Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Any nice small hotels in NY?

I%26#39;d love to take my husband to NY for his 50th birthday in December. Our friend is directing a show on Broadway and I%26#39;d love to take my husband to see it. Advice please. When is the cheapest time to fly from London to NY around that time? Cheaper in January??? Also, I%26#39;d love to find a good small hotel. We are not fans of big, impersonal glossy hotels..prefer something with some character..any ideas anyone? I%26#39;m overloaded with info from websites and offers of cheap city breaks and don%26#39;t know where to start. Is it better to wait til nearer the time or book now? HELP!



Any nice small hotels in NY?


It is definitely cheaper in January. You could find a really nice hotel for much less than any time of year. I went in January of this year and I stayed at the Clarion (budget hotel, but super clean and breakfast included) for 80$ a night. If you have the budget to spend more, you could look at the top 20 hotels in trip advisor and check out their websites. I recommend highly hotels from the HK chain (Giraffe, Casablanca, 脡lysee and Library Hotel). They all have breakfast and nightly wine and cheese service from 5 to 8. The staff is nice and not pretentious like some hotels. They are medium sized but have the feel of a small one because they recognize their clients and are really friendly. I personnally stayed at the Giraffe and loved it.





There%26#39;s the Roger Williams in the same area as the Giraffe which I also loved. The service is friendly and professional.





If you like the hotels with character and not impersonal service, you should look to the boutique hotels. The term has been a little bit used for any sort of hotel lately, but it should be what you should be leaning towards.



Any nice small hotels in NY?


I just found this for you....I knew I had seen a site where they had boutique hotels. You could double check with trip advisor and I always look at the pictures from the members of trip advisor who stayed at the hotels. You see the difference with the hotel websites sometimes...and the difference is not always pretty!!!





hotelrooms.com/Boutique_Hotels_USA_New_York.鈥?/a>




An alternative to hotels is to stay in an apartment that is being leased out very short term (weekends, 2-3 days, etc). We did this and ended up with a wonderful place in the East Village for a great price. Check out craigslist for these deals -- these kinds of temporary rentals are not done in most cities, but NY is not most cities.




Oh, what a fabulous 50th birthday you%26#39;re planning! I love the Iroquois (next door to the Alconquin) on E. 44th Street, midway between Grand Central Terminal and Times Square. Very attractively furnished rooms with comfy beds dressed in Frette linens; excellent interior soundproofing (if you%26#39;re a light sleep, however, you%26#39;ll want to ask for a room which does not face the street); topnotch service -- personable %26amp; attentive without being intrusive or fawning. Also a sauna and nice little ';health club'; facility.





Because it was built in the 1920%26#39;s, the room sizes do vary more than those in a ';cookie cutter'; chain hotel %26amp; some of the lowest-priced (a/k/a ';Superior';) rooms can be ';compact';. Altho%26#39; that%26#39;s less likely if you%26#39;re booking a Superior room with 1 bed rather than 2, I think it%26#39;s worth spending another $30/night for a Deluxe room -- or better yet, one of their truly lovely suites :-)



http://iroquoisny.com/specials.html




P.S. I used to book the Iroquois through Express Reservations as it offered a better rate than the hotel%26#39;s own web site. Express Reservations, however, just went out of business, having been bought out last month by quikbook.com, an online reservations service which has always been highly regarded by the NYC Local Experts here. So that would be a good place to start your hotel hunt.





Manhattan hotel rates have been on an upward climb for almost a year and don%26#39;t show signs of dropping. So your best bet is to make ASAP a reservation you can cancel without penalty at a hotel you would consider acceptable and then keep your eye out for any special promotions which might be announced between now and your arrival date. TravelZoo is an excellent ';clearing house'; for such closer-in-time- deals.



http://hotels.travelzoo.com/new-york-hotels/




If you want to come in Dec., rates drop after about