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I want to go to Manhattan Every Year for the Next 10 Years

Tokapeba

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My wife and I are getting close on retirement and think NY is the cats pajamas. We think we would like to go there from SF for at least once a year for the next 10 years. Should we buy, trade or just stay in hotels/airbnb?
 

MrockStar

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Blue Green TS owns the Manhattan Club downtown. Thats one option.
 

dansimms

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The Marriott Lexington Hotel is usually a good value for the money. It will cost you less than the vacation club.
 

ljmiii

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HGVC has a number of great locations in NYC. All of them have slightly different booking rules but all have a long window in which owners can book at their location before other HGVC members. West 57th would be my suggestion but YMMV. Head over to the HGVC forums to learn more...
 

Fasttr

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Is your Mountainside enrolled? If so, you could always rent points to stay at the Pulse.
 

jmhpsu93

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Is your Mountainside enrolled? If so, you could always rent points to stay at the Pulse.
Granted a small sample, but the couple of times I've analyzed the cost of points vs. the cash rate at MVC NYC Pulse, the cash rate has been significantly lower. And Pulse is just an over-glorified hotel room anyway.
 

Big Matt

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I would never trade into the Pulse using points. It's a terrible deal. Look for bargains. I would suggest rotating seasons also.
 

Conan

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Should we buy, trade or just stay in hotels/airbnb?

I chose to buy, resale, first at Hilton Club and later at West 57th. For about the same money as a hotel room, the timeshare suites (even the studio size) and breakfast/cocktail hour privileges make for a much nicer and personalized experience. I recommend getting a platinum week, whatever number of points works for you.

The tradeoff, which only you can decide, is whether you can live with having to commit to advance reservations and the cost of canceling if there's a last-minute problem.
 

Tokapeba

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WOW!!! What a great response. I will look into all. If it’s going to be $3,000 I think we will just go airbnb/hotel. We do like the added benefits most timeshares add.
 

Swice

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New York is never "cheap." However, there certain times of the year when it becomes more "reasonable." September, just before the U-N goes back into session, is when airfare and hotels will be on the lower end. Prices will jump way up when the UN General Assembly meets in September and then go back down a couple weeks later into October. During those periods, you'd be crazy to use timeshare points. Hotels will be HIGH on weekends during the holiday season.
I'm not sure a timeshare in New York offers much of an added benefit. Very little, if any extra space. I'd rather use my Marriott status for free breakfast and lounge access.
 

Fasttr

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Granted a small sample, but the couple of times I've analyzed the cost of points vs. the cash rate at MVC NYC Pulse, the cash rate has been significantly lower. And Pulse is just an over-glorified hotel room anyway.
I would never trade into the Pulse using points. It's a terrible deal. Look for bargains. I would suggest rotating seasons also.
I guess it depends on your approach. You can easily get midweek rooms less than 60 days in (so subject to 30% status discount) in the low $200 range (basing value on point rental pricing) during the summer. That's usually around $100 a night cheaper than you can pay cash there, and likely elsewhere as well.

Agreed, staying a weekend on points is not an economical proposition.
 

dansimms

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We love the Pulse, as we live only 60 minutes away and are Chairman. We avoid the weekend, get the 30% point deals for booking in under 60 days prior and also have found that months like January and February are more affordable. Sometimes with the Chairman 35% off paying cash, we get rooms in the range of $150 a night (King Bed), including tax, if in the cheaper, winter months. The staff knows us there, so I can't even explain how wonderful the service is ! We walk everywhere from The Pulse and have been doing close to 10 nights a year, since it opened. Select the rooms that face north for the best prices. The view in that direction is great too, IMO. Expect the rooms to be small. I used to sell Manhattan Club.......rooms are beautiful, but the sale Management team, which no longer exists ran a shady operation. I resigned after an awful 3 months. New York State Attorney General had a serious issue with their sales operation and closed them down for overselling.
 

normab

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We are originally from NJ and spent lots of time in the city, love it and miss it! We went for 2 weeks in 2017 at Christmas, actually mid Dec, and stayed at the Pulse. It was too long a trip for the Pulse, for us. Even though we had a large room with a view of the Empire State Building, it was just too small. There were a Springhill Suites and Fairfield Inn right next to the Pulse, they might be worth a look.

In the past we have stayed at the Lexington Marriott and while it was in a great location, near subways, but also had small rooms and for us was best for short stays

**Our favorite place has ended up being the Residence Inn by Bryant Park. It was also close to subways, but very walkable to the theatre areas. The rooms are compact but have still the small kitchen, sitting area and breakfast is included. Whenever we go back that will be where we stay.**

Whatever you decide, Enjoy!
Norma
 

Bailey#1

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For the next 12 months you should be able to get excellent rates on hotels in NYC. So IMHO I would rent in the short term.
 

Luanne

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We have been going to NYC every Fall for the past few years. Won't be going this year. We rent at a place called Radio City Apartments. These are serviced apartments and all units have kitchens. They have studio, and one and two bedroom units. They're not fancy, but they're clean, the staff is great and the location is great as well. From what I've seen of the maintenance fees (and other fees) to own in NYC is more than we are paying to rent each year.
 

cbyrne1174

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100% resale!!
If you can find a Wyndham Canterbury resale deed for at least 450,000 points , you can stay at a 1 bedroom deluxe in Midtown 45for about $1,900 a week each year. I suggested a deed to that location because it's the 2nd lowest maintenance fee resort in the Wyndham system, the points are usable at 140+ resorts and the property is located in SF. The deed will cost about $5,000 but you save about $500 a year on maintenance fees vs. owning an average costing resort. It will pay for itself in 10 years. Here's a video of the unit.

