<p>D has an audition in NYC next month. We are flying into and out of the Newark Airport. We are staying at a hotel near the airport that runs a shuttle to the train (New Jersey Transit line?) that can take us into Manhattan. Once we are in Manhattan do we take a taxi? I heard taxis are difficult to get in NYC. What time should we leave the hotel for a 9am, Saturday audition? Im also considering using a limo service to get us to the audition - but taking the train back to the hotel.</p>
<p>We (country bumpkins) are planning a second trip into NYC to see Wicked Saturday night :rolleyes:. How safe will the train trip be around midnight? </p>
<p>I would have the hotel arrange for a car service for you for the audition. You don’t want to be late for something so important. Taxis, however, are not usually difficult to get in NYC, unless it’s raining. Where’s the audition? Is it for Tisch? If so, that’s in lower Manhattan, in the Village. The concierge at the hotel should be able to estimate how long it will take you to get there (don’t want to estimate, seeing as I don’t know what hotel). </p>
<p>Why wouldn’t you just stay in the city for the day on Saturday? Seems unusual to go back to the hotel then back again for the show. Anyway, check on the schedule for the train line you’ll be taking. You’ll need to know that because there are limitations on some of the train lines leaving Manhattan late at night and you won’t want to miss the last one. Having said that, the train should be fine. Usually there will be lots of people hopping on the trains at that time on a Saturday night. It needn’t be at midnight, though, the show will be over by 10:30. </p>
<p>My suggestion is a car service to take you in in the morning, spend the day exploring Manhattan, go to the show, and have another car meet you at the Gershwin after the show to take you back to your hotel. Have fun and tell your D to break a leg! :)</p>
<p>I think you should consider staying in the city and just book your airport shuttles with plenty of time to spare for your Newark connections.
try Quikbook.com for NYC hotel rooms…downtown hotels have excellent service to the Newark airport just be prepared to go to the airport nice and early to be there in plenty of time for security. Check tripadvisor.com for recent reviews from savvy travelers. In my relatively small home city, parents often stay in the Belvedere, Paramount, the Hudson etc or for quick little trips to see a show. I sure hope you have a wonderful time regardless.</p>
<p>alwaysamom, Thanks for the advice. Ds audition is at Juilliard for their ballet summer intensive program. We considered just staying in the city all day. The only problem is D will need to be a bun head in ballet attire for the audition. If she isnt cut before the final round she will be very sweaty by the time the last class ends at 1pm .getting her to put on clean dressy clothes might be difficult. But I understand the alternative would be getting back to the hotel and rushing to change clothes before heading back to NYC.</p>
<p>I will probably hire a car service for the trip to Juilliard and the trip back to the hotel after the show. Are there any you would recommend?</p>
<p>Faline2 - Thanks for the suggestions but the rate at the Newark Airport Hilton was only $135/night. I think the 2 nights stay plus 2 limo service sedan trips into Manhattan is cheaper than staying in a city hotel for the two nights.</p>
<p>The hotel shuttle will either take you to a PATH station (like a subway) that will take you downtown or up to 33rd st, or a New Jersey transit station which will let you take a train to Penn Station (also near 33rd street) or guess wrong and take a train to Hoboken. Either one of those stops will still require a taxi (or subway) ride up to Lincoln Center for the audition. For an out-of-towner with an important meeting to make I would probably also recommend having a car service take you to the audition. The only concern there is traffic which should not be too bad on a Saturday morning but unfortunately is somewhat unpredictable. You can run into big delays at either the Lincoln or Holland tunnels. I would probably ask for a 7:30 pickup for a 9 oclock meeting. If all goes smoothly you will be there an hour early, at 8. But you could easily need that extra hour!</p>
<p>TutuTaxi, ahhh, silly me! I should have known from your name that you were a dancer’s mom. I understand that she probably wants to shower after a dance audition. Here’s a link for the car service that my D uses in the city for trips to and from the airport, and has never had a problem. Perhaps they can help you:</p>
<p>The other option is checking to see if the hotel has someone that they recommend. I agree with the 7:30 pick up time. If you’re early, you can find a spot to have a coffee and let her relax a bit before her warm-up.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine the 2 limo (one a round trip) rides would be inexpensive. Plus you really get a better feel for the city when you spend the night there. And it just makes everything so much easier.</p>
<p>Depends on where you are but taxis aren’t that tough to get in the city.</p>
<p>We’ve stayed at the Sheraton, easily walking distance to the Gershwin, for about $200/night.</p>
<p>It’s a lot more fun staying in Manhattan, and you’ll get a much better feel for the city. I think that’s important if your daughter is thinking about studying here. Yes, the hotel would be more money than N.J., but you’ll save some in getting back and forth. And how great is it to see Wicked and then go out for some cheesecake before strolling to your hotel! Just my two cents.</p>
<p>Regarding car services, they should be fairly reasonable. Plenty of companies in Manhattan contract with them to take employees home if they stay late at the office. Going between the near NJ suburbs shouldn’t be too expensive.</p>
<p>I’m with everyone else – stay in the city. Especially over the weekend – you won’t be fighting all the business travellers. That’s a long haul from Newark into the city and you’ll end up feeling like all your visit is spent in transit. Stay in mid-town and take taxis everywhere. Last time I was there I stayed in a hotel in lower Manhattan for about $200 a night – but I might have been getting a PATH discount since I was working at the World Trade Center site. A lot more than $135, but a limo is going to cost more than $40 each way. Plus, it’s a vacation. (If I were you, I wouldn’t stay downtown – there’s not much there if you aren’t on business.)</p>
