West 57 to Broadway

yumdrey · Oct 29, 2009

I just called HGVC and booked 1 bedroom, Thanksgiving night (1 night) at West 57. $85 cleaning fee or $58 vallet parking is ok, I am already used to expensive parking fees at Washington D.C or Baltimore.
So here goes the question.
1) How far is broadway theatres from west 57 (or vice versa)? When I go to NYC, I used to stay at Fort Lee Hilton hotel in NJ, it's the first time I am staying at Manhattan. Is it walking distance even at cold night (I believe Thanksgiving night must be cold in NYC)?
2) Even if I am not an W. 57 owner, am I (or my family) allowed to go to Owner's lounge because I am a HGVC owner?
I used only 720 points to book Thanksgiving night. I had to use 700 recued points which will be expired on 12/31/09.

FYI, I had to call HGVC to book this stay, internet didn't allow me to proceed. When I called, a young lady was keep insisting that I cannot book farther than 14 days

I said "no, no, I can book 44 days out from today, I am using my club points, I am not doing open season booking", but she still didn't listen to me. I asked her to ask to her manager and check it out. She put me on hold for many minutes, and then finally said "Yes, you can do that". During this long argument, I had the same feeling when I was talking to Starwood:annoyed:

Talent312 · Oct 29, 2009

It is walkable... less than a mile. I'd head South on Sixth toward Rockefller Center and hang a right at 48th or so. But it might be easier to take a subway from the station at 57th Street & Seventh down to 49th or Times Square.

A good source of transit info is http://tripplanner.mta.info/ which will map your route for you.

Piper · Oct 29, 2009

I believe W 57th allows all guests to go to the lounge for the breakfast but the afternoon cocktail hour is for W 57th owners only.

It would probably be easier to hop a cab to the theater rather than take the subway. It is an easy walk if you are up for it. There are also of plenty of bicycle taxis available in that area. I imagine that would be more expensive than a regular cab but it might be fun.

Talent312 · Oct 30, 2009

Piper said:
It would probably be easier to hop a cab to the theater rather than take the subway.

Sure, but given city traffic, a taxi ride could take longer than walking. I love those charges for sitting still. Besides, you'd miss the great NYC subway ambience.

JonathanIT · Nov 6, 2009

yumdrey said:
FYI, I had to call HGVC to book this stay, internet didn't allow me to proceed. When I called, a young lady was keep insisting that I cannot book farther than 14 days
I said "no, no, I can book 44 days out from today, I am using my club points, I am not doing open season booking", but she still didn't listen to me. I asked her to ask to her manager and check it out. She put me on hold for many minutes, and then finally said "Yes, you can do that". During this long argument, I had the same feeling when I was talking to Starwood:annoyed:

I thought there was a three day minimum for booking with club points?

smokyhill · Nov 7, 2009

yumdrey said:
So here goes the question.
1) How far is broadway theatres from west 57 (or vice versa)? When I go to NYC, I used to stay at Fort Lee Hilton hotel in NJ, it's the first time I am staying at Manhattan. Is it walking distance even at cold night (I believe Thanksgiving night must be cold in NYC)?QUOTE]

We stay in that area every year the 1st week of December. My wife is cold blooded, and the walk is not bad, even to her. Just bundle up (scarves/gloves/hat) and you'll be fine!

yumdrey · Nov 8, 2009

JonathanIT said:
I thought there was a three day minimum for booking with club points?

When I called HGVC, they said I can book as little as I want (1 night), but there's $85 cleaning fee for less than 4 nights stay and also $58 (or $55?) mandatory vallet parking.

jsb15 · Nov 9, 2009

I just stayed there and there is no mandatory parking fee. I would do anything I could to avoid using a car in Manhattan given the parking rates.

falmouth3 · Nov 10, 2009

jsb15 said:
I just stayed there and there is no mandatory parking fee. I would do anything I could to avoid using a car in Manhattan given the parking rates.

I agree. When we go there, we're planning to take one of the inexpensive bus services that run from Boston to Manhattan. Forget driving!

