New York Habitat Blog

Over the past several years, global tourism has soared. On January 29, 2007, Yahoo News reported that China is set to pass Spain as the second most visited country in the world while France remains the top destination. As worldwide travel continues to grow, finding comfortable accommodations in the world’s top destinations becomes more and more difficult.

New York Habitat is uniquely positioned to offer a practical solution for people looking for an apartment rather than a typical hotel room. With more then 500 short-term accommodations listed at any given time in New York and Paris, as well as several hundred offerings in London and the South of France, New York Habitat offers plenty of choices for the discriminating traveler and those on a budget. All of our apartments include fully stocked kitchens, clean linens and a feeling more like home.

The Yahoo News article goes on to mention that tourism in Western Europe and America has remained fairly stagnant. New York Habitat’s contention is that because it is increasingly difficult to find suitably priced accommodations in these areas, tourists are looking to travel to other places like China.

New York Habitat strives to spur global tourism by expanding our offerings. Check out our latest additions in New York, London Paris and the South of France.

TriBeCa is an area of southern Manhattan roughly defined by the Hudson River to the West, Canal Street to the North, Broadway to the East and Park Place to the South. Over the past 20 or so years, TriBeCa has gone from a neighborhood of mostly industrial buildings to one of the most chic residential neighborhoods in Manhattan. The combination of its proximity to Wall Street, the large loft-like spaces and the budding restaurant scene have combined to make TriBeCa’s popularity increase.

The Apartments:

TriBeCa’s apartment offerings are unique in New York because of their generous size. Some of New York Habitat’s listings there include a two-bedroom, 1,200 square foot loft with a private entrance and a view of the Hudson River (NY-12250), a four-bedroom loft just off Canal Street perfect for a family (NY-1965), and a one-bedroom apartment with a large roof terrace which has view of 7 World Trade Center (NY-12061).

The Culture:

The neighborhood has a strong connection to the movie/television industry as a number of stars — including Robert De Niro, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Stewart and Meryl Streep — have residences there. De Niro has increased the area’s movie flavor by founding the TriBeCa Film Festival, which takes place at the end of April every year.

The area has also developed a hearty restaurant scene with many famous Midtown East and Midtown West chefs opening satellite locations in TriBeCa. Some of the famous spots include Nobu, a popular sushi joint, Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, which is founded by chef Wolfgang Puck, and TriBeCa Grill, another of De Niro’s downtown projects.

The Location:

TriBeCa’s location makes for easy access around the city. The 1, A, C and E trains all have convenient access to the neighborhood. Trips to midtown are about 10 minutes by train and offices in the Financial District are mostly within a 10-minute walk. Attractions in the area include Battery Park, Wall Street and the Hudson River Park.

TriBeCa offers many perks and its own unique flair. If you decide that TriBeCa would be the perfect place to find a furnished apartment or vacation rental, remember to consider New York Habitat’s varied offerings.

With New York Habitat’s unique service, knowing the best time to book an accommodation can be challenging.

Unlike hotels where the exact number of available rooms is known at any given minute, the inventory is constantly changing at New York Habitat.

 So, when is the best time to begin booking an apartment?

Vacation Rentals:

The peak time to book an apartment for a vacation rental is about two months before the arrival date. Therefore, if you begin your search three or four months prior to your trip, you should have a wide choice of available apartments. On the other hand, beginning the search too early – say, one year in advance — can sometimes make it more difficult because many of our owners do not know their schedules yet.

However, during the busiest seasons, such as Easter and Christmas/New Year, reserving earlier is wise because all of our rooms are usually booked. By contrast, travel tends to be slower in January and February, so waiting until the last minute sometimes can net a bargain priced room.

Furnished Rentals and Shares:

The peak period for booking furnished rentals is about one month before the arrival date, though there are many people who do not begin to look until just a few weeks or days before their arrival. Similar to vacation rentals, it is important to consider what the demand is like at your start date.

For example, if you are planning on a September 1st arrival, you should begin looking quite early because the demand is high with the influx of students traveling to our various cities.

Summary:

Remember that it never hurts to begin your search early. New York Habitat provides RSS feeds of all of our apartment searches to keep you up to date on the latest availabilities and our agents remain dedicated to finding you the perfect accommodation. So, when looking for that perfect apartment in London, Paris, New York or the South of France, remember New York Habitat for all of your accommodation needs.

