New York June 2013 – Our apartment
Our cruise of the Caribbean finished on Monday 10 June and we had a few hours to wait before we could get in to our apartment in East Village, Manhattan.

We spent the time at the cruise terminal where we could sit with our luggage easily. It was very interesting as people arriving for the next cruise on Carnival Splendour (to the Bahamas), starting arriving by 10.30 am and were also sitting in the same lounge area. We spent ages talking to a group from Ohio. There were 3 teachers and 2 engineers in their group and we found out a lot more about life in the states.

By 1pm when we needed to get a cab it was pouring rain, but we got a cab easily as they were dropping people off for the next cruise. It took about 20 minutes to get to our apartment and cost about $20.

Unfortunately, the person letting us in to the apartment was delayed by the rain, but after a few phone calls, we were finally in and settled by 3.30 pm.

It is in a great location. It has taken us a while to get to know what the area is actually called. We had been saying Lower East Side Manhattan, but it’s actually East Village and on the edge of Alphabet City (as the avenues here are A, B, C etc)

Our apartment, that we booked after much research on AirBNB has been great.

Within a 2 block radius we have:
• At least 5 delis
• At least 5 laundromats – I have been getting a bag of laundry washed and folded for $8, same day service. There is a laundry in our basement but we have not used it.
• Chemist
• Post office – we posted a 20 pound box of clothes home to get the winter stuff out of our bags!!!
• Salon and nail place – got my names ‘fixed’ today after several weeks of trying to cope with peeling gel.
• Many cafes, bars and restaurants to choose from
• Supermarket
• Comedy places
• Park areas
• Bus stops
• Bike racks where you can hire a bike and return it to any rack in the city
• It’s a 7 block – 20 minute walk to the subway

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A few tips for people thinking of staying in apartments through AirBNB:
It is not a hotel so the check in time is negotiable. We have seen lots of people sitting in cafes with their luggage waiting for their contact to arrive. This is probably what we found hardest to understand when we arrived in the rain and could not get in straight away.
No one comes to make your bed and clean your room each day – we are actually enjoying this after 8 weeks of daily room servicing as we can sleep in and don’t feel guilty that we are delaying people.
Make sure the apartment has an elevator or you will be carrying your luggage upstairs.
Decide how important air conditioning is to you. We don’t have it but would seek it next time – we have been very lucky as there has only been one really hot afternoon and we get a breeze each day. If we were on the other side of the street we would have really suffered as they don’t get the breeze – this was pot luck this time, but a lesson learned.
It is actually very noisy – but that is just New York. We hear sirens all the time as there is a fire station nearby but you just get used to it.
We see people coming and going all the time with suitcases so there are lots of people renting apartments just like we are doing in this area.
You pay your money to AirBNB before you arrive but they don’t pass it on the owner until you are actually in the accommodation and have not made any complaints – so you are pretty sure there will actually be a place to stay when you arrive. If not, you don’t lose your money.

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