Yay! The hubs and I are planning our honeymoon/one year anniversary trip to NYC in mid to late July. His brother lives in Queens and we'll mostly be staying with him (to save money) but will probably spend the night of our anniversary in a hotel.
I need recommendations for fun things to do and a hotel to stay! I have never been to NYC so I'm open to any recommendations!
squash / 13764 posts
Ooh fun! I would recommend a hotel downtown...it would be a fun, cool experience and is near lots of great restaurants! What is your budget like?
pear / 1548 posts
Hm I guess budget is something we need to discuss 
we'll be saving a ton of money staying the other days with his family so maybe we can splurge a bit on a hotel. We are in the preliminary stages of planning. How much do most hotels downtown cost to book per night?
persimmon / 1081 posts
Hotels in NYC are notoriously expensive bc there is almost always low inventory. I would go for a newer boutique like the ace or the Jane. My parents live in queens so I will probably never get to stay in a NYC hotel 
grapefruit / 4085 posts
How fun! Hotel rates really vary. If you can splurge a bit, I'd recommend the Gramercy Hotel - you get access to Gramercy Park, which is a private park, and the hotel has a very cool, rock and roll vibe. As for things to do - there's just so much! Museums., shows, shopping, restaurants, walking tours are fun - check out a bunch of different areas of town.
cantaloupe / 6397 posts
That's so fun!!!! That's what we did for our first anniversary
We aren't really touristy people so I'm probably not much help. Haha. We just walked around a lot and shopped and ate.
persimmon / 1233 posts
I've had luck with hotels on Hotwire before. As for things to do, besides the obvious (Central Park, Statue of Liberty, Broadway show) here are a few of my favorites:
- Accomplice - scavenger hunt/show on the streets of NYC: http://accomplicetheshow.com/
- Sleep No More - totally strange and expensive but so interesting and fun: http://sleepnomorenyc.com/
- Dinner at Pylos (http://www.pylosrestaurant.com/) followed by dessert at Big Gay Ice Cream (http://biggayicecream.com/). (*sigh* I miss living in the East Village!)
- The Museum of the Moving Image is cool and it's in Queens: http://www.movingimage.us/
eggplant / 11716 posts
@Boopers: Can't help you with the place to stay, because we used to always just look for a good deal. But I can help you with other things!
Food:
-cookies from Levain (literally the best cookies in the world)
-Macarons from Ladurée or La Maison Du Chocolat
-Brunch at Jane or Cafe Condesa or Jack's Wife Frieda (skip clinton st. bakery!)
-lunch at Shake Shack, Taim (best falafel in the world), or Empanada Mama
-Dinner at the Spotted Pig or someplace good in chinatown or at Sigiri (sri lankan food)
Things to do:
-see a show!
-Brooklyn brewery tour
-Bike around central park (bike rentals)
-world trade center memorial
-shopping of course
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@Boopers: what are your likes and dislikes? nature? Food? Tech? architecture?
persimmon / 1286 posts
the standard is a really cool and fun hotel, and their top floor bar has amazing views of new york and is a great place to grab (an expensive but delicious) drink.
pomegranate / 3452 posts
Sounds fun! We went to NYC on our honeymoon last July
I recommend splurging on a swanky hotel - you'll feel so fancy! We stayed at the Greenwich Hotel and really enjoyed it. For a nice meal, I'd recommend Butter, and for the best lunch, I'd recommend the brisket sandwich at the Mile End Deli.
pear / 1548 posts
I'm not a big theater person but wouldn't be opposed to seeing a show. I would like to check out a museum- maybe not necessarily an art museum though.
I definitely want to try lots of amazing food!
Other than that I think I'm pretty open to suggestions!!!
persimmon / 1286 posts
on the weekends, check out smorgasburg: http://www.smorgasburg.com/
outdoor market of amazing local food vendors right on the water in brooklyn. you can take the water taxi there from manhattan (or subway/cab/walk over the bk bridge to the sunday one) which is SUCH a fun day. sightseeing + outdoors + amazing food!
eggplant / 11716 posts
@Boopers: Oh! And one of my favorite, favorite things to do.....cheap hour long foot/calf massage in chinatown! You can pay $30 and literally get an hour of intense (but amazing) foot reflexology. The last time I went with my friends, I fell asleep and snored it was so good.