 

n777lt

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We have been going to NYC every Fall for the past few years. Won't be going this year. We rent at a place called Radio City Apartments. These are serviced apartments and all units have kitchens. They have studio, and one and two bedroom units. They're not fancy, but they're clean, the staff is great and the location is great as well. From what I've seen of the maintenance fees (and other fees) to own in NYC is more than we are paying to rent each year.
Oh my! My mother, aunt (her sister) and uncle used to rent for 2 weeks annually at Radio City Apartments! Aunt and uncle would come down from Vermont, Mom would come up from DC, and they'd have a blast...all in their 70s. Great location, all you need if your focus is the city outside. I'd never stay at a NYC Marriott for a week, and particularly not the Pulse. I've taken advantage of the old SPG 5th night free deal many times to make the cost of the W on Union Square reasonable (easy walking distance to one son in the Village), and have had good luck with Airbnbs a bit off the tourist track. For 10 years, I don't think the timeshare model will save you much over regular rentals, especially if you plan ahead and watch for deals.
 

clifffaith

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Marriott Residence Inn. We've stayed at the Times Square location twice, but I believe there are half a dozen or so in Manhattan. Breakfast every day, kitchens in the suites. Last trip included taking the train to Boston for a week -- so disappointed we couldn't book a RI in that city (and our previous Boston stays were at the Custom House so it was quite a shock to the system to stay in a regular hotel). Residence Inn is always our go to in cities without timeshares.
 

dgf15215

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My wife and I also enjoy NYC and try to get in at least once every other year, if not yearly, for a round of theater, museums, and entertainment. We should have been there a couple of weeks ago and had great seats for West Side Story and four or five other shows but obviously, that was not to be. I feel awful for all those actors whose lives came crashing down with little or no support system behind them. The best bet is to start pricing out hotels now, figure out how they trend by the time of year and when the deal can more often be found, then compare the time segments to the prevailing weather. Avoid having to take subways any distance, the system has broken down terribly so the "deals" you can find outside of the Broadway region become problematic. It wasn't always that way. Breakfasts can be found very inexpensively in most of NYC, you need to look, so don't overvalue what a kitchenette is worth. While there, get down to the Village on Monday night for "Monday Night Magic," a great show every week with top-caliber magicians and entertainers. It's generally a lot funnier than the comedy club down the street ever is. Good luck.
 

Big Matt

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I guess it depends on your approach. You can easily get midweek rooms less than 60 days in (so subject to 30% status discount) in the low $200 range (basing value on point rental pricing) during the summer. That's usually around $100 a night cheaper than you can pay cash there, and likely elsewhere as well.

Agreed, staying a weekend on points is not an economical proposition.
I agree with your strategy (I try to only stay Sunday through Thursday on points for the same reason). I was assuming that OP wanted to visit for a week. That drags the weekends in.
 

Fasttr

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I agree with your strategy (I try to only stay Sunday through Thursday on points for the same reason). I was assuming that OP wanted to visit for a week. That drags the weekends in.
That is an interesting anomaly about most Pulse locations point pricing (high on weekends, lower during the week like resort area based MVC's) vs most normal city hotel pricing which is high during the week (business hotel stay driven) and lower on the weekend (reduced business demand). If I were staying in a Pulse for a full week, I would definitely look at booking midweek on points and weekend on cash as its likely the most economical approach.
 

Big Matt

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That is an interesting anomaly about most Pulse locations point pricing (high on weekends, lower during the week like resort area based MVC's) vs most normal city hotel pricing which is high during the week (business hotel stay driven) and lower on the weekend (reduced business demand). If I were staying in a Pulse for a full week, I would definitely look at booking midweek on points and weekend on cash as its likely the most economical approach.

I've stayed there mid week for business because the cash and Marriott code gave me really low prices during the week. That was in May, so not off season or anything.
 

clifffaith

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My wife and I also enjoy NYC and try to get in at least once every other year, if not yearly, for a round of theater, museums, and entertainment. We should have been there a couple of weeks ago and had great seats for West Side Story and four or five other shows but obviously, that was not to be. I feel awful for all those actors whose lives came crashing down with little or no support system behind them. The best bet is to start pricing out hotels now, figure out how they trend by the time of year and when the deal can more often be found, then compare the time segments to the prevailing weather. Avoid having to take subways any distance, the system has broken down terribly so the "deals" you can find outside of the Broadway region become problematic. It wasn't always that way. Breakfasts can be found very inexpensively in most of NYC, you need to look, so don't overvalue what a kitchenette is worth. While there, get down to the Village on Monday night for "Monday Night Magic," a great show every week with top-caliber magicians and entertainers. It's generally a lot funnier than the comedy club down the street ever is. Good luck.

We always try for a kitchenette because most restaurant portions are so large. We always plan to eat out one night then have leftovers the next. And other than hotel chains with breakfast included, kitchenette allows us to have cereal/milk/yogurt without getting up to go scrounge breakfast. In "bakery towns" here and abroad, we'll buy our pastry and apple juice (needs no refrigeration if in a standard hotel room) the night before so we can have breakfast in our room the next day before heading out. It is hard to get us out the door before 11am, so it works for us.
 
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