Dave&Linda · Nov 10, 2009

We too are heading to NYC on Thanksgiving; in our case from Northern Virginia. Gotta agree with falmouth3, take the bus. We're planning on taking either Vamoose or Tripper from Arlington VA, though both companies have runs from Bethesda to NYC and back as well. My daughter lives in the East Village and I learned a long time ago that it is not worth driving up there.

hvacrsteve · Nov 12, 2009

Walking distance

You are within a block of Carnegie Hall!
Depends on the the theatre, you are 5-7 blocks from most of them.
It is a fairly easy walk either way.
Cabs are abundant and a ride the the theaters is less than $10.00
at worst case!
We usually walk or take the subway everywhere!
If we get too stranded we will take a cab.
Enjoy your visit!
It is the only city in the world where you can visit people from around the world and never leave the city!
I highly recommend visiting little Italy and Greenwich Village.
China Town is also a lot of fun!

brp · Nov 12, 2009

hvacrsteve said:
Depends on the the theatre, you are 5-7 blocks from most of them.
It is a fairly easy walk either way.

A good bulk of the theatres are clustered between 44th and 48th st. So, it's more like 9-13 blocks, plus a little crosstown distance. So, about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile. A very pleasant walk.

Cheers.

hvacrsteve · Nov 12, 2009

A map

Here is a map and you can see which theater you want to visit and count for yourself!
http://www.mustseenewyork.com/maps/district-theaters-map.html

JonathanIT · Nov 12, 2009

yumdrey said:
When I called HGVC, they said I can book as little as I want (1 night), but there's $85 cleaning fee for less than 4 nights stay and also $58 (or $55?) mandatory vallet parking.

Are you sure about this?! I stayed in August this year and there was no "mandatory" parking fee. I find it hard to believe that they would force everyone to pay for parking!

yumdrey · Nov 16, 2009

Maybe she meant mandatory cleaning fee for less than 4 night stay? That (HGVC) girl I was talking that night had very little knowledge for the system & reservation. For each step of reservation, I made her talk to a manager because she was keep saying "no, you cannot do that".
I will update about the parking fee after I visit there.
Thanks for the great info everyone!

DCBob · Nov 17, 2009

JonathanIT said:
Are you sure about this?! I stayed in August this year and there was no "mandatory" parking fee. I find it hard to believe that they would force everyone to pay for parking!

Absolute rubbish. I am a West 57th Street owner. I can ASSURE you NO ONE is required to pay a "mandatory" fee for parking. You will pay the parking fee only if you CHOOSE to use their valet parking. Period!

hvacrsteve · Nov 18, 2009

parking

Parking is optional, the parking is not owned by Hilton anyway.
If you don't park there, there is no charge!
You can find the cheapeast parking in the city and not worry about till you leave.
If I drive I park in the Hilton lot, again, not owned by Hilton.
It is not cheap, but it is convenient!

Piper · Nov 24, 2009

parking

When we stayed at W 57th in July, we were moving my daughter into a new apartment so we had a car loaded with stuff. We used the valet parking the first night. The next day, we took the car out to deliver the stuff to her new place and found out that we would be charged an additional day's fee for taking the car out and bringing it back. Instead, we re-parked the car at the HIlton Hotel (and got the ticket validated at the Hilton Club desk so we got $5 off). When I got my bill for W 57th, they had charged me for 3 nights of parking for our 2-day stay. I had to explain that I had not brought my car back after taking it out and only used it for 1 night. As I understood it (and perhaps this has changed), since I used the valet parking when I checked in, they charged my room for parking for the same number of nights as I was staying in the hotel. They were fine about taking it off the bill --- but I did have to ask.

West 57 to Broadway

yumdrey

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

Talent312

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

Piper

Talent312

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

JonathanIT

smokyhill

yumdrey

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

jsb15

falmouth3

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Dave&Linda

hvacrsteve

brp

hvacrsteve

JonathanIT

yumdrey

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

DCBob

hvacrsteve

Piper