many questions

visiting New York December 19 for 3 nights with 4 teenagers looking for

a- Good quality hotel in a good location with rooms that can have 3 people in each

b- suggestions for must see sites or tours including shopping suggetions ( 3 daughters)

c- eating advise

d- best way to get from JFK to the city for 6 people 6 suitcases and 2 sets of golf clubs (flying onto Naples from Guardia after New York)

many questions

BillMac,

What is your budget per night for your hotel? Remember to add 15% tax on top of this to get a better idea of the cost. Location is not all that important but being close to a subway is, Times Square is pricey and IMO not the place to stay. You should be able to get somewhere with connecting rooms if you wanted that? I鈥檇 recommend getting a car service from the airport it will be cheaper than 2 taxis- try Carmel or dial7. There are so many places to eat so again it depends on your family鈥檚 preferences and budget-there is someone for every taste and every budget in NY. If you post some more details you鈥檒l get some good responses with recommendations but without a budget for your hotel it鈥檚 hard to start suggesting places. Area wise maybe Midtown would be good as it鈥檚 close to Macys and other large stores.

many questions

I was thinking of 400 to 500 dollars per room per night including tax, as we are there a short time we would like to be close to the action say 15 mins walk to times square any idea how much the car service is

That鈥檚 a realistic budget, but I鈥檝e never been in December where rates will be high. I鈥檝e only ever travelled with my partner so can鈥檛 rhyme off a list of hotels in that budget that will sleep three per room-although some of the NY experts will be able to. I stayed at the Affinia Dumont last time I was in NY and they have connecting rooms and full kitchen. And the rooms are very large and you can get awesome views. It鈥檚 a 5 minute walk to the Empire State Building and Macy鈥檚. I鈥檝e just checked the rates and its $348 via quick book.

Affinia Manhattan is $306 a night on quick book

Michelangelo is $362-this seems a good price as it was much higher when I was looking for September and looks very nice.

If you go to Quickbook.com there are loads for %26lt;$500 a night so I鈥檇 have a look on there and see what you like then check out the hotels reviews.

A point to make is TS is not where all the action is, first timers (myself included) think it is the best location but it isn鈥檛 unless you want to see a lot of theatre/shows. It鈥檚 also expensive, and the places to eat and drink are tourist trap type places where the food isn鈥檛 as good or cheap if you ventured out a bit.

Benjii, you%26#39;ve become a real expert! You%26#39;ve gotten great advice billmac. I%26#39;ll add

a- Any of the affinia.com hotels (all suite hotels) will work for you. You may not even need 2 rooms/suites. For example, the Affinia Dumont has a 1 bedroom suite with 2 queen beds and a sofabed that would sleep 6, but you would all have to share beds and only have 1 bathroom, so that might not be ideal with 3 daughters. ;)

There%26#39;s shopping all over the city so it won%26#39;t be hard to be near it. The Kimberly is not far from Bloomingdales and Rockefeller Center and I see a price of $295/night (plus tax) on quikbook for a room with 2 double beds. They also have suites.

The Essex House is in a pretty glamorous location on Central Park South (across from the park) and they have an executive suite for 3 people on quikbook for $319/night. I%26#39;d find that appealing. Both of these are also fully cancelable with no prepayment

b- If the girls are Sex and the city fans, they might want to take that tour. Otherwise, I don%26#39;t think I%26#39;d take a bus tour at that time of year (too much traffic) unless you wanted to do a city lights tour at night. There%26#39;s an area of Brooklyn that has over the top lights if that appeals to you.

http://asliceofbrooklyn.com/christmas.html

I would absolutely get tickets to the Radio City Xmas Spectacular (there%26#39;s a discount on broadwaybox.com but not sure it will be good for your dates). If you want to see any shows, I%26#39;d buy those in advance.

Here%26#39;s a shopping guide from NY Magazine that you can pass along to the girls. Just make sure the info is up to date (stores close/change)

nymag.com/visitorsguide/shopping/index.htm

Here%26#39;s a link to the FAQ from the forum with LOTS of other info including a link to a holiday guide and lots of threads on eating.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k1948627鈥?/a>

If you want more eating advice, I%26#39;d start a new thread with very specific requests once you have an idea of your itinerary (ie good sushi near xyz etc.)

For transportation, I would contact

strusserslimousineservice.com

and get a quote for both trips. The airport is LA Guardia (code LGA) and is much closer to Manhattan than JFK.

social so po