You can Yelp for exact places to go, although if I'm with friends, I tend to try just any old place that has a massage sign up. The foot massage is usually in a main room, with other people, in a recliner. So you don't have to worry about anything "sketchy". lol
It makes a perfect afternoon to have dim sum brunch and then go for the foot massage.
squash / 13764 posts
@lioneyes: YES. Smorgasburg is amazing!!!! And it's right by the Brooklyn Bridge/Brooklyn bridge park/the promenade, so you can knock off a few other attractions at the same time
As for pricing on hotels downtown, it really depends...I would check out trip advisor.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@Boopers: if you're into Chinese food I definitely recommend making a stop at Chinatown. I can make specific recommendations. For dim sum in Ctown my family reco's Golden Unicorn on East Broadway. And then a stop at Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for some house made ice cream specialties such as lychee and red bean. Then take a walk over to Canal St for some fun touristy cheapness. Continue onto Soho for some affordable shopping. 
bananas / 9229 posts
@hummusgirl: I have to ask! What are: Accomplice AND Sleep No More?? I looked at the websites but couldn't really tell.
persimmon / 1233 posts
They're both hard to describe! But awesome. Sleep No More is kind of like a play/dance performance that takes place in a hotel in Chelsea that the show has completely taken over and transformed in a 1920s style. It's supposed to be loosely based on Macbeth. You wander around the different rooms by yourself (candy shop, warehouse, forest) watching whatever performers happen to be in that room at that time. And everyone except the performers wears masks. It's trippy! At the end you can hang out in the hotel bar and there's an awesome jazz band. More here: http://theater.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/theater/reviews/sleep-no-more-is-a-macbeth-in-a-hotel-review.html?_r=0
Accomplice is kind of like an improv performance on the streets of NYC. I've done both versions - the original takes you through Lower Manhattan/Chinatown/Little Italy and the other is in the West Village. You're in a group of 10 and you get clues from actors stationed along the route. You go into bars/coffeeshops and have a drink while talking to some of the characters. It's really fun for out of towners (and me, a local!). Highly recommend it!
pear / 1548 posts
Thank you for all the recommendations! Now we just need to make some decisions
pineapple / 12566 posts
@Boopers: DH and I lived in NYC for a few years and got married there. We spent our wedding night in The Standard hotel. It's pricy, but if you want to celebrate, it'a worth the splurge. Biggest most amazing bath tub I have ever seen.
I agree with Shake Shack for burgers (and cheese fries!!!). Back Forty in the East Village was one of our special dinner places. Murray's bagels. Eataly and the Chelsea Market are both worth checking out too.
apricot / 294 posts
I recommend visiting the High Line, an elevated urban park on old railroad lines on the west side of Manhattan. Beautiful, but can get very crowded. They have elevator access at certain streets. http://www.thehighline.org/about/park-information
Also recommend the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck (they have a store now, but they often have long lines out the door). Check the twitter feed for the daily truck location, they are often near Union Square Park. The Salty Pimp is amazing.
For dinner I recommend Freemans. http://www.yelp.com/biz/freemans-restaurant-new-york
apricot / 294 posts
Not sure if you will be in Manhattan at this time, but Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center is fun to check out (outdoor, live music, fun to dance or just watch)
http://midsummernightswing.org/
coconut / 8079 posts
So glad I found this! Hubs and I are also planning a trip to NY in July. My first time there. So excited. Thanks for the suggestions!
pear / 1548 posts
***Update***
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! I had no idea what anything was before we went and luckily DH's brother and his boyfriend were our tour guides and we had SO much fun!! I realize now that we did some of the stuff you guys suggested Here's a recap of the fun stuff we did:
Thursday:
We landed in NYC and went to Midtown to drop our stuff off at DH's brother's office because he lives in Queens and we didn't have a key. This gave us a lot of time to walk around and do some shopping. We went to Nintendo World (DH loved it), 30 Rock, and walked through Times Square
That evening we went to Queens (they live in Astoria) and we went to 5 Napkin Burger. It was so good!!
Friday:
We got bagels then walked to Astoria Park and checked out the view.
Then we went to Flushing to check out all the good Chinese and Korean food. I had the BEST pork belly buns at the New World Mall. Probably one of the best things we ate on the whole trip!
That night we ate at Fatty's Cafe in Astoria. I had the Charity burger. The meat practically melted in my mouth!
Saturday:
We went to Manhattan to check out Central Park and do some shopping. We went to Uniqlo. I had never been before and it was awesome!
My favorite thing we did the whole trip was Saturday night. We went to Korea Town and ate Korean BBQ then we went to a bar and drank soju out of a watermelon. Then we went to a Korean Karaoke bar which was SO FUN. I would love to go back and do it again!
Sunday:
We did Smorgasburg at DUMBO. It was awesome! The view was incredible and the food was awesome.
After that we walked around Brooklyn a bit then went back to Queens and got ready for our anniversary dinner. We went to Ornella in Astoria. If you ever go, get the duck meatballs as an appetizer and the gnocchi. It was like soft pillow clouds in a creamy garlic sauce.
Monday:
We got a later start on the day and went to the West Village and walked around. I got tiramisu gelato at Grom, it was yummy. The brownstones were gorgeous, I had never see any in person before. We ended our evening going back to Queens and resting after a long and exhausting- but very fun trip! It was my first time in NY and I want to go back!!!
grapefruit / 4085 posts
@Boopers: sounds like you had a great time! I love Grom. Glad you had fun!
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