Long Island, New York

April 1 - 5, 2013

New York.  When I hear those words I think - big city, skyscrapers, taxis, fashion, amazing food, sex & the city and one of my bff's (shout out to Greg)!  So when I heard that I needed to go to New York for a business trip - I thought - 'SCORE!'  Well that all came to a halt when I started booking my accommodations - Long Island is nothing like or even close to 'the city' ... and that is where I was headed.

I booked my flight out of SJC direct to JFK on Jet Blue.  Jet Blue offers a red-eye flight (leaves at 10:40pm) - which actually works out better for me as I love sleeping on planes.  When I booked my flight I was not assigned a seat because the flight was mostly full - so when I went to check in I asked if an aisle seat was available.  They said they would upgrade me for free and I would get an aisle seat in the 'extra leg room' section.  I was ecstatic - not that I really need extra leg room but it is really nice to stretch out.  I arrived at JFK airport around 7am the next day.  Upon my arrive I went down to the baggage claim to wait for my bag and the car service.  I decided to take a car service to Long Island because: 1.  I did not want to drive in New York (Long Island is a different story) and 2.  Apparently taxi costs sky rocket (near 200+ dollars) to drive you out to Long Island.  Thankfully when I booked my flight with Jet Blue I got a follow up email from them advertising different rental car agencies, hotels and a car transportation service called GroundLink.  Through this website - I was able to insert my pick up and drop off address and it provided the cost of the car service and a link to book it.  I checked multiple sites and services and found GroundLink to be the cheapest.  While I was picking up my luggage I got a text message as well as a call from the driver saying he was outside waiting for my pick up.  It was a clean car and ontime service.  On the 1+ hour drive from JFK to the Sheraton Long Island I slept like a baby.  :)

Once I arrived at the hotel, I checked in and got a 1st floor room out of the 3 floors.  I asked the lady at the front desk about the free shuttle service offered by the hotel if the distance is less than 10 miles away and between the hours of 9am - 5pm.  I needed to take the shuttle over to the Hertz rental car agency to pick up a car for the next few days.  She asked what time I would like to schedule the shuttle for and I said I was flexible so we settled on a timeframe of 1:30pm.  So I headed to my room to unpack, shower and nap.  

The rooms at the Sheraton Long Island were anything but clean.  On the bathroom tile there was hair left over from previous guests and some hair stuck on the walls.  (In the Sheraton's defense the air was extremely dry which caused for alot of static but still ew!)  The towels were wore and some had stains.  The bed was comfortable but after seeing the state of the bathroom - I am not sure I want to know how clean (or not clean) the bed was.

At about 12:30pm I headed down to the lobby to eat lunch at the hotel restaurant.  I had french onion soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.  It was okay - a bit pricey but what was I going to do?  I didnt have a car.  After eating - about 1:15pm I went to the front desk to tell them I would wait in the waiting area for the shuttle and the same lady who I talked to about the shuttle during check-in asked me if I could call Hertz to pick me up instead of taking the shuttle.  She said most rental car companies do that - and if they wont she will work something after.  I was shocked - 1. Why didnt she tell me that hours prior and 2. Don't offer the service if you aren't going to follow up.  I called the Hertz Rental Car company and thankfully they said they would be able to pick me up in 45mins.  The Hertz in Smithtown was about 10minutes away from the hotel and the staff was extremely friend.  They offered directions and were extremely flexible.  I would highly recommend using them.  

After coming back with my rental car - I did some work and then got on Yelp to find some good restaurants near me.  Unfortunately - unlike New York City there was not much happening in Hauppauge, Long Island.  The rest of my trip was made up of working and eating   I ate at 2 sushi restaurants - which were so/so not bad but not the best (one which had luke warm miso soup - which should be a crime!), a subway (one of the only restaurants) and a Chipotle.  My cousin put it best when he said 'Long Island is just made up of strip malls.'  This is true - there was not a lot around the area I was in.  

For my departure - I returned my rental car and had GroundLink pick me up at the Hertz station and made my way to New York City for the weekend.  :)

Overall, the reason for this review was to highlight Jetblue, GroundLink and the Hertz Agency.  As well as forewarn customers staying at the Sheraton Long Island.