This year, my family and I decided to also go the “staycation” route! It was way cheaper than spending for airfare, hotel, and rental car abroad. During the 4th of July weekend, we wanted to get away, but couldn’t really afford an all out trip to another city or country. I researched hotel discounts for weeks and it wasn’t until the very last week in June (when I had all but given up hope) that I found an excellent site where NYC hotel discounts really did exist!
We (my hubby and three-and-one-half-year-old) ended up staying a new hotel (a reformed old apartment building) in the Columbus Circle vicinity of Manhattan, which is absolutely lovely—Six Columbus. Columbus Circle has tons to offer, including a tantamount of great restaurants (from the inexpensive to the pricey) on picturesque Columbus Avenue and entry to the Central Park (the CP Zoo, Victorian Gardens—an amusement park within the park, and other CP events), plus much more!
NYC is quite expensive, especially when it comes to decent hotel stays. However, at Six Columbus, we spent $159 a night for all three of us and was pleasantly surprised when they upgraded us for free to a larger room when we got there. The rooms are not extremely huge, but they are roomy enough and we were able to fit a small child’s bed in the room with us with no issues. In addition, the hotel was beautiful, spotless, offered great amenities, and the staff was very amicable—and it was close to everything! One thing to note is that the cable channels do not offer much when it comes to children’s shows, so it would be wise to bring along favorite DVDs for the little ones—yes, there is free DVD access!
I planned our itinerary as such:
Day 1—Friday, July 4th
1. Checked in at 1 p.m.
2. Went to the Central Park Zoo, which is very inexpensive at $8 for adults, $3 for children ages three to twelve (free for children under three), and $4 for seniors sixty-five and older.
3. Went to the Victorian Gardens, a small, wonderful amusement park within Central Park, reasonable at $6.50 per person during the week and $7.50 per person on weekends and holidays, plus the cost for rides ($12/$14 dollar all-day wristbands for all rides are also available). Please note: ride and game tickets are $1 each, seven days per week, and rides and games require two tickets. There is free admission everyday for children thirty-six inches and shorter with a paid adult.
4. Had an extremely fun dinner at Jekyll and Hydes on West 57th and 6th Avenue—our little one LOVED it! There’s also a location in Greenwich Village (just as fun), should you wish to venture further downtown, but the 57th street location is about two blocks from the hotel—no reservations required. They have four floors of ghoulish fun that include ongoing “monster shows/plays,” and patron participation if you desire. Excellent drinks, good food and again, lots of fun.
