I have stayed at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Meadowlands Area in Carlstadt, New Jersey, on more than one occasion when visiting friends in Manhattan. The hotel is a five-minute walk to a bus stop with express service to and from Manhattan's Port Authority Bus Terminal, and the bus operates well into the evening. Bus fare for two adults and two children will be about $16 USD each way, but only about $11 USD each way on weekends and on Thanksgiving Day when children ride for free. (You could save a few dollars more if you and your spouse each bought a ten-trip ticket, since you would be making at least five roundtrips to Manhattan.) Example of the travel time here:



For the dates of November 24-30, a room with two Queen beds, a mini fridge, and microwave can be had for $190/night, tax included. And a free breakfast buffet for all four of you is included. The room can also be had for an average of just over 28,000 IHG Rewards points per night. Until this Thursday, IHG is running a sale on those points, with a net cost of 0.5 cents per point. So if you were to purchase the points on sale, you would pay an average of about $141 USD per night:






If you were to opt to stay in New Jersey, you should consider flying into Newark, NJ (EWR), rather than into JFK.

I agree with the other posters who say that it would be easier to stay in Manhattan, but if you cannot afford to on this trip, I would choose the Holiday Inn Express in Carlstadt without hesitation.