Me and my girlfriend stayed at the Park Central NY on 19-23 Dec 2008. This was our first visit to New York and was a place I have always wanted to visit at Xmas since watching movies like Home Alone 2. We spent hours searching for the right hotel and realised to stay at a nice hotel would not be cheap. We stummbled across the Park Central and read great reviews we booked direct through the Park Central website and got a great deal as they had a sale on with 50% off.
We landed in the evening of teh 19th and there was a foot of snow it was incredible, we got a taxi from Newark airport to the Park Central which cost about $80. Check in was painless and we upgraded to a deluxe room which was a disabled room so the bathroom was enormous. There were decorations and trees through the hotel lobby which was very welcoming. We stayed on one of the higher floors which gave a fantastic views of the snow covered streets.
The hotel was set in a fantastic location, we brought NY books and thought we would spend a lot of money on taxis. On our first day we ventured out to find our bearings and realised that central park was two minutes up the road and five minutes in the other direction was Times square. We paid $75 for a sightseeing bus which we did not see as value for money. We got the subway ($7 for 7 trips) to the ferry point and got the statton island ferry (which is free) around the statue of liberty and got fantastic views of manhatten also. We also visited groud zero and the highlight of the trip was a night visit to the Empire State Building which gave some fantastic views.
For Xmas I got my girlfriend tickets to see the Little Mermaid on Broadway which she loved. The show was incredible and was significantly better than any show i have seen in Londons West End. The cast and costumes were fantastic and the theatre was at a great location.
Shopping wise we probablty didnt do as much as we thought we visited fifth avenue and went in Macys, TIffanys etc and one of our favourite shops Abercrombie was quite expensive compared to Florida which we have previously visited. American Eagle gave great value for money. I would also recommend visiting the Virgin Megastore , NBA store and Nintendo Store
Every morning we crossed the road for breakfast at the Cafe Metro which was great food and good value for money. We ate at various restaurants and would recommend Planet Hollywood and Applebees.
The snow and all the decorations really made this a fantastic stay and as a massive fan of Xmas I enjoyed it immensley. We went to the rockefeller centre and saw the big tree and walked through the snow covered central park. I would recommend New York and the Park Central Hotel to everyone the stay was fantastic and I would love to go again.
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