Would like advice from NY experts please...

Hi....I%26#39;m going to NY in less than a month for my tenth time. I%26#39;ve done all the touristy things and then some. I%26#39;ve visited the city with a friend who lived there for many years so I know the city a little bit. I would therefore like the advice from the NY experts on what I could do in NY that I have not seen in trip advisor or in any other tourist guide. They all tell you the same things to see again and again.

I will probably be staying in the Murray Hill area and hoping for nice specials from Travel zoo. I saw the Carlton for 179$ but it dissapeared almost immediatly. I also saw the Mansfield for 159$. What do you think about the Mansfield dear NY experts?

If you have suggestions for places to go have cocktails for a 30-something woman, I would appreciate!

Would like advice from NY experts please...

After a lifetime of living in, around and near NYC, there are still loads of things I haven%26#39;t seen or done. My list includes things like

the Cloisters, Bronx Zoo, NY %26amp; Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, the Rubin Museum. But the best thing to do is just pick an area and have a walk. You%26#39;ll always discover stuff you haven%26#39;t seen or done before if for no other reason than things change, new places open. Have you been up to Columbia University? Riverside Park? Battery Park City? What about a daytrip to the Rockefeller Estate Kykuit on a cruise up the Hudson?

As to hotel advice, someone recently stayed at the Mansfield and liked it. I think the rooms are small there and don%26#39;t look all that terrific in the photos. If you don%26#39;t mind small rooms, I think the Hudson at around the same price looks better and their bars are destination places for 30 somethings (I think). The Warwick is also available at around the same price and I think is a slightly better location. Not trendy though. But more importantly, if you%26#39;re looking for new experiences, why not stay in an area you%26#39;ve not tried before? Maybe some place a bit more residential than midtown? What about staying downtown? If you%26#39;re interested in meeting people, maybe a b %26amp; B?

http://www.sohobevy.com/bandb/

Would like advice from NY experts please...

Perfect advice from Whiz. I%26#39;ve just bookmarked the B%26amp;B site you linked, it looks wonderful.

Cricri7, if you%26#39;ve never been to a mega concert in Central Park, the NY Philharmonic will be performing on July 12 %26amp; 18 on the Great Lawn. Also check the SummerStage calendar for their list of free international music, and the River to River Festival for list of free entertainment downtown.

http://www.summerstage.org/

http://www.rivertorivernyc.com/

Thank you very much NY whiz.....I checked out your link for the B%26amp;B, but it is a shared bath and I prefer a hotel room with my own bathroom. The place looks cute and the location is incredible. If I was not alone, I would take the first one who doesn%26#39;t have a shared bath. 250$ is a price I paid for the Giraffe this spring, but this summer I know I can pay much less than that. I saw the sites you recommanded..upper west side, Columbian, etc....I will look into the cruise, it looks interesting.

Thanks Bettina..I just downloaded the schedule for the river to river festival. I had heard about the walking tours they offer in downtown new york through the website downtown alliance and I was planning already to take it when I would next be in NY.

Since I travel alone, I don%26#39;t mind that much the small rooms. I prefer the big ones, but it is my budget which decides which size I can get:) I%26#39;m looking at the Washington square hotel for this summer because I love that area of town, but I just love staying in Murray Hill because it is quieter and you sleep well at night without hearing noise like in Greenwich Village. I had a friend who used to live right on Bleecker street at the corner of McDougall and I always had difficulty sleeping, especially on the weekends!!

Thanks to both of you and if you think of anything else, let me know. I%26#39;m only leaving in 4 weeks!

I%26#39;ve been living here over 35 years and still use the Blue Guide City Guide New York to check out stuff around the city - it includes the 5 boroughs, not just Manhattan. Two weeks ago I took a tour of parts of downtown and Ellis Island with a former Ellis Island Ranger (ellisislandtours.com) and a bunch of us are thinking about a brunch/tour of a village area inhabitied by Mae West and Texas Guinan. I can%26#39;t imagine ever being ';finished'; touring this city. There%26#39;s always something I%26#39;m discovering. Good luck. Ta. MMM!

