Where to Stay in NYC: Complete Neighborhood Guide 2026 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00So, where do you stay when you're coming
2. 0:01to New York City? That is the
3. 0:03million-dollar question, isn't it? Well,
4. 0:04maybe not a million dollars, a few
5. 0:07hundred, or a thousand. So, today we're
6. 0:09going to be talking about which
7. 0:11neighborhood you should actually stay
8. 0:13in. Most people recommend this spot
9. 0:15right over here, Midtown Manhattan. And
10. 0:17I'm going to be telling you why maybe
11. 0:19that's not the right place for you to
12. 0:21stay. We're going to be talking about
13. 0:22budget. We're talking about different
14. 0:23neighborhoods, different vibes. I'm
15. 0:25going to be giving you all the deeps so
16. 0:27that when you're coming here for your
17. 0:28vacation, you can make a properly
18. 0:30educated decision on the best spot for
19. 0:32you and your group to stay. So, let's
20. 0:35get to our first neighborhood. So, let's
21. 0:38start in Midtown. Come on, let's go for
22. 0:41a little walk while I tell you the truth
23. 0:42of Midtown. Here's the thing. Most
24. 0:44people stay in Midtown because it is
25. 0:46where all of the action is, if you say,
26. 0:48right? So you have all of the iconic
27. 0:50sites here, Empire State Building, Time
28. 0:53Square, Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and all
29. 0:54of that, which make it really, really
30. 0:56exciting for firsttime visitors. It's
31. 0:59also very convenient because there's a
32. 1:01lot of train options around there. So
33. 1:03these are definitely the pros of staying
34. 1:05in Midtown. You have a lot of different
35. 1:07types of hotels here as well, from
36. 1:09budget hotels, which they're not super
37. 1:11budget there, but like it's budget for
38. 1:13Midtown to really luxury hotels. Now, as
39. 1:16far as cons of staying in this area,
40. 1:19you're not going to get that true New
41. 1:20York experience. It's going to feel very
42. 1:23much like a Disneyland of New York City.
43. 1:26Time Square is an imaginary place in
44. 1:28many ways. Like, no one really like
45. 1:30lives in Time Square. So, staying there
46. 1:33isn't going to be that authentic New
47. 1:35Yorker vibe that maybe you want,
48. 1:38especially if that's what you're coming
49. 1:40here for, to feel like the real New
50. 1:42York. You're not going to get that
51. 1:43there. Another negative I'd say of this
52. 1:45area is it's very expensive and the
53. 1:48rooms are very very small for the most
54. 1:51part and that's because like it's
55. 1:52premium real estate people. And finally,
56. 1:55I would say the third negative of this
57. 1:56area is the food scene is not good.
58. 1:59Apparently, there's a hurricane going on
59. 2:01right now, you guys. Just bear with me
60. 2:03here. But the the food is not great in
61. 2:05this area. You're going to have a lot of
62. 2:07chain restaurants that are very
63. 2:09overpriced. I always recommend that if
64. 2:11you're staying in this area, go uptown
65. 2:14or downtown to get more authentic food.
66. 2:16I actually have several videos on
67. 2:18restaurants in this area to kind of help
68. 2:21guide you to the actual places. So, in
69. 2:24summary, the positives are you are near
70. 2:26a lot of the main attractions. There's a
71. 2:28lot of great subways. So, I would say
72. 2:29this is a great spot for firsttime
73. 2:31visitors. However, if this is not your
74. 2:33first trip to New York, skip Midtown and
75. 2:35go to another place. Next up, let's talk
76. 2:38about Soho, which stands for south of
77. 2:40Hston Street. Soho, you get that? Now,
78. 2:43this spot is perfect for you if you love
79. 2:46shopping because this area is a
80. 2:48fashionista's haven. They do so many
81. 2:51photo shoots here. It's a very trendy.
82. 2:53There's lots of art galleries, a lot of
83. 2:55great restaurants. So, the pros here, I
84. 2:57would say, is if you're a foodie or love
85. 3:00shopping, this is a amazing place for
86. 3:03you to stay. Also, it's really like
87. 3:06there's a lot of night life going on
88. 3:07here. So, if you like going out at
89. 3:09night, it's very walkable in that
90. 3:10regard. There's also a lot of art
91. 3:12galleries. So, if you're into art, this
92. 3:14is going to be a spot for you. Another
93. 3:16positive is it's very close to Little
94. 3:18Italy, Greenwich Village, Chinatown. So,
95. 3:21you can kind of walk to all of these
96. 3:22other neighborhoods all while you're in
97. 3:24Soho, making it very walkable. Now, I
98. 3:26would say the negatives of this area is
99. 3:28the hotels. There not going to be a ton
100. 3:30of options here and most of them are
101. 3:32going to be more motif hotels which
102. 3:33means they're going to be a bit more
103. 3:35pricey, but they're really cool. There's
104. 3:37a lot of like really interesting cool
105. 3:39hotels here, which is why I love it.
