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12 Things UK Visitors Get Wrong in New York

None of these are the obvious ones. They are the specific, checkable things British travellers get caught by: money added after you have agreed a price, a grid that is not square, a travel card that no longer works, and a star rating that nobody actually awards. Each one links to the page where we cover it properly.

Updated 17 August 202612 mistakes, each with the fixEvery fact sourced
Compare live New York rates

01

Thinking the room rate is what you pay

“The hotel says $300 a night, so four nights is $1,200.”

New York adds about 14.75 per cent in hotel and sales tax, plus roughly $3.50 to $4 a night in flat fees, at checkout rather than at booking. A $300 room clears nearer $350. Some hotels then add a compulsory destination fee of $25 to $40 a night on top, which is not a tax at all.

What to do instead. Add about 15 per cent and $4 a night to any rate you are quoted, then check the booking page for a separate facility or destination fee before comparing two hotels.

The full cost breakdown

02

Assuming a block is a block

“The hotel is ten blocks from Times Square, so that is a ten-minute walk.”

Manhattan's grid is not square. North to south a block is about 264 feet, so twenty make a mile. Crosstown, between avenues, a block runs 750 to 900 feet. Ten blocks north or south is half a mile; ten blocks east or west is 1.4 miles.

What to do instead. Count roughly one minute per street block going up or down the island, and three minutes per avenue block going across it. Direction matters more than the number.

Real walking times to the landmarks

03

Tipping like you are in Britain

“Ten per cent is generous, and rounding up is fine.”

Eighteen to twenty per cent is the norm for table service, and staff wages are frequently set on the assumption that tips form part of their income. Under fifteen per cent reads as a complaint rather than a saving.

What to do instead. New York sales tax of 8.875 per cent is printed on every bill. Double it for 17.75 per cent and round up. Check first for an automatic service charge so you do not pay twice.

The tipping guide

04

Digging out the MetroCard from your last trip

“I still have a MetroCard with a few dollars on it somewhere.”

The MetroCard is being withdrawn in favour of OMNY contactless payment, and the base subway and local bus fare rose from $2.90 to $3.00 on 4 January 2026. An old card is not the plan it once was.

What to do instead. Tap a contactless bank card or phone instead. Crucially, use the same card for every journey: fares are capped at $35 over a rolling seven days, but only if the taps match, so couples must each tap their own card.

Transport costs and the weekly cap

05

Waiting for the LaGuardia AirTrain

“There is a train to LaGuardia now, isn't there?”

No. The proposed AirTrain to LaGuardia was officially cancelled in March 2023, and plenty of guides published before then still promise it.

What to do instead. Use the Q70 LaGuardia Link bus, which is completely free in both directions. You pay only the $3.00 subway fare when you transfer at 74th Street-Roosevelt Avenue.

Airports and airport hotels

06

Believing a hotel that calls itself five-star

“It says five stars on the booking site, so it is a five-star hotel.”

The United States has no official or government hotel star rating. Nobody has to meet a standard to use the term, and the stars on booking sites are usually self-declared or generated from a facilities list. Exactly seven hotels in New York hold a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating, which is the closest thing to an inspected award.

What to do instead. Treat booking-site stars as a rough category, not a standard. If the rating matters to you, check the Forbes or AAA award rather than the search result.

What the ratings actually mean

07

Choosing the hotel before the neighbourhood

“Find the best-value room, then work out where it is.”

New York's attractions are spread out and no hotel is walking distance from everything. A cheaper room that adds two subway journeys a day costs more in time and taxis than it saves on the rate. Being near the right subway lines beats being next to one landmark.

What to do instead. Pick the area first. For a first visit that usually means Midtown, NoMad or the Upper West Side, then choose the room within it.

All 26 neighbourhood guides

08

Trusting the hotel's name for its location

“It is called Times Square, so it must be in Times Square.”

Hotel names are marketing. The Algonquin Hotel Times Square is on West 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth, closer to Bryant Park and Grand Central than to the square. It is a good hotel in a good spot, but not the spot the name implies.

What to do instead. Map the exact street address before booking, not the neighbourhood in the name. A block east or west changes the walk home more than the name suggests.

An example of the problem

09

Reading reviews of a hotel that no longer exists

“It has thousands of reviews and a good score, so it must be reliable.”

New York hotels change hands and names constantly. The Crowne Plaza Times Square is now the Hyatt Regency after closing and reopening in July 2025. Row NYC housed asylum seekers from 2023 and only took guests again in May 2026. The Chatwal becomes The Wolseley in 2027. In every case the older reviews describe a different operation.

What to do instead. Check when the reviews were written, not just the score, and look for a change of brand or a closure in the hotel's recent history before trusting a rating.

The hotels we deliberately left out

10

Treating the ESTA as an afterthought

“It is about twenty dollars and I will sort it nearer the time.”

The ESTA fee rose from $21 to $40 on 30 September 2025, and every traveller needs their own, including infants. A family of four is now looking at $160 rather than $84. Approval is usually quick but is not guaranteed or instant.

What to do instead. Apply on the official Customs and Border Protection site only, and do it before booking anything non-refundable. Copycat sites charge more for the same application.

The ESTA guide

11

Booking an airport hotel you do not need

“We land late, so we should stay near the airport for the first night.”

For an ordinary evening arrival that trades a night in New York to save about an hour of travelling, and airport hotels are rarely cheaper once you add the transfers at both ends. Most JFK airport hotels are around Jamaica rather than at the terminals.

What to do instead. Book one only for a departure before about 8am, a very late arrival with children or heavy bags, an awkward layover, or a missed connection. Otherwise go straight into the city.

When an airport hotel is worth it

12

Booking the same hotel whatever the trip length

“A good hotel is a good hotel, however many nights we stay.”

The same budget buys very different things depending on length. Under four nights, a long transfer costs you a meaningful share of the trip. Past six, room size, laundry and a fridge start to matter far more than being two stops closer in.

What to do instead. Short trip: buy location and accept a compact room. Week or more: buy space and a kitchen, and consider crossing the river, where both cost less.

How long to stay, and what to book

The common thread

Most of these cost money rather than time.

The tax at checkout, the destination fee, the ESTA for a family of four, the tipping you had not budgeted for and the unnecessary airport hotel add up to a meaningful sum before you have seen anything. Working them out in advance is the single most useful hour of planning you can do. Our cost breakdown covers all of it, the best hotels guide sorts the whole list by the reason you are actually going, and the printable trip checklist turns every one of these into something you can tick off before you fly.

Keep planning

Shortlists and guides.

Guides

Read before you book.

Sources and update notes

Last updated: 17 August 2026. Hotel rates, fees, rules and transport details can change.