In this fast-paced world sometimes it%26#39;s nice to take things slow. The South Street Seaport Museum offers harbour tours on an 18th-century schooner called the Pioneer. I thought it was a lot of fun to go out towards the Statue of Liberty this way (we didn%26#39;t land, just got near). The boat only holds 35 people so you aren%26#39;t squashed in with crowds. You can buy your tickets in advance so there is no need to arrive hours before for a line up. It%26#39;s a pleasant way to spend a few hours on the water. Excellent information provided by the captain and crew.

And to answer the two important questions, yes and yes: (Do they provide beverages and is there a bathroom on board?)

southstreetseaportmuseum.org/calendar/calmai鈥?/a>

Also on that link is a list of walking tours and events for the summer from the South Street Seaport Museum:

Make that a 19th century, not 18th century schooner.

Thanks a lot to you three NY experts. I should have discovered this forum earlier, it would have saved me a lot of time on the Internet!

I followed NY whiz and chechek out the Hudson, but the reviews kill this hotel! They are more tender with the Mansfield. Travel zoo will probably determine my choice of hotels, but I want to try my hand at Priceline also. I%26#39;ll quote NY whiz again who said to try out another area of town to stay in. I think I%26#39;ll try to bid for downtown/soho area 4 stars and the midtown south 4 stars. I went on the forums you recommanded (biddingfortravel.com) and I never saw midtown south hotels mentionned. I was wondering if you saw them and at what price? It is supposed to be the Morgans and 70 park avenue which are very nice hotels.

For the downtown area, it is always the Millenium Hilton who wins. Did you ever see the three other hotels win....at what price?

One last question...I%26#39;m thinking about booking for either the 21st of July (Friday) or 23rd of July (Sunday) for 4 or 5 nights.

-Is there an arriving day of the week who is better than the other?

-Is 4 or 5 nights too much for Priceline?

If you haven%26#39;t already, purchase ';City Walks: New York';. It is a collection to 50 walks, each on a different card. No walk is more than a mile in length and most start and end at a subway station. I find that these cards have encouraged us to visit neighborhoods that we normally wouldn%26#39;t have thought to do otherwise. If they aren%26#39;t in any local bookstores, you can order them through Amazon. Also, they are available in NYC. However, I recommend buying them before you go to NYC so that you can look them over in advance to decide what interests you.

I recommend visiting betterbidding.com and posting a question on the New York board, they will help you with your questions.

At the top of the New York board there is a hotwire pinned list and a priceline pinned list. Here are the priceline listings for the zones you mentioned.

I think you have a good chance of getting a deal, but don%26#39;t start bidding without

New York City (Downtown - SoHo - Financial District)

4* 60 Thompson

4* Millenium Hilton

4* SoHo Grand

4* Tribecca Grand

3* Embassy Suites

3* Holiday Inn Wall St.

3* Marriott Financial Center

2.5* Club Quarters

2.5* Exchange Hotel

New York City (Midtown South)

4* 70 Park Avenue Hotel

4* Morgans Hotel

3* Affinia Manhattan

3* Four Points Sheraton

3* Hotel 5A

3* Jolly Madison

3* Park South Hotel

2.5* Doral Park Avenue

2.5* Hotel 41 At Times Square

2* Best Western Convention Center

2* Murray Hill Suites East

See this post and its sub-posts for great ideas!!

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k72495-O鈥?/a>

I highly recommend the Panoramaat teh Queens Museum. It is a scale model of every single building in NYC. Every. Single Building. Includes airports and highways, too.

Here%26#39;s what it looks like if you could stand in the middle of it:

www.queensmuseum.org/information/mission.htm

Take the #7 train to 111th Street. Follow directions here:

queensmuseum.org/information/directions.htm

Thanks for coming back again and again!