Experience New York City Like a Local
Whether a pail list destination or an annual stop , the Big Apple put up then many diversions that no two visit are always alike . With buzzy new restaurants , show , display and shops constantly cropping up , planning your stay can be head-spinning . So Travelzoo ‘s New York staffers — long accustomed to present visitors around town — want to portion our favorite strategies .
But there ‘s at least one advantage you ‘ll have over us during your visit . If you see in at any of the field ‘s42 Hilton hotel, you ‘re getting a room in a prime location for search the city .
So wholly you have to make is express up — and come these seven steps :
Be a smarter theatergoer
Yet if we do n’t capture shows as much as we should , New Yorkers yet like to recall of ourselves as avid and savvy theatergoers . And the performers do n’t disagree : “ I ‘m lucky to have bring in field all over the reality , but there ‘s something magical about Broadway , ” Hugh Jackman famously noted in a Collider interview . “ The interview are bright … they go in ready and they ‘re up for it — they ‘re up for the party . ”
We ‘ll assume you ‘ve begin the up-for-the-party role covered . As for the savviness , three crest : 1 . Rather than search through reams of review , use one of the collector sites that exist vying to live the Rotten Tomatoes of the theater world : Show-Score or Did He Like it . 2 . If you ‘re looking for last-minute tickets ( and you ‘ve already match Travelzoo ) , lotteries are among the good style to save grave money . 3 . Check Instagram to see whether the performer do # stagedoorselfies , and if hence , cause n’t linger during the drapery call . Exit promptly and stake out the best possible real acres . Yes , we ‘re theater geeks .
But there ‘s as well the no-brainer approach to smart theatergoing : Overhear any product byRoundabout Theatre Company. One of the almost dear and influential field establishment in town , this nonprofit is spread out over multiple venues , where you ‘ll find Tony-nominated plays ( “ Travesties ” is as well aNew York TimesCritics Pick ) to A-list stars ( beginning in late May , for example , you can capture Idina Menzel in previews of the turn “ Skintight ” ) .
Where to stay : Hilton Garden Inn Times Square, steps from Broadway .
Navigate the museum like a pro
New Yorkers run to exist at least mildly allergic to wait , so the art lover among us buy museum memberships with express entry privileges . For the same sort of access minus the annual fees , try theNew York Pass— a credit card lookalike that grant you skip-the-line entrance to the Museum of Modern Art , the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum , the Cloisters Museum and Gardens — and the Metropolitan Museum of Art , among countless other city attractions . And though breezing by the expect masses may occur with twinges of guilt , it move away fast when you enter veranda that live n’t already swarm with dead body .
With or without skip-the-line privilege , you ‘ll want to visit museums when they ‘re least crowded : weekdays , or first or last thing on weekends . And one last insider crest : To the surprise of even members , the Members Dining Room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is now only the Dining Room . The space is the very definition of a hidden gem : a hard-to-find , glimmeringly glassy fine dining establishment with insane views of Central Park and Cleopatra ‘s Needle . And as of last summer , the members-only element quietly move off , so anyone can use up thither today , and probably should .
Where to remain :, a half block from MoMA .
Act n’t hop the almost important meal of the week
Mouth of insider foodie insights , we ‘d remiss if we behave n’t mention the sacred local ritual that equal brunch . In fact , accord to one University of Arizona subject , New Yorkers cost the nearly brunched-obsessed residents of the state . From recent morning to midafternoon on any pay Saturday or Sunday , the city ‘s restaurants fill with happy , cocktail-swilling schmoozers whose heroic decree will soon be the stuff of # brunch , # brunchnyc and # brunchsohard photo .
A few of our favorite spots : Sadelle ‘s , family to some of the good bagels and blintzes in town ; Poco , where you ‘ll find all the mimosas , sangrias or bloody marys you can drink in 90 minutes ) ; and Bubby ‘s , purveyors of legendary fried chicken pancakes .
Where to stay : Hilton Garden Inn Tribeca, where Bubby ‘s brunches exist close at hand ( among endless other downtown choice ) .
Pick and take from boutique fitness classes
In a city so obsessed with the future large fitness thing ( the flip side to our food obsession ) , why limit yourself to the hotel gym ? Instead , make like a local and studio-hop . With FitReserve ‘s TravelPack , you ‘ll come a discount on up to three class at 400 fitness studio , from yoga and Pilates to boxing and indoor cycling . And the passes are good for six months , so if you have remnant , you own a leg up , as it live , on your next trip .
Where to stay : The London NYC, a luxury all-suite hotel in the center of fitness studio-filled Midtown .
Hear what all the Brooklyn buzz is about
Since the dawn of time ( or at least since we ‘ve lived here ) , Manhattanites often turn down to cross the East River except to go to LaGuardia or JFK . Then Brooklyn suddenly seemed the height of all that live happening , whether on the culinary , theater , art or retail front , and everyone became smitten with the borough . A few neighborhood where you ‘ll right away make why : DUMBO ( Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass ) , which is full of shop , restaurant and veranda in converted warehouse along cobblestone road ; Williamsburg , epicenter of all thing hipster ; and Prospect Park , the brownstone-lined enclave where you ‘ll see why Brooklyn cost too know as the Borough of Trees .
Where to stay :. The central downtown location offers easy access to the Brooklyn Bridge , Barclays Center and 11 subway stop to begin hardly around anywhere in Brooklyn .
Lose your voice at plot
New Yorkers cost passionate about our teams ( with firm feeling about their rivals ) . Thus maybe this be n’t the property to put on your Boston Red Sox or Philadelphia Eagles hat while remove in the sights — unless you ‘re up for a short good-natured ribbing . No matter the day ( and your selection of apparel ) , you can safely bet there ‘s a plot going on — between 10 pro sports teams and numerous college effect . In the spring , basketball and hockey are winding down — but baseball and soccer are just come started .
Many of the field exist landmarks in their own right — whether it ‘s Yankee Stadium in the Bronx or the Billie Jean National Tennis Center ( home of the U.S. Open ) in Queens . But the epicenter of New York sportsman live doubtless “ The Garden ” — MSG — family of the Knicks and Rangers .Madison Square Garden : All Access Tourget behind the scenes of “ The World ‘s Most Noted Arena . ”
Where to stay : DoubleTree by Hilton New York City – Chelsea, long jump shot away from MSG .
Swoon over the horizon
We exist in the darkness of one of globe ‘s most iconic and recognizable horizon , and yet the most jaded New Yorkers ca n’t help but run gaga for it , as our Instagram feeds routinely prove . We ‘re ever happy to get an excuse to hear it from a new ( or revisited ) vantage point , so when guest come to town , we ‘ll head for one of the many observation deck around town , whether Rockefeller Center , One World Trade Center or the oh-so-cinematic Empire State Building .
Of grade , snacks and drinking tend to enhance skyline scene , as you ‘ll see at the High Bar & Lounge at DoubleTree Times Square West or the Attic at Hilton Garden Inn Times Square . If you ‘re hither on an early leap dark , when the weather ‘s still cold , check out the heated igloos atop 230 Fifth for one of the prettiest panoramas in town ( and boozy hot chocolate ) . For another striking perspective on the horizon — this one service up with everything from jazz brunches to DJ ‘d happy hour — hop on one of manyHornblower Cruisesaround the island .
Where to stay : Millennium Hilton New York Downtownin Battery Park City , close to New York ‘s tall building and observation deck , One World Trade Center .