106. 3:40Also, because there's a lot of night
107. 3:42life in this area, it can be loud at
108. 3:45night, but most hotels do a pretty good
109. 3:47job of like keeping the noise down, so
110. 3:49you're not going to have to be worried
111. 3:50about that. And finally, I would say the
112. 3:52last negative of this area is there's
113. 3:54not as many classic tourist attractions
114. 3:57here, right? You're not going to be like
115. 3:58steps away from Time Square, but you are
116. 4:01a short subway ride. There's a ton of
117. 4:03subway trains in this area. They're all
118. 4:05right here on screen. It's very
119. 4:07convenient to pretty much get anywhere
120. 4:09uptown or downtown. Um, just going
121. 4:12between like burrows may take more time
122. 4:14from Soho. That's the the rundown on
123. 4:17Soho. Let's get to our next spot. You
124. 4:20should consider staying in a different
125. 4:22burrow while you're visiting New York.
126. 4:23Most people just stay in Manhattan, but
127. 4:25Brooklyn, Queens,
128. 4:29those are the ones I recommend.
129. 4:33Brooklyn and Queens are great options.
130. 4:36So, let's get into a little bit about
131. 4:37where you could stay in the other
132. 4:39burrows. These spots are often cheaper
133. 4:41than staying in Manhattan. And sometimes
134. 4:44the commute to commute, I use that term
135. 4:47loosely here, to like the touristy areas
136. 4:49isn't that bad. Let's start here in
137. 4:51Brooklyn. There are two areas in
138. 4:53particular that I would recommend to
139. 4:55Brooklyn. Dumbo, which stands for down
140. 4:57under the Manhattan Bridge overpass.
141. 5:00That area is, in my opinion, the most
142. 5:03picturesque area in the entire city. You
143. 5:06have amazing views of the Brooklyn
144. 5:08Bridge. Gorgeous view of the skyline.
145. 5:10You can even see the Statue of Liberty
146. 5:13there. That's actually where we run our
147. 5:15food tour. If you want to try local
148. 5:17food, join my food tour. It's the best
149. 5:19of New York food tour. bring you to five
150. 5:21award-winning spots. That all takes
151. 5:23place in Dubo because I really love to
152. 5:25incorporate that sightseeing element and
153. 5:27the food scene. The food scene there is
154. 5:29phenomenal and yeah, it's just extremely
155. 5:32picturesque. One of my favorite hotels
156. 5:34there is one Brooklyn Bridge Hotel.
157. 5:36Williamsburg is the other area in
158. 5:38Brooklyn I would recommend that you're
159. 5:39going to have a much more kind of like a
160. 5:41hipster vintage vibe which makes it
161. 5:44really fun and different. Definitely
162. 5:46more of a local scene there. that is
163. 5:48like the real New York. You're going to
164. 5:50have like more just like o overall local
165. 5:53experiences in those areas. Now, the
166. 5:56cons of staying in Dumbo and in
167. 5:58Williamsburg is definitely that when
168. 6:00you're commuting to like the Times
169. 6:02Square area, it's going to be a bit more
170. 6:04of a commute. It's probably going to be
171. 6:06around 30 minutes to get there. But the
172. 6:09reality is that when you're sightseeing
173. 6:12in New York City, there's sites in lower
174. 6:14Manhattan, too. And for that, you can
175. 6:16just take the ferry over, which is so
176. 6:18iconic, taking that New York City ferry.
177. 6:20It's so beautiful. And you can take that
178. 6:22right from Dumbo. It's amazing. Even
179. 6:24Williamsburg has the ferry there. The
180. 6:27other con I would say is some of the
181. 6:29hotels in this area are definitely more
182. 6:30boutique hotels, so they're going to be
183. 6:32a bit more pricey, but they're going to
184. 6:34have a lot more character. So, I would
185. 6:36say if this is like your second or third
186. 6:38time staying in New York City, then I
187. 6:40recommend staying in Dumbo or
188. 6:42Williamsburg just to get more of that
189. 6:44local feel. And the hurricane's coming
190. 6:46back, you guys. This is just a hurricane
191. 6:48video. Hope you're enjoying the
192. 6:50commitment. I'm getting like blown away
193. 6:52over here. This is so important for all
194. 6:55of you guys that are coming here to New
195. 6:57York. The biggest mistake I see
196. 6:59travelers make is not check that they
197. 7:03have a eim when they come here. That
198. 7:05means they're going to get tons of
199. 7:07roaming charges from their cell phone.
