We spent the New Year’s holiday in New York City, as we’ve done for the past several years. There’s something about being there in the midst of all the excitement that makes the holiday – and a birthday that happens that same day – a bit more special.
There are a couple of things that we don’t do.
We don’t stay in a hotel any more. Instead, there are a couple of different sources (Craigslist being the primary one) from which to rent apartments. This has the advantage of being cheaper than a hotel, targeted to the neighborhood you want (usually Greenwich Village for us, since our friends are there) and having a bit more room and nicer amenities than a hotel.
The one we used this time we got through Village Flats NYC, and it was great. Joseph Harrington, the guy we dealt with, was responsive to our email inquires and easy to deal with.
Noise in this apartment wasn’t a problem at all. Aside from being a fairly quiet street, we were high enough that the traffic below wasn’t even noticed.
The apartment was great. The furniture and decor was very pleasant, and it was extremely spacious, especially by New York standards. As you walk into the living room there's a sofa that pulls out into the most comfortable sleeper I'd ever experienced. The bedroom had more then enough closet and drawer space available for you to spread your stuff out, and the kitchen had all the necessities -- a microwave, coffee pot and refrigerator being primary. There's a whole stove and pots and pans and stuff, but who's going to cook on vacation?
The bathroom is off the kitchen -- New York apartments have a penchant for sometimes putting things in unusual places. It's very "linear", in that you go in and to the left is the toilet and to the right is the lavatory sink (which is tiny - about the size of a mixing bowl) and a bathtub -- which is set long ways, so you enter from the rear.
One thing I hate about some NYC apartments is the lack of windows -- that's not the case here. There were two in the living room (although one has an AC in part of it), and one each in the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.
Another interesting thing is how little really has to be packed for a trip to NYC, even if you have to dress nicely to go to a party or something. Aside from the Fashionistas you see in the magazines and on television, real New Yorkers tend to look a bit rumpled much of the time.
My theory is that it’s because there’s no room for washing machines or ironing boards in their apartments. I know that if I were jettisoning things that simply wouldn’t fit in the living space, the iron and ironing board would be one of the first things to go.
The advantage for travelers, though, is that it significantly lowers the curve. Nobody can tell if the wrinkles are from your suitcase or simply because there’s only one tiny little closet in your apartment, and Americans, even in New York, tend to have more “stuff” than they need.
As a result, nobody really notices that we've stuffed everything we need for a weekend into a space the size of a woman's handbag and figured that a good shake was all that was needed to make it presentable. There is an ironing board and iron available for those who insist.
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