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I'm going to be visiting New York in March and am considering staying at the Broadway Hostel at the corner of Broadway and W 101st street.
I am a 24 year old female and will be travelling alone - I have been to New York once before and stayed around W26th st area and was travelling with family that time. I don't know any one who lives in the city.
My interest in this hostel is due to their private rooms looking decent and being in a very affordable price range - at most I would want to pay $100 per night for my accommodation in New York, and I plan on staying for just under 3 weeks.
The hostel's website states that it is two blocks from the No.1 train subway stop (103rd Street Station). My question is, how safe would I be catching the subway alone (eg from further downtown) at night, and walking back to the hostel from there? Is there anything (decent bars / restaurants / other) located close by that are open at nights in the area?
Basically I'm not interested too much in doing typical touristy things, and would rather experience a taste of the real NYC - if you're a New York native - what are your best suggestions for things to do?
Thinking also of taking a train up to Montreal for a few days, and would also like to visit some nice places along Long Island, and possibly (if the snow season is good), go see some snow in Vermont!
I will be so grateful for all of your suggestions!
Do not know that hotel at all, but the no 1 train coming uptown to 103rd st is a local and usually pretty crowded, even late at night, and especially on Fri and Sat nights.You may see a homeless guy or two hanging around at night and the area still has some transitional housing, so there may be a seedy guy or gal around late at night, but it is NOT unsafe because it is still basically a middle-class neighborhood. There is, however, little to no night life in this stretch of Broadway, but there are some moderately priced (for New York) restaurants on Bdway will be open a bit late at night. Chicken at Flor de Mayo is great but there are lots of ethnic restaurants on this stretch of Bdway. There's also a jazz club at 106th (Smoke) that is decent, and the Columbia U campus area, which is of course more student oriented, starts at 110th & Bdway. But generally, this is not a destination neighborhood. With the usual precautions however, it is reasonably safe.
Thanks for the quick replies - though, do you have any suggestions of another area that would better suit (ie still balance safety with better night life/proximity to things)? Then I could have a look for some accommodation in those areas!
Sorry to hijack the thread with more questions, but, changing direction completely, what about the area around the Pod Hotel on E 51st between 2nd & 3rd Avenue? Safe at night? It changes my accommodation budget a little but looks to be a much nicer place, and perhaps more central?
I just stayed at the jazz hostel in harlem... Harlem is considered a bad area but i felt very safe. It was a GREAT experience! Made lpts of friends & it was clean! Just read the reviews on the hostel & if they are mainly good go for it. I would definitely recromend the jazz on lenix hostel in harlen. Very close to 2 train. Have fun!!!!
O btw i chose the 8bed femAle dorm room at the hostel. I payed $30/night!
The pod hotel is in a much better area if your main goal is sight-seeing. It eliminates the 20 minute train ride/waiting time from 103rd into the midtown area and puts you much closer to downtown nightlife.
W 103 is perfectly fine though- it's an area caught between the residential upper west side and the Columbia university area. Lots of students & student oriented places (relatively inexpensive bars, etc).
As another 24 year old female (im a tiny girl) I would recommend Chelsea International Hostel. I live near it and it is right across from the Police station. I see lots of girl coming and going. As someone who lives in the area I have come and gone at all our of the night and never had an issue. Its a really gay area actually. And it's much closer to all the young people night life. I can walk to the Meatpacking District and West Village and a cab to the lower east side is $7. I would definitly look into it!
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