Travel: 2012 May New York Pass

Before I arrived at Manhattan, I actually did not do a lot of planning except seeking advice from a friend who just got back from New York (NY). The best piece of advice she gave was to purchase the NY Pass[1] online and collect in NY. Why? Because it costs less than buying either the NY pass or admission tickets over the counter in NY itself!

You can match the duration of the NY pass to your stay. They offer 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7-day NY pass. I got myself the 7-day NY pass because I was there for a week. It came with a free guidebook, which was informative and small enough to fit into most bags.

For my 1st day in NY, I arrived just in time to collect the NY pass from the Times Square[2] Planet Hollywood. Purposely chose there to make sure that I visit the iconic Times Square at least once to soak up the Broadway atmosphere.

While at Times Square, I took a while to visit the NY tourist information counter to understand how their Metro subway system works. I also visited Madame Tussauds NY which is in the vicinity.

Times Square

To make the most out of the NY pass, I headed back to the hostel and spent the rest of my 1st night planning to squeeze in as many places as possible. Some quick tips on how I planned:

1. Select those places (usually the walking tours) which require online reservations and book ahead. Do note that some are not available daily, while others have limited slots. So, (personally I feel) it is best to plan your other visits around them;
2. Select as many places that I want to visit and start grouping them by location;
3. Indicate the Must-Go places.

The trickier part, as usual, was weather. To make the trip worthwhile, I cleared as many trips which are weather dependent as possible on days where the sky seemed clear. Such trips are rooftop view of Empire State Building and Top of the Rock (Rockerfeller building). 

View from Empire State Building
(aka King Kong building)

As for those pre-booked walking tours, I prayed hard that the weather would be good that day. Luckily for me, I booked 2 walking tours and both days were sunny days. As for the remaining days, I cleared places such as museums, libraries, Grand Central Terminal, etc. 

Here are some of the places I conquered during my 1-week stay in NY:

Rockerfeller building, Empire State building, Madame Tussauds NY, Central Library (where Day after Tomorrow was shoot), Grand Central Terminal, Central Park, NY Skyride, Radio City Music Hall, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, America Museum of Natural History, The Museum of Modern Art, Museum of the City of NY, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Sex, The Charging Bull, Trinity Church, Times Square, Ground Zero, etc.

There are more places which I wished I had time to visit. That will have to wait until the next time I set foot there then.

Before I end, do note that the NY pass is valid for one admission per attraction (unless they change their terms and conditions) and it is activated for consecutive calendar days when used at your 1st attraction.

So if you are going NY, I hope this post has been of some help :)
Enjoy the Big Apple!

References:

1. Official New York Pass
2. Wikipedia - Times Square

Travel: May 2012 Sleep Inn Jamaica, Queens, New York, U.S.A.

Usually, I have good experiences staying at hostels when overseas. Okay, perhaps an exception is U.S.A. I realised that when I reach Chelsea International Hostel (CIH) located in New York (NY), U.S.A. on 29 Apr 2012.

Truthfully speaking, CIH did the job it was supposed to do: provide a cheap lodging right in heart of the busy Manhattan. I have totally no complaints about its location as it gave me the convenience which I much needed to explore Manhattan and fully utilise my NY pass.

But even for a someone who is used to staying in hostels, I could not make myself stay there until the day I fly back to Singapore. I booked to stay at Sleep Inn Jamaica (SIJ) a.k.a Sleep Inn JFK Airport on my last day in NY using the WiFi provided by CIH. Yes, I was desperate to get out of CIH.

As compared to CIH, SIJ was a godsend. But still, do not go in expecting to enjoy the usual hotel facilities such as swimming pool or cafes/restaurants. It is more of a no-frills lodging. But, it was definitely worth forfeiting the money I paid for my supposedly last night stay at CIH.

Entrance

Corridor

SIJ's staff were friendly and helpful, especially their manager, Wendy, who will make you feel just at home. I still remembered that when I had trouble accessing their WiFi and needed to print my flight check in confirmation badly, Wendy took the extra trouble and helped me print it.

The room size is sufficient for me and nicely decorated. Important thing is that heater is in a better working condition than CIH. At the very worst, I had a quilt to keep warm in SIJ instead of a blanket provided by CIH.

Queen size bed

In-room heater

The bathroom size was so much better as compared to CIH. And yes, it does come with a bath tub. Another thing that made me fell in love with SIJ is the little notes found in the bathroom. They made me feel wind down, stress free and well taken care of. It was definitely very reassuring to know that I can always approach the front desk in case I need to replenish my toiletries.

Lovely note in the bathroom

Lovely note (again) in the bathroom

Though SIJ provide simple complimentary breakfast, I mentioned that they do not have cafe/restaurant within the hotel where you can have lunch or dinner. Instead, you can refer to the menus in the room or at their front desk to order food delivery from local nearby restaurants.

The major down side is that SIJ is located in the Queens borough of New York which is kind of far from Manhattan (about an hour subway ride in). So if you are planning to stay there to explore Manhattan, do factor in more time for travelling.

Other than that, it will not appeal to shoppers as there seem to be no shops around it once you take the free bus shuttle ride back from the subway station (according to my 1 night stay there).

Shopping mall next to subway

View outside the entrance

View from the room

Thinking back, I pretty much enjoyed my stay with SIJ :)

References:

1. ChoiceHotels.com - Sleep Inn JFK Airport
2. Tripadvisor - RYWsg in Jamaica