In order to avoid having another post like my last one about my trip to New York, I will break up this trip into several different posts. This trip was a bit longer than my usual vacations, I went to New York for a friends wedding on Wednesday August 26th and stayed until September 1st. On the way there, I flew Delta and got upgraded to first class with no problem. The Delta lounge in the airport was nice but a bit disappointing, last time I was there they had some yogurt that I liked when I asked if they had any I was told that they did but I couldn’t have it b/c it was only served for the first few hours that they are open. It doesn’t seem logical to me that they would lock up the Yogurt like it’s some kind of special treat. When I landed in LaGuardia the lady in the club told me the same thing but she was nice enough to sneak one out for me (wrapped in a paper towel so no one could see it). I’m pretty sure that if someone from Delta management reads this they will find out who gave me the Yogurt and stand her before a firing line.
For some reason on these dates Avis had a Camaro for only $80 a day, last time I checked it was $160 per day. I picked up the Camaro and immediately realized that it was not the best car to drive around NYC in. The seat is real low, the windows are tiny and there are huge blind spots on every side. This car is pretty much the opposite of what you need when driving in NYC traffic. It is fun to drive once you get used to it and it got lots of attention driving in the city, almost every valet and parking attendant commented on it.
My first night in New York I stayed in the Plaza hotel on Fifth Avenue by Central Park. The room I booked, the Plaza King, is normally $595 per night which is a ridiculous but about standard for a 5-star hotel in NYC. I was able to get a “deal” on the room for only $500 plus taxes. I didn’t use the Centurion Travel service to book the room so I didn’t get the American Express benefits. When I gave them the Black Card to pay for the room I asked if I could get an upgrade to a bigger room, they said “no problem” and gave me a Deluxe King room which is about 100sf bigger. The first downside was that the hotel sold all of the rooms facing central park as private residences so the remaining rooms don’t have the best views. They also had no rooms available with more than one bed, which is a problem if you are traveling with someone you don’t want to share a bed with (my brother in this case). They do offer a roll away bed which they charge $75 for, it is not a regular cot like they have in most hotels, it’s a real bed, my brother said it was more comfortable then his own bed. The hotel in general was really nicely done, and everything was very luxurious. The hotel has a Rolls Royce Phantom that is available to drive guests around the city. This sounds way cooler than it is, they will only take you a few blocks from the hotel and the driver was a total asshole, he was even talking on his cellphone while driving us in the city, which is not only rude but illegal (I’ll post a picture later). All in all I enjoyed the hotel, the room had a cool remote that controlled the lights, TV and AC. The AC was excellent I got the room down to 52 degrees which is the perfect sleeping temperature for me. I will probably not stay at the Plaza next time I’m in NY b/c of the price but if money is not an object, this is a great place to stay.
