<p>We live in the Boston area and our daughter is a student at NYU. I'm hoping to get some tips from other Boston area NYU students/parents concerning alternative ways to travel to NYC and places to stay when we visit her. Expense is a major consideration for us (every penny must be saved for tuition) :) </p>
<p>Travel: We usually drive to NYC, but would prefer not to (stress, parking...). Sometimes we take a bus. Amtrak is out of the question as it is as expensive as flying. Is Amtrak the only train service from Boston to NY? </p>
<p>Hotels: Cheap hotels in NYC are over $200/night. So we usually stay in New Jersey for $120/night or so (with free parking) and take the NJ Transit in to visit her and back to NJ at night. We would love to stay closer to NYU. Any suggestions for a clean, no frills, inexpensive hotel?</p>
<p>Thank you so much!</p>
<p>As far as the train goes, yes Amtrak is the only train. All passenger trains in the US are government owned, as such each state only has one train company (i.e. NJ has NJTranist, NYC has the MTA). The US thus only have Amtrak. </p>
<p>You can take MegaBus or Bolt Bus, both of which are around $30 per person, roundtrip. Sometimes even cheaper. They go from Boston’s main train station down to next to Penn Station.</p>
<p>2incollege,
Quinta Inn on W. 32 St. NYC has good rates, but depends on time of year. Right now, it is around $99 per nite before taxes for a room with one queen bed. Small but clean room in a good area near Korea Town. But prices appear to jump to $200 per nite for endof August, so not too good if you visit during the more expensive times.</p>
<p>It is hard to find good rates in Manhattan proper. Sometimes the financial district would have relatively lower rates during the weekends, in particular. I have found the hotel rates to be generally exorbitant in Manhattan. i am a Marriotts Reward member and I get a free night hotel
certificate a year, but it only goes up to category 4. And all the Marriott hotels in Manhattan are at least cat 5, but most are Cat 6. I am a Priority Club member,
Which means I can get a free Holiday Inn or HIE night with points fairly easily. Especially if you join the Priority Club and get their visa credit card. You automatically get 25,000 points for signing up and being approved. Then if younuse the cc for purchases, those add up as points for staying at the priority club hotels. Priority Club points for hotelmstays are lower in requirement than the Marriott hotels. I tend to use my priority club points and free night (1 a year?) for the HIE in Long Island City, which is just over the Queens Midtown tunnel (E. 36 St). It also has free parking.</p>
<p>If you happen toget a good deal on a hotel in Manhattan, then go to iconparking.com to check into their 24 hour rates. i generally pay $32-36 for 24 hour parking in Manhattan (some nights $28, tax included) by looking for the cheapest deals close to my stay in Manhattan (either financial district or the 9th St. Parking garage between 3rd and 4th.</p>