<p>Hope you like staying in Harmon Meadow. It’s worked out well for us. </p>
<p>If you are willing to drive in/out rather than taking the bus, however, we did discover that East Rutherford hotel rooms were MUCH less expensive. (We paid less for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath suite at the Residence East Rutherford than it would have cost us to get one room at the Hampton Harmon Meadow!) We’ll probably do that again if we have >4 people in our group.</p>
<p>Looks like a good location. I’m not sure about the bus service, but you can also consider the NJ Transit Secaucus Junction train station if the shuttle service will take you there - <10 minutes to Penn Station with frequent service.</p>
<p>We have stayed near Princeton Junction and taken the NJ transit into NYC. When we have been splurging we stayed at the Hyatt and when we just wanted to crash we stayed at a Clarion Palmer (I think that’s the name). NJ transit runs frequently into NYC.</p>
<p>We stay in Long Island City near Queensboro Plaza. We park nearby for $15 for 24 hours, and just take the subway into midtown. It’s very convenient. Not an area I’d necessarily want to walk around after an evening performance, but it’s OK from the subway to the local hotels.</p>
<p>Secaucus Junction is the best mode of getting in and out of NYC, and hotels in the general area are inexpensive</p>
<p>Thanks for the recommendations for the Secaucus Junction train station. Parking there gives us some other options for hotels.</p>
<p>Happykid and I are fine with catching the bus or train back from NYC after the show ends (I’m guessing we could catch one between 11:15 and midnight), but Happydad is leery of both Penn Station and Port Authority, and leerier about picking up the car at Secaucus Junction at that time of night on a Saturday. Do any of you have specific ideas about this? Should we just make it matinees on both days?</p>
<p>Port Authority is much less icky than it was when I was growing up in the suburbs of NY.</p>
<p>We have not had concerns about catching the late bus back. The street where the bus drops off in Harmon Meadow really has nothing on it but hotels and office buildings. It hasn’t seemed terribly creepy. Not sure if I’d be keen on having my teen daughters travel alone, but with us, I’m not concerned.</p>
<p>We have read of cars being broken into at the train station parking lot, but have no personal experience with using that lot.</p>
<p>If you would prefer to just drive in from your hotel, the mid-town lot we parked in most recently was $17 for 12 hours, so you could drive in from anywhere in NJ for a 2 PM matinee and an 8 PM evening show (worst case scenario for duration of your stay) and still be in and out in 12 hours. It costs $12 to drive through the tunnel, but they only charge inbound. You may find that the incremental cost over bus or train is minimal, if you don’t mind the drive.</p>
<p>Do leave plenty of time to get through the tunnel, though. We hit no traffic at all on our last trip, but on previous trips we were glad to have caught the bus 30 minutes earlier than seemed necessary, because the trip into town took forever!</p>
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<p>I was just in NYC a couple of weeks ago, and I was amazed at the increased police presence in Penn Station – including Amtrak police with dogs. I’m a very cautious person, but I would feel safe in Penn Station at night.</p>
<p>I can second the suggestion of the Madison Hotel in Convent Station, near Morristown NJ.
(Don’t know the room price though)</p>
<p>Lovely suburban Morris County location. The hotel in literally next to the Convent Station train stop. Midtown Direct NJ Transit trains run often, less than one hour into NYC.
Our DS takes it all the time to meet friends for gigs in the city.</p>
<p>And yes, Morristown has some great tourist destinations (I’m biased of course).
Washington Headquarters, the Green with zillions of restaurants and shops, Jockey Hollow, Speedwell Village, a bunch of revolutionary war related sites.</p>
<p>I commute through Penn Station daily and always feel safe. As was mentioned, it is heavily patrolled, including several police dogs. I have no problem walking down either 7th or 8th avenue from an evening show to catch a train - there are people on the streets in the Times Square/Broadway area of NYC well past midnight.</p>
<p>The Madison is a very long train ride to NYC - nearly an hour. I would advise against it. (Been to several receptions there - it seems a bit tired).</p>
<p>I did look at the Madison website, and the place seemed charming. However the train ride was long, and it looked like it wouldn’t run as late on a Saturday as we need it to. </p>
<p>Thanks for all of your comments about late-night transportation. I really don’t want to have to be up before dawn on 5/26 so that we can get to NYC in time for a Saturday matinee. I’d rather have a more leisurely trip, and go to an evening show. We can’t leave here on Friday 5/25 because of Happykid’s work schedule. The next free weekend in her schedule is 6/16-17. She’s got nothing scheduled for 6/15 (yet) which means we could drive up on Friday, and easily get to a Saturday matinee.</p>
<p>Now I’m regretting mentioning Show #2 to both of them. If I’d kept my mouth shut (and not forwarded the email from Playbill), we’d only be trying to schedule Show #1. Sigh.</p>
<p>Lately I’ve given up on hotels for NYC and use a private arrangement through airbnb or homeaway.</p>
<p>It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, as it takes lots of emailing, checking against the individual’s calendar and so on. Also you’re actually living in someone else’s apartment for the weekend…which is good and bad. It’s economical, however, compared to hotel rates. The results are quirky but I like it.</p>