<p>Do any parents have recommendations for relatively inexpensive (under $200 if possible) hotels in NYC, preferably not too far from Columbia? I'm doing the 'Grand Tour' of potential colleges on my spring break in March.</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch!</p>
<p>There was a thread on this last year. Search the parents forum or maybe under Columbia.</p>
<p>My son likes the Riverside Tower Hotel which was recommended by a friend at Barnard. It's safe, clean, convenient to transportation and located in a nice Upper west side neighborhood.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.riversidetowerhotel.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.riversidetowerhotel.com/</a></p>
<p>Manhattan's very compact, though, so wherever you stay you'll only be a few subway stops from Columbia.</p>
<p>Hotels are VERY busy during spring break so move quickly on this.</p>
<p>I don't think you actually want to stay near Columbia, do you? With cabs and subways, I'd rather stay in Midtown and commute. It doesn't take long -- Manhattan (as Momrath sez) is not that big.</p>
<p>The Lucerne is our hotel of choice when we visit our Columbia daughter. I know several posters on this board stay there as well. Its rates vary greatly, depending upon the season. They do have a Columbia rate as well, although I've never been able to snag one since I've visited at "prime times" - move in, parent's weekend, etc. It is located at 79th and Amsterdam, a very short subway ride from Columbia, and is in a very nice upper west side neighborhood with lots of restaurants, etc. See Tripadvisor.com for reviews, and perhaps alternative choices.
As previous poster said, midtown hotels around Times Square area are an easy subway ride (on the #1 line) away, but we have really enjoyed the Lucerne.</p>
<p>There are plenty of hotels in Fort Lee, New Jersey, right across the GWB on Route 4. It's only a 10 or 15 minute drive from Columbia. (Except during rush hour, of course).</p>
<p>I would imagine that they are cheaper than hotels in Manhattan.</p>
<p>Fort Lee is a fine small city, but why stay there when Manhattan is so much fun? If you have a car that's one thing, but most people don't bother when going to NYC.</p>
<p>You would stay in Fort Lee if you couldn't afford to stay in Manhattan, along with all the expenses of food, transportation, entertainment, etc that you want from a weekend in NYC.
I loved the On the Ave Hotel, on 77th and Broadway. We've also stayed at the Hotel Newton. There was some hotel in the 90s that my parents really liked; if you stay there you can even walk to Columbia.
The Union Theological Seminary supposedly offers cheap rooms, I've never tried them but you can check their website.</p>
<p>Try ON THE AVENUE Hotel, Broadway and 74th. It's inexpensive, clean, safe, and nicer than THE LUCERN.</p>
<p>Look on the website of Columbia Teachers College. I believe they have inexpensive dorm-style rooms, but perhaps you need more advance notice to get them. You need to mention some activity you're doing in the area related to research or the college. I think your trip classifies as this; it's just a very general connection they want expressed towards academic pursuits. In other words, you don't have to be giving a lecture at CTC to stay there.</p>
<p>If anyone's interested, here's the list from Columbia's Admissions website. <a href="http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/visiting/accom.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/visiting/accom.php</a></p>
<p>The hotels that we've frequented are either in mid-town (Renaissance and Doubletree) or downtown (Washington Square Hotel and Embassy Suites), and we've been very satisfied with all of them.</p>
<p>
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Fort Lee is a fine small city, but why stay there when Manhattan is so much fun?
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<p>To save money, of course. But you are right, it mainly makes sense if you have a car and want the convenience of parking right next to where you are staying.</p>
<p>Wow! Thanks everyone. I'm checking into some of these.</p>
<p>Any more thoughts would be appreciated!</p>
<p>I don't remember the name, but when my daughter and I did this we stayed at a (substantial -- maybe 15 rooms) bed and breakfast around 10th and University, just north of NYU (which of course we were also visiting). It was around $200/night, including breakfast and parking (the car didn't leave the lot for the duration of our stay). Functional, not fancy. My wife found it with Expedia or something like that. Columbia/Barnard was a 20-minute subway ride away, NYU a 5-minute walk. I wouldn't necessarily stay there if I were only going to Columbia, but NYC is so much fun and so easy to get around that there's no need to huddle within a few blocks of your main destination unless you really feel you need to visit your room repeatedly during the day.</p>
<p>If you bring a car to Manhatttan, I strongly recommend:
Parking spaces exist but are rare. Either park your car and forget it for the entire time in a lot (budget that in, does anyone know these days? $40 per 24 hours?). Then you are free to subway/walk/cab/bus like the natives. ($2. per subway ride one-way; or if there are many of you, a cab can be more economical for short hops). Once someone lives in Manhattan, they can buy a monthly card for unlimited rides, as students prefer.</p>
<p>If you don't like the parking lot idea (they are protected, don't worry), then you can attempt street parking. Problem is, anywhere in the places you mentioned (Midtown, Upper West Side/Columbia area) you must periodically MOVE your car for two hours so they can clean the streets. This ties you to your block for one morning every 2 or 3 days. People move their car in one of two ways: drive to a nearby neighborhood with street parking on the opposite side of the street and leave it THERE for a few days, or drive around and double park with a newspaper until you see the streetsweeping trucks come and go. </p>
<p>NYC has excellent public transpo, including a fleet of 300,000 cabs I think. Now you see why many people who live there (not suburban, but in-city) prefer not to own a car, just rent one for vacatioins away.</p>
<p>My brother (who drove a cab for awhile in the city) said that in NYC, having a car was a "full-time job." And if you don't move it, you WILL get ticketed (guaranteed) or towed (often) as that's the only way they can clear streets and keep them clean.</p>
<p>I do love New York City, however. Espec in spring, it's a "walking town."</p>
<p>I'm definitely not bringing a car! Sounds like the full-time job paying3tuitions brother described.</p>
<p>So many good ideas. On the Ave sounds good at Tripadvisor and is a good price, at least along the lines I was thinking of.</p>
<p>Any more ideas? Thanks for all the thought and help.</p>