The London Housing market is one of the most expensive in the world. Finding a reasonably priced apartment in a popular neighborhood can be difficult and landlord requirements can be even steeper. New York Habitat’s Corporate Housing Services is well equipped to handle you corporate relocation needs.

On February 7th 2007 The New York Times included an article “Searching, and Finding, in Costly London”; the article mentions that the cost of renting an apartment whether furnished or unfurnished is higher than New York and are often quoted in weekly rates because the monthly rates just sound too high. The article specifically mentions the Kensington neighborhood where rent can be as high as 4000 pounds a month for a nice two-bedroom apartment. Additionally the London landlords often require higher security deposits of 1 and ½ months or even 2 months rent.

New York Habitat’s Corporate Relocation Service offers apartments through out the city in various price ranges and has relationships with landlord to ensure that our customers are treated fairly in the sometimes challenging market.  Some of the offerings include:

- This spacious and bright Studio Furnished Apartment in City - Islington (LN-371), located just a few minutes from London Bridge.

- Or this modern City - Islington 1-bedroom Apartment (LN-287) which will make feel like home.

- But you may prefer this corporate style 1-bedroom Furnished Apartment in Kensington (LN-78), very close from the Underground, it offers a quick access to the West End and the City.

By working with New York Habitat Corporate Housing Services we can take the stress out of finding the perfect apartment. Our agents have many years experience in the market and can ensure that all of your need are met during your apartment search. If you are interested in working with our team contact Charles Rearden at +44 (20) 7953 3996 or charles.rearden@nyhabitat.com.

Like its New York counterpart the Paris fashion week is impressive and because it is the last major show of the circuit it often one of the most memorable.  The show takes place during the last week of February into the 1st week of March.  Many of the shows take place at Le Carrousel du Louvre as well as various other locations throughout Paris. New York Habitat is uniquely positioned to offer apartments to those coming to Paris to work the fashion shows or to be spectators.

This year the winter 2007-2008 ready to wear fashion show is occurring for the week of February 25th to March 4th, 2007.

If you are working the fashion show for one of the designers and are looking for accommodations in Paris, consider contacting New York Habitat while you are in the city during the show. We can take you to see some of our apartments and arrange for your stay when you return for next season’s events.

If you don’t work for a fashion company, but you have decided to make the journey to Paris to see one of the fashion shows or the celebrities arriving at the shows, then we can help out with those last minute apartment rental plans. There are several options still available for the week of the show.

New York Habitat has recently invested in upgrading our phone system to include Skype phones for all of our agents. The Skype technology has opened up new doors in international communication allowing for seamless connections phone connections over the internet.

For those who are unfamiliar with the technology it is a voice over internet protocol (voip) phone system. By connecting a Skype phone which can be purchased through most electronics stores and many website you can make calls over via your computer’s internet connection. The best part is that calls made between Skype users are free, while calls made to landlines and cell phones throughout the world are significantly cheaper than calling on a normal landline. Please post your comments on your Skype experiences to share with other Blog readers.

If you have a Skype phone and you are working with New York Habitat feel free to share your Skype Name. All of our agents now have Skype Names, which you can use to contact them if you have Skype. 

Of course we still have regular phone lines and e-mail as well but the Skype options allows us to offer clients and owners an additional way to reach the agents when working to rent apartments with us whether in London, Paris, The South of France, New York or the rest of the world.

The New York Times’ annual travel show is a showcase for worldwide travel partners. New York Habitat, with offices in New York, Paris, London and the South of France, is excited to be attending the event as part of the industry.

The show is an excellent opportunity for people in the industry to learn more about trade trends as well as for others looking for vacation opportunities. There are several hundred travel-related companies setting up booths to showcase their offerings and 26,000 attendees are expected to come to the event at the Jacob Javits Center.

The 2007 New York Times Travel Show takes place the weekend of February 23rd to February 25th. If you are in the travel industry and are looking for a furnished rental provider in New York, London, Paris or the South of France, consider contacting us while you are visiting the Travel Show. We can set up a time to discuss partnering to meet your accommodations needs at our destinations.

Harlem, a neighborhood of Manhattan, New York is located in the northern section of the island and is especially well adapted to bed and breakfast rentals because of its many historic brownstone apartments which offer unique, well-designed room configurations for this type of stay.

