Travel questions that make my heart sink
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The Man Who Pays His Way: Just because you can arrange a DIY trip doesn’t mean you should. On the day that the travel industry likes to call “Sunshine Saturday” – because of the number of summer holidays that are traditionally booked at the start of the new year – a colleague asked my advice on a transatlantic trip in May.
“I’ve never been to America,” she began. I was about to recommend Chicago as the ideal introduction to the US, being the most American of cities, when she continued: “So I’m going to New York.”. She is not alone: according to the most recent figures, 27 per cent of British travellers head for New York City. I hope they all have wild and wonderful experiences. But: oh, the prices. An ordinary hotel room can easily cost £300 a night, once alI the pesky taxes are included. Unlike London or Paris or Berlin you cannot easily reduce the price by two-thirds by choosing somewhere in the suburbs.
The best approach to keep a lid on costs: buy a package comprising flights plus accommodation. My colleague continued: “I’ve already booked the flights.” My heart sank. There’s a reason proper package holidays remain extremely popular: they are usually stress-free and excellent value.
My New York-bound colleague now wanted advice on somewhere to stay in Manhattan. I am tempted to frown at such questions and say: “I wouldn’t start from here.”. But instead I bit my lip and tried to help. Times Square may be touristy, I said, but that’s because it is a superb location for walking to many attractions. The Times Square Yotel is, relatively speaking, good value. (Later, I checked, and it is around £270 a night at the start of May – including a pernicious £36 “facility fee”.).