200. 7:09And when you're visiting, I highly
201. 7:11recommend using Olafly. They have
202. 7:14unlimited 5G data here in New York City
203. 7:17at an unbelievably cheap cost of only
204. 7:20$3.90 a day. That's literally cheaper
205. 7:23than a cup of coffee here. It allows you
206. 7:25to stay connected. It's super easy to
207. 7:27install. I've used them all over the
208. 7:29world. It's like just so reliable and
209. 7:32simple. Now, if you use the code written
210. 7:34on screen right here, you can save 5% on
211. 7:37your Olafly purchase, and it will just
212. 7:40make your life so much easier here in
213. 7:41New York. So, please remember to pick up
214. 7:43an eim. You can buy it literally on the
215. 7:46plane as you're going so that you can
216. 7:48get to these fabulous spots that you're
217. 7:51going to be staying at. And most
218. 7:52importantly, enjoy your trip to New York
219. 7:54City. And the best area in my opinion,
220. 7:57of course, and this video is made by me,
221. 7:59so keep that in mind. It's Long Island
222. 8:02City, Queens. It's literally, look at
223. 8:04this view. Look at this. Look at this
224. 8:07view. You think you're going to get this
225. 8:08view if you're staying in Manhattan. No,
226. 8:12you're not because you're in Manhattan.
227. 8:14You only get this view if you're outside
228. 8:16of Manhattan. The benefit of Long Island
229. 8:18City, Queens, I've lived in Long Island
230. 8:20City, Queens, okay? You have amazing
231. 8:22food, especially if you love Asian
232. 8:24cuisine. This has literally every type
233. 8:26of Asian cuisine I think possibly in the
234. 8:30world and it's exceptional. In addition
235. 8:33to that, very close to Midtown
236. 8:35Manhattan. It takes you 20 minutes or
237. 8:38less on the train to get to Midtown. I'm
238. 8:41talking you can get to Grand Central in
239. 8:439 minutes. 9 minutes, you guys. Okay? It
240. 8:47is unbelievably convenient. You have
241. 8:50great views. The hotels are much cheaper
242. 8:53here than what you're going to get in
243. 8:55Manhattan. And yet, it's like you're
244. 8:57almost in Manhattan. I would say the
245. 8:59only negatives is if it's your first
246. 9:01time visiting New York and you really
247. 9:03just want to be able to walk everywhere,
248. 9:05Long Island City isn't going to do that
249. 9:07for you cuz in order to get to the main
250. 9:09sites that you want to see, you're going
251. 9:11to have to take a train. Another tip I
252. 9:14would say is if you are trying to see
253. 9:16like all the major sites in the city, I
254. 9:18have my must see Manhattan tour that you
255. 9:20can join. It's two and a half hours. It
256. 9:22brings you to all of the most famous
257. 9:23iconic sites in Midtown and you can just
258. 9:26join that. We started right near Grand
259. 9:28Central. You're going to see Fifth
260. 9:29Avenue. You're going to see Broadway,
261. 9:31Time Square, Rockefeller Center, all of
262. 9:35the stuff that you wanted to see in the
263. 9:37movies. But overall, I would say Long
264. 9:39Island City, Queens is my top choice.
265. 9:41But if it is your first time visiting
266. 9:43New York and you just want to go all
267. 9:45out, then you probably should stay in
268. 9:47Midtown. Renage Village is a great spot
269. 9:50if you want that classic New York feel
270. 9:52like Sex in the City with the
271. 9:54brownstones, the brick homes, the sense
272. 9:57of just bohemia there. This is a great
273. 9:59spot for artists or romantics with a
274. 10:02bunch of cozy cafes. And the positives
275. 10:05here are definitely there's really great
276. 10:07dining in this area. It's very walkable.
277. 10:10It feels like you're in a movie for
278. 10:12sure. So if you want that iconic New
279. 10:14York Sex in the City feeling moment when
280. 10:17you step out of your hotel, Greenwich
281. 10:19Village is definitely the spot to go.
282. 10:22Especially Washington Square Park area.