<p>I’m going to second the Sheraton Suites in Weehawken. I was there a few years ago for a conference. Great rooms, nice beds, easy access to Manhattan. I would stay there again <em>definitely</em>.</p>
<p>If you stick with your plan to stay at the Newark Airport Hilton:</p>
<p>NJ Transit runs directly from Newark Airport to Penn Station in New York; that is a fairly recent development and is great for people who want to get to the city from the airport. I don’t know how often those trains run but a look at the NJTransit Web site will tell you.</p>
<p>I imagine that the Hilton at Newark Airport has a shuttle that takes you to and from the train station at the airport. I think you are better off with a car service going to the audition, however, jsut for purposes of not worrying about catching trains adn making connedctions. I am sure the airport Hilton, which is known for huge weddings and other formal gatherings, has a list of providers–call in advance to make the arrangements. </p>
<p>Safety on the late-night trains should not be an issue though–they are heavily used by theater goers and other people coming home to NJ late at night, and they run a little later on weekends–until around 1, maybe later on the mainline trains. Again, check the schedule, which is available online. Not every station is as safe or safe feeling as every other one though. The ones that are not in the affluent commuter belt may feel pretty threatening late at night–but the airport station is probably bustling all the time. Others may be pretty deserted. All in all,car services are widely used and if you are making arrangements to go into the city with a car service for the auditon you might as well use one to get back to the hotel late at night, which will save you from having to wait around at Penn Station for a train.</p>
<p>BUT, I am inclined to agree with posters who suggest staying in the city if at all financially feasible (though $135 a night is hard to beat in NYC) . One drawback to the Newark Airport Hilton is that it is on a pretty unpleasant stretch of Routes 1 and 9 as I recall. If NYC hotels prove too costly and you stay at one of the Jersey City or Weehawken hotels you might be in a nicer location. However, I do not know how late the ferries run and how you get from the pier to the hotel in Weehawken, and I also am not sure about ther PATH schedule and comfort level late at night to take you to the very nice new Jersey City hotels. It occurs to me that that the money you would spend on car service between NJ and NYC might not be that much less than the extra cost involved in staying in Manhattan. On balance, I think I would go with Manhattan over any of the NJ options–and if you do not have too much to carry when you arrive you can take the NJTransit airaport link from Newark Airport to Penn Station in NYC, then take a much less expensive taxi ride to your Manhattan hotel and have the fun and convenience of being in the city from start to finish.</p>
<p>TutuTaxi, as others have said here your stay in NYC will be much easier and less stress-filled if you stay in NYC. You daughter certainly does not need the added stress have a long train ride on the morning of the audition. I have stayed several times at a couple of different hotels in a group called Apple Core Hotels. They include a Comfort Inn and a Ramada Inn all in mid-town. If you go to their website and search reservations for the weekend of December 8th, you will come of with outrageous rates of over $400 per night. It is the holiday season. However, the rate for this coming weekend (Thanksgiving is between $129 and $159 per night). In other words, when you book closer to the actual weekend the rates come down. I once was able to take advantage of a rate reduction at the Ramada Eastside by calling them and telling them that their website was showing lower prices that those I had booked. Keep your hotel at the airport, but check the Apple Core Hotel website beginning on Monday of the week you will be in NYC. Good luck to your daughter on her audition.</p>
NJres ROFLOL , and I thought only H knew my difficulties w/ directions.</p>
<p>alwaysamom Thanks for recommending Tel Aviv Car & Limousine Service. Im going to use them for the trip to Juilliard.</p>
<p>jasmom yes D is doing the December 9th audition. This is the 2nd year they have offered this early (December) audition date w/ definitive acceptance (or rejection) by January 10th for those few who make it through the technique, pointe, and modern classes on audition day.</p>
<p>2331clk, LurkNessMonster, Dean J, Rick Tyler, cnp55 - You have convinced me of my error in hotel selection. I checked the Sheraton Hotel you suggested but the only rooms available that werent over $500/night required a full non-refundable pre-payment.</p>
<p>I did book at another hotel (Embassy Suites Hotel Secaucus-Meadowlands), which I think is near the Sheraton and hopefully at a better location than the Newark Airport Hilton. Please let me know what you think of this hotel and its location.</p>
<p>eireann Unfortunately, everybody and their grandmothers dog must be visiting NYC the same weekend, because the Hotel Newton like many of the hotels I checked had no vacancies.</p>
<p>mattmom Thanks for the info about the Newark Airport Hilton and the surrounding area. I guess there is a reason the room rate was so low. Im taking your advice and using a limo service to take us to Juilliard.</p>
<p>unsoccer-mom Great advice regarding the Apple Core Hotel website. Im going to check it daily beginning December 1st. I can cancel my other 2 reservations without paying a one night penalty, anytime before December 7th.</p>
<p>I’d suggest the following Manhattan hotel. I’ve never stayed there myself but my son and his friends say it’s acceptable. (It was recommended by a Barnard student). It’s inexpensive and very convenient to Julliard and everything else.</p>
I understand that she probably wants to shower after a dance audition. Here’s a link for the car service that my D uses in the city for trips to and from the airport, and has never had a problem. Perhaps they can help you:</p>