I’ve been to New York twice now and it’s a city I could never get tired of. There is so much to see and do it’s perfect for as a city break destination.
Both times I went I stayed in the Sheraton Manhattan. The location is excellent, its approx. 3 mins walk to Times Square and all the major sites are within a 15 minute walk. Hotel rooms in New York tend to be on the small side, having said that I spent very little time in my room as there was so much to do in New York. If it’s Mid Town Manhattan, Times Square, 5th Ave etc. that you want to be near then really any hotel within a 10 block radius of Times Square should be central enough.
If you haven’t been to New York before I would recommend a hop on/hop off city tour, these are excellent value and it really gives you a feel for the city. I took the 4 hour tour and it was great to see parts of New York that I probably wouldn’t have gotten round to otherwise.
Shopping wise, New York is pretty unbeatable as a bargain destination. I always head out to Woodbury Common Outlet Mall before I hit the shops in Manhattan. Woodbury common is approx. 1hour from the city centre but you can take a bus directly out to the mall with a return trip. The shops are fantastic value, you have Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Gant, Gap, Gucci, Timberland and plenty more. After Woodbury Common the next best value I could find was Century 21, it’s really like a huge TK Maxx! So prepare to rummage, the value is quite good but I found some of the items were $10 or $20 more expensive than Woodbury Common. Of course you also have Macy’s and Bloomingdales, Macy’s offer an extra discount to tourists if you bring your passport to their customer service desk, to get the best bargains, Macy’s have to be having a sale and then you add on the extra discount.
Entertainment in New York is like any major city varied with something for everyone. Broadway is of course extremely popular, the tickets can be quite expensive so I always book mine before I travel, you can queue at a booth on Times Square to get cheap last minute tickets but you need to be in the queue from approx. 8am and you may not get tickets at all after queuing all day, personally I would prefer to pay than loose a day of my holiday. There is also plenty of jazz clubs and comedy clubs, again I found the comedy clubs more expensive than I thought they would be.
I love New York, it truly is the city that never sleeps, and there is something to keep everyone interested and happy.