked in the crowds that filled the center of the city.
For our nightlife, we headed to Don’t Tell Mama on 46th St. between 8th and 9th Ave. for an evening full of sing-a-long music. The other patrons were a blast (and some of them could really belt out a tune). The waitstaff sang Broadway tunes and the two-drink minimum was good for the entire evening of fun. Don’t worry, the bar made plenty of money from the group of 20-somethings next to us that were drinking every vodka concoction they could think of and then decided to try Irish car bombs. (Boy, am I glad that I wasn’t waking up after drinking that mix.)
Total daily costs for two:
Hotel: about $150 a night after taxes
Meals: Breakfast — $20; lunch — $20; dinner — $120.
Nightlife: $50
Parking: $30
Not bad for a holiday vacation.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