Harlem has asymmetric boundaries, but is largely bounded by 145th Street to the north, the East River to the east, the Hudson River to the west and a variable line from 96th Street in the east to 125th Street in the west as its southern border.

The neighborhood is diverse in culture with the historic Apollo Theater on 125th Street to Columbia University along Broadway. Parkland is readily accessible in Harlem with Riverside Park to the west, Central Park to the south, and Morningside and Mt. Morris parks within the neighborhood.

It is one of the last remaining neighborhoods in Manhattan where the side streets are lined with beautiful Harlem brownstone apartment buildings. These were largely built during the mid to late 19th century. Many of these brownstones have been meticulously restored to their former glory, including amazing architectural details. Along the avenues there are many new condo developments being built to supplement the housing stock.

Harlem is quite convenient to midtown and downtown Manhattan with four subway lines traversing the neighborhood. Additionally, there is a Metro-North commuter rail stop at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue and cross-town buses along 125th Street which offer service to Queens and The Bronx.

There are many restaurants scattered throughout this neighborhood. If you have a favorite eatery or attraction in Harlem, feel free to add a comment to our blog.

If you are looking for a Bed and Breakfast in Harlem, consider (NY-7608) A restored townhouse near Mt. Morris Park, or (NY-11527) a room in a doorman building close to Columbia University and Morningside Park.

When searching for an accommodation in New York, remember to consider the options New York Habitat offers in Harlem.

New York is famous for its conventions, which are largely held at the Jacob Javits Center along the western end of midtown. Because of the location of the Javits Center, finding a hotel room close by can be difficult. However, New York Habitat offers apartments scattered throughout the city, so there are often many choices of accommodations that are more convenient and offer more flexibility than the typical hotel room.

The 2007 American International Toy Fair occurs from February 11th to 14th and features 1,500 of the top manufacturers, distributors, importers and sales agents of toys from over 30 different countries. The fair is considered the largest toy event in the western hemisphere and attracts about 25,000 attendees. Unfortunately for those of us not involved in the industry, the fair is only open to people within the trade. If you are interested, visit http://www.toyfairny.com/ to see if you qualify to attend.

Remember, when making your plans for The American International Toy Fair — whether in 2007 or beyond — to consider renting an accommodation in New York with New York Habitat. Some convenient properties include a one-bedroom townhouse apartment in West Chelsea just south of the Javits Center (NY-12237) and a three-bedroom apartment west of Times Square (NY-10971). Either way, you will find that the apartments are closer to the convention center then almost every hotel in New York City.

Last week we discussed the Rugby World Cup games in Marseilles and this week we continue our trip to Montpellier, where we will see an additional four matches played. New York Habitat offers a selection of apartments and villas in Montpellier.

Montpellier is located in the Languedoc region in the South of France and serves as its capital city. It is known as a youthful town with three major universities and six smaller schools. There are an estimated 70,000 students in the city, which equates to 25% of the population. It is located just inland from the Mediterranean Sea, therefore offering easy access to beaches and water activities.

Some of the town’s major attractions include a main shopping district with department stores and luxury shops. Festivals throughout the year include a theater festival (Le Printemps des Comédiens), a dance festival and two opera houses: the Opera Berlioz and the Opéra Comédie.

Montpellier is one of the smaller venues to host games during the World Cup of Rugby. La Mosson stadium seats 33,650 people for Rugby events. For the 2007 Rugby World Championship, the stadium will be hosting four matches, all in the first round of competition. The contests include: the United States vs. Tonga or Korea on September 12th, Samoa vs. Tonga or Korea on September 16th, Australia vs. Fiji on September 23rd, and South Africa vs. the United States on September 30th.

New York Habitat is one of the top providers of furnished apartments and villas in the South of France, including Montpellier. Some of the choices include a studio to the south of Montpellier for 540 euros per week (PR-724) and a two-bedroom apartment west of the city center (PR-297).

In conjunction with the World Cup of Rugby, New York Habitat is offering 10% off of our agency fee for anyone renting an apartment through our service that is attending the World Cup of Rugby. To receive the discount, just mention the code “rugby07” and when you complete your booking include a photocopy of a ticket to one World Cup rugby game you are attending.

When making plans to come to France for the World Cup of Rugby, remember that we offer apartments close to the stadiums in Marseilles, Saint Denis, Paris and Montpellier.