Well, the heart of Newark is, sadly, mostly a crime-ridden sh*thole, but the part you ll be in is just fine, so don t worry about it.However, why in the world are you staying at a Holiday Inn at Newark Airport when you really want to be in New York City? I mean, the very few bucks you ll save on your hotel room will very quickly be eaten up by the cost of transportation to and from NYC every day, and the commute from Newark Airport to NYC is a long, boring, difficult nightmare, so you ll actually wind up spending more time commuting than you will in New York City! Trust me, it ain t worth it!!So, instead of spending your Christmas at a Holiday Inn out in the middle of nowhere at Newark Airport like some kind of refugee, why not stay at one of the hotels offered by the NY Inns Hotel Group right in Manhattan (see link, below). They have three very nice hotels, in the Murray Hill (near Times Square), Union Square (near the East and West Village) and Upper West Side (near Lincoln Center and Central Park) neighborhoods, and the rooms are nice, the service is good, and they re affordable, too! Check out the link below to see their webpage, and, no, I don t work for them or anything like that, I m just a fan.Good luck, and welcome to the Big Apple!!
The airport is okay, its the certain section of the city that is crime ridden. Don t worry about, you ll be fine.In regards to transportation, the hotel should provide you with a shuttle service to Newark Airport, where you can catch the Newark Airtrain monorail to the train station. The shuttle bus will leave at Airtrain station P4. Once at the Newark Airport train station, you can take NJ Transit from there to NY Penn Station.The one way fare from Newark Airport to the city, which includes a connection fee to the Newark Airtrain, will cost you $15 one way ($30 round trip).If you re traveling back to your hotel late, please keep in mind that both the Newark Airtrain and the shuttle bus runs round the clock. However, the last outbound NJ Transit train departs Penn Station at about 1:30am.Good luck
The Hotel is fine! I used to hang out for hours around the area nothing happened. Overrated