many thanks geordie - will look into that

We are just back from NYC - we stayed at the Millenium Hilton - its right next to ground zero - so very downtown - but has fab subway links, and is walking distance to Soho/Greenwich etc. Its also 5 mins walk from Seaport which is lovely - its where the ferries go from, lovely shopping centre touristy type place.

We got a very good deal, £500ish for 3 nights, in a kingsize room with fab view, then ended up getting upgraded to a suite (it was our honeymoon) booked through lowcostbeds.com which also has quidco discount.

thanks VW!

I agree with Squeaver - I used to live in SoHo and I would definitely stay downtown. The Mercer is great but not sure it works with your budget.

Midtown too bland and touristy. SoHo or the west village would both be great places to stay.

Am jealous!

Brilliant thanks so much squeaver - getting all excited now

Well, if you're in Soho, there's pretty much all the shops you need right there and you can spend a good day just mooching around, window and actual shopping. You have to go to the Apple store and the Prada store down there because they're retail experiences.

Greenwich Village is also good for shops and pretending you're in Sex and the City.

Also you're not too far from the Statton Island Ferry which is the only thing you need to do to see the Statue of Liberty.

Go over to Brooklyn for a nice lunch by the water and the Woody Allen "Manhattan" view.

Uptown for shopping there's Bloomingdales and Saks of course (also a v g Bloomies in Soho) and you head further north to Barneys and go to Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.

If you want a spa treatment go to Bliss.

If you're going at the weekend, go to Central Park and hire bikes or roller blades on a Sunday.

Not too up on what's on at the theatre at the mo, but do try to go to a show.

Couple of good restaurants are Union Square Cafe and Gotham Bar and Grill.

Sorry, have just seen that you've been before so ignore sight-seeing bits in this post. But you should defo stay downtown if you haven't before: the Mercer, Soho Grand, 60 Thompson - all very cool

Can I recommend a play? Our Town by Thornton Wilder. It's not a big broadway show, just a tiny theatre in Greenwich Village, so it might not be the kind of thing you're after, but dh and I thought it was the best thing we'd seen at the theatre in years - it is moving, thought-provoking but not at all heavy going.

Anyway, back to your actual question... I somewhat disagree with Attila on the benefits of a midtown location, especially if you've been before, but it depends on whether you want the bright lights big city type NY experience which you definitely get in midtown or whether you'd go for a quieter, quirkier one - soho, greenwich village or tribeca good for that. Either way it's really very easy to get around Manhattan so it doesn't matter that much where you stay. You won't spend that much time in your hotel anyway.

Couldn't find much for a girls weekend except this thread squeaver

There's some good old threads on what to do in NY - have a search

Thanks Attila. I'll be meeting my friend later this month to talk about what we want to do - I'd guess maybe shopping, a show or two, some nice meals - we've both been before so won't be ticking off the sights or anything. Suggestions very welcome.

Probably February