283. 10:24It's just filled with like a lot of
284. 10:25interesting people, a lot of artists, a
285. 10:27lot of music. Like it's just such a
286. 10:29vibe. On a negative note, I will say
287. 10:32like this area used to be like in the
288. 10:35'60s. This is where like Bob Dylan got
289. 10:37his start. And at that time it was like
290. 10:39very cheap because it's where a lot of
291. 10:40artists lived. But over the years
292. 10:42because a lot of these famous artists
293. 10:44got their start there and people like
294. 10:46Taylor Swift have lived there. Uh the
295. 10:50prices are very high. So just expect
296. 10:53that. There's not a ton of hotel options
297. 10:55here and they tend to book up really
298. 10:57fast because of that. But you know you
299. 11:00get what you pay for and if you want to
300. 11:01feel like you're in a New York City
301. 11:03movie, Greenwich Village is the spot to
302. 11:05do that. And next up, we have Lower
303. 11:08Manhattan. Now, Lower Manhattan is where
304. 11:10the city began. So, here you're going to
305. 11:12see a lot of interesting historical
306. 11:15references. This is the spot that I
307. 11:17would recommend for any history lover.
308. 11:19This is also where the 9/11 memorial is
309. 11:22and Wall Street is as well. This is
310. 11:24where the Charging Bull statue is. So,
311. 11:27there's a lot of interesting like
312. 11:28sightseeing down there. You can see the
313. 11:30Statue of Liberty very easily. So, this
314. 11:32is a spot that I would recommend for
315. 11:34people that love history and just like
316. 11:38the want to see the origins of the city.
317. 11:41Another positive of this area is there
318. 11:43is a lot of different train options from
319. 11:45here. You also have fairies. You can go
320. 11:47to the Staten Island ferry and see the
321. 11:49Statue of Liberty for free very easily
322. 11:51from here. There's also the PATH train.
323. 11:53Who I don't recommend this for is
324. 11:56someone that wants a lot of action
325. 11:58because outside of business hours, lower
326. 12:01Manhattan is kind of like dead. Like
327. 12:03there's not a lot going on. It's just
328. 12:05like very very quiet, which could be
329. 12:07good on the flip side if you're looking
330. 12:08for a quiet area. Another negative of
331. 12:10that area is there's not a ton of food
332. 12:13options. I found you do have classic
333. 12:16like staple locations like Del Monaco
334. 12:19Steakhouse, but outside of that, you
335. 12:21really don't get a ton of options in
336. 12:23lower Manhattan, but you know, if you
337. 12:25are looking for a quiet place that has a
338. 12:28lot of history, lower Manhattan is your
339. 12:30spot. The hurricane is continuing here
340. 12:33on the Upper West Side, which is another
341. 12:36area that you should consider staying
342. 12:38in, especially if you like more quiet,
343. 12:41familyfriendly,
344. 12:43kind of like charming, classic New York.
345. 12:46I would say this is also a great spot if
346. 12:48you're into museums because we have a
347. 12:50lot of museums in this area, including
348. 12:53the Museum of Natural History. It's
349. 12:55right near Central Park as well. So, you
350. 12:57can literally step right into the park.
351. 12:59If you're a runner or you like active
352. 13:01things, it's really easy to just run
353. 13:03into the park and do some like laps,
354. 13:06which is great if you're staying in that
355. 13:08area. You also have some major subway
356. 13:10lines here, making it really easy to get
357. 13:13to like Midtown for a Broadway show. You
358. 13:15have the one, two, three on this line,
359. 13:18and it's just really, really simple.
360. 13:20Now, I would say the cons of this area
361. 13:22are if you are the type of person that
362. 13:25likes night life, this is not the spot
363. 13:28for you to stay. The other negative of
364. 13:30this area is it's going to be a slightly
365. 13:33longer subway ride if you want to go to
366. 13:35Brooklyn or lower Manhattan because you
367. 13:37are on the upper part of Manhattan. It's
368. 13:39not going to be a really long one, but
369. 13:41expect your ride to be like 30 to 40
370. 13:43minutes if you want to go to Brooklyn,
371. 13:46like Dumbo in particular. Thanks so much
372. 13:49for joining me in this YouTube video all
373. 13:51about the best places to stay in New
374. 13:52York. I hope I really helped you try to
375. 13:54decide on which area is right for you
376. 13:56and your group. And of course, I
377. 13:58recommend Long Island City, Queens. But
378. 14:01that's just me. Check out my other
379. 14:03videos if you're visiting. I have videos
380. 14:04on all different topics, restaurants,
381. 14:06bars, what not to do, what to do, scams.
382. 14:08You name it, it's been done. Subscribe
383. 14:10to my channel and I'll see you next
384. 14:12time. Bye.
385. 14:14[Music]