New York Hotels

[woebetide8]

My SIL has decided she wants to celebrate her sixtieth in New York, and some of the family have booked a hotel that is way out of my budget. They want to be walking distance to all the tourist stuff so central Manhattan. Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced, clean hotel. Not bothered if it's a chain or boutique, as long as it's clean. I can probably afford up to £200 a night; they have booked into one that is £350 a night!

What part are they staying in?

I stayed at the Pod in Manhattan when I went. Pod 39

The Jane

I liked the Roger Smith hotel in Lexington Avenue. Great location and yoghurt/fruit available for breakfast.

They are near the Museum of Modern Art...

Hilton Garden Inn in Midtown was fine and very reasonable

We stayed at a pod hotel like a previous poster and would recommend!

You don't say when you're going but you can get rooms at the Library Hotel for under £200 at certain times, which is a fabulous hotel right by the New York Public Library. Its sister hotel the Giraffe is a little bit cheaper and is right by Madison Square. It has others in its small chain that I haven't stayed at but would expect to be good quality too.

When are you making the trip? Rates will vary quite a bit by the season.

I'm a New Yorker if you have any NYC related questions.

We stayed at the Hotel Elysee, which is another hotel in this chain, in the summer, it's v close to MOMA. We paid I think a bit over your budget but not that much so worth a look. It was absolutely great - large, comfy, quiet rooms, really friendly and helpful staff. Continental breakfast included, plus snack room open 24/7 with free fruit/crisps/sweets/soft drinks. Best place I've stayed in NY in that price range and will defo stay again

It’s ferociously expensive when you’re there OP so I’d be prepared for that especially if others you’re with are on a more generous budget.

Love the Hotel Giraffe as mentioned above! Lived in NYC for a few years, and stayed there when settling in. Very special little spot. However - it's quite a hike from MOMA so perhaps the sister hotel as also mentioned. Hotel Giraffe had the best bagels...

Downtown in financial district- Holiday Inn. Outstanding g views over Hudson .Short walk down Ground Zero and to Battery Park and the water with views over to Statue of Liberty. Quieter than midtown and easily in reach of uptown using the M3 bus I think or subway.

Everything will depend on when your SiL has booked for - NY hotels adjust their rates to demand and can vary enormously. The Civilian is often good value esp as you can opt out of room cleaning etc. Just opened hotels often have good rates for a couple of months as they bed-in.

The hotel rate will be the least of your problems. How many of you are going? £200 a night is not that much. You will need to factor in all food and it’s very very expensive because you have tax and tips - allow 33% extra on all advertised restaurant prices. Tipping is minimum of 20%. I’d just look at hotels in the area you want via the booking sites and look at guest ratings. Read ones written by uk residents and Northern Europeans. Ignore ones that praise Chuck the bellhop. It’s of no importantance to you. Then see where meets your needs but trying to do NY with people who have money, and you don’t, will be very difficult. Nothing is cheap except walking around!

Are you going on your own? Can you maybe share a room?

Agree with PP that New York is no fun if you have to worry about the budget. Plan to spend substantially more than you would in London (unless you stay around Mayfair when you go to London.)

Radio City appartments ? 45 Times Square? Both get decent reviews on Booking.com and are in vicinity of MoMa. Unfortunately MoMa is just off 5th Avenue and 53rd st area is not bargain basement NY. I really would ask your DB what plans are for meals and daytime activities. What about bars and drinking? When you go makes a huge difference re hotel prices too.

The bagels… The Library Hotel had the same ones. My personal record was three. 😊It didn’t look like breakfast is still included at the Library Hotel sadly (or the ‘free wine and cheese’ session every day) but if it’s still offered at any others in the chain, grab that, as it’s an excellent high quality breakfast - no stale iced doughnuts - which will save you $$$s over the stay.

Have a look at Radio City apartments, great value, central and a little kitchen so you can also save money making your own meals.

Budget and NY don't go together, you can easily spend $50 on a sit down meal with only one drink and a main course. (I'm talking burger and chips in a bar, not decent food).

I stayed in the 'Paramount Hotel ' a few years ago which is just round the corner from Time Square. Hotel was super basic and one of the pricy ones, not even a TV in the room but fine for just sleeping in. If you are planning on spending time in your room to have a rest during the day you'll probably need to find a bit more for your budget.

I went in May and didn’t find prices too bad, I ate dinner in Irish pubs or diners that were a bit more expensive than pub grub here. A main was about $24.

Lunch was a large pizza slice/bagel type of thing.

I bought a pass to visit five attractions for £107 and thought that was good value. All the attractions had water fountains so I used them and didn’t buy any water. I bought a couple of cups of tea each day and found that similar to here, I needed 2 tea bags though as I found the tea very weak.

I had been to another part of America a few months previously so was accustomed to the prices over there so that probably helped a bit.

I stayed in Mid Town and then a visited a different area each day.

Not quite sure it meets your requirements, but we stayed here and it was excellent.
https://www.bblodges.com

We stayed at the Hilton Midtown. Fantastic location and we paid just over 200 a night for 4 of us in the summer.

Reviews on the Hilton aren’t great but it’s a good location. I think the OP needs to know what the others are doing for meals. She’s not doing this trip alone so the others might not want bargain basement meals. It’s always awkward when some have more money than others.

We stayed at The Blakely which is LuxUrban (I don't know if that's a good brand but we liked it). It was the cheapest we could find at peak NYE time and we loved it. Nothing to look at from the outside but very charming and old world inside. Also opposite a very reasonable and delicious breakfast and bagel place and a 6 min walk to the MOMA.

We booked the cheapest room they had for 2 adults and we still had a huge room with a living room section and kitchenette.