No, not because of a bad experience. Because of a really, really good one in a non-hotel environment.
This past weekend was Brideslady M’s bachelorette party in good ol’ NYC, which I helped organize and plan. After getting thoroughly annoyed at the amount of money we’d have to spend on two decent hotel rooms for seven or eight girls for two nights, I turned to some alternative sources.
Have you guys ever heard of Vacation Rentals by Owner or Home Away? It’s where Brideslady Bunny Love (formally known as Brideslady G…she requested a name change) found that amazing penthouse that we’ll be staying at in Mexico for our friendymoon, and it seemed like the perfect solution for our little NYC hotel dilemma. If you are unfamiliar with the sites or the concept…it’s just a place where house/apartment owners put their properties up for rent for a day, week, month, whatever. Nine times out of ten, it’s about 10000000% cheaper than getting a hotel room, and it makes it feel like a home away from home because, well, you’re in someone’s home. Not as weird as it sounds.
Anyway, without getting too nasty, not one of the eight properties I contacted via Vacation Rentals by Owner got back to me about possibly renting their space this past weekend. Lame. (And terrible business practices.) At this point, M’s bachelorette was two weeks away, and we still didn’t have a place to stay. Yes, I was freaking out like you wouldn’t believe.
Luckily, M came across a similar site called AirBnB, and within hours of contacting three different properties, she heard back from one located in a perfect little spot in Midtown. (She also heard back from the others after only a day or two.) It was a two bedroom, 1.5 bath with a wraparound terrace on the 20th floor that could sleep up to seven people comfortably. It sounded amazing, the pictures made it look amazing, and the owners had several positively glowing reviews. Needless to say, we had the place booked within days!
It was wonderful because we were able to cook breakfast Saturday morning…
…hang out on the terrace to pregame in the afternoon…
Of course we didn’t do that and we went out quite a bit. A few highlights and recommendations in case you are in search of things to do in NYC for a ladies’ weekend:
We got our nails done here on Friday night—they have several locations throughout the city, and give you free cosmos on Thursdays and Fridays between 6 PM and 9 PM! Nails and drinks? Yes. My nail polish was even ever so appropriately called “I Need a Cocktail.” Delicious.
This was a freaking blast. We hopped on a tour bus Saturday morning and got taken around to a bunch of different locations and sites used in the SATC series and movies. If you are a fan of the series and are in NYC, do this. We made stops at The Pleasure Chest (where Charlotte got her rabbit), Buddakan (used many a time in the series, importantly where Big and Carrie had their rehearsal dinner), Onieals (called Scout in the series, AKA Aiden’s bar…more cosmos were enjoyed here!), and Bleeker Street, where we enjoyed a Magnolia cupcake and ventured over to Fresh, the makeup store/company that worked with the stars on the show.
Delicious, sorta upscale Mexican place on Park Ave. Get their guacamole and stick around for the free frozen prickly pear margarita shooter after the meal!
This was our drinking/dancing spot Saturday night. It was good…not great…but if you’re in Midtown and are looking for decent place with good music and a rooftop deck, this is your spot!
All in all, an awesome weekend with awesome ladies. And I can’t rave enough about AirBnB and the people we rented from. It will definitely be my go-to place for any trips I take in the future!
Have you done a vacation rental before? How’d you like it?
It looks like you all had such a blast! I want to stay in that apartment and I live in NYC! I want to go to all those places especially that Dashing Diva place! Cocktails and manicures!? Yes please!
Oh yay! I LOVE Airbnb! We’re using it for our honeymoon–booking apartments in the CENTER of London & Paris for $95/night in Paris & $120/night in London. You should check out the other places you can find on Airbnb, like in Italy, Marrakesh, etc… some of them are ridiculously gorgeous. And there’s a treehouse sort of place in (I think?) Hawaii that I would love to go to on Airbnb.
We just got back from our first weekend at an airbnb.com property and I feel the exact same way. We lucked out and the owners hooked us up with bicycles and a pantry stoked with bagels, and SIX bottles of wine… With a note that said to help ourselves. I will always look for an airbnb option before booking a hotel. Even if they’re the same price, the bnb will probably have better “perks”! (I should try to get on their payroll!)
Umm hello, Flipkey.com is MUCH better than vacation rentals by owner.com. We get our rentals there all the time. And the are mostly owned by TripAdvisor and they have online payments now. So you can pay even rent by owners online instead of VRBO.COM where you have to pay cash, check to strangers. FlipKey.Com provides security for your money. I just booked a vacation rental there and stayed this past weekend. It was amazing and the service great. I trust FlipKey!!!
My family used VRBO.com for a stay in Destin, FL and it was great! We loved the place so much we booked it again for the next year as soon as we got home. It was much more affordable than staying in a hotel and the amenities were better too. I’ve never tried any of the other sites mentioned, but we didn’t have any trouble with VRBO that I know of, but my mom handled most of that part of our planning. I hadn’t thought of trying these sites for our honeymoon. Thanks for reminding me about the option Miss Fox!
I’ve used HomeAway for spring break in college and for our honeymoon. We had a great experience in college and are hoping for a good honeymoon! The place in NYC looks amazing!
That apartment is AMAZING. I’m experiencing serious envy over here! 
This looks like such a wonderful weekend, and what an amazing place to stay!
This is a great website! I will definitely keep this in mind for bachelorettes and our honeymoon! thanks so much for posting this! I love how it’s cheaper to rent a whole aparment than it is to get a hotel room!
This looks so fun! AirBnB sounds awesome! I’ll have to check it out for future vacations.
This place looked great! Could you possibly give me the contact info? I looked thru the website but could not find it. I live in midtown and am always trying to find reasonable accommodations for my out of town relatives.
es25sps@gmail.com
Actually I have never stayed at a hotel for more than 2 days lol!! Every year we go on a family vacation, cousins and everything (over the years we’ve grown from a family of 6 to a family of 14). Every year we rent vacation homes. You can cook what you want, swim 24 hours a day where as a hotel your restricted, don’t have to worry about being quiet. In June we rented a 9 bedroom, 6 bathroom house for $1300 in Orlando. This house was unreal. We try to avoid staying in a hotel at all costs. But I know many people feel if you have to cook & do dishes-it’s not vacation. Persoanlly, we’d rather keep the money in our pockets & spend 15 minutes doing dishes.
Oooh, we love AirBNB. We will never stay in a hotel again either. I stayed in NYC a few months ago with a girlfriend in the most awesome little apartment right on Bleecker St and next to NYU. Some of your photos are just like ours! There are so many deals to be had, and all around the world, too. Sounds like you had an awesome time.
AHHH! You went to some of my absolute favorite places in Midtown! Dashing Diva is ah-FREAKIN-mazing. I adore Fresh and I could eat Dos Caminos every single day of the week.
Thanks for the site recommendation. We were looking into someplace like Vegas or NYC for the B weekend so I’ll definitely have to check that out.
I’m VERY MUCH in love with HomeAway.com!!! My ladies and I are going to Las Vegas for my Bachelorette (I’m not planning it completly just where were staying cuz none of them have ever been there before) and for 8-10 of us I found homes where everyone would only have to pitch in like $40 – $50!!!! Which is amazing in Vegas!!!! So everyone is pitching in like $100 and we’ll have 4days and 3nts in vegas plus a Limo for 5hours on Sat night! Totally excited I found that place!!!!!!!!!!!!
So many great ideas! Thanks for this post, definitely helps me expand my vision a little more.
I am getting married in September and my maid of honor has done the same thing. With so many girls going and the restrictions of the number of guests in hotel rooms, she found a three bedroom vacation home that is actually half the cost of renting hotel rooms. It has 30 great reviews and less than a mile away from all the attractions. Such a wonderful idea and very affordable. Plus you get the conforts of having an entire home with full kitchen and lots of space.
Wow that apartment looks amazing! Thank you for the heads up about that website- I’m going to use it to find us a place for our trip in June!
Mrs. Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MD Age and Occupation: 26, Massage Therapist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support Engineer Engagement Date: April 18, 2010 Wedding Date: June 2012 Venue: Vandiver Inn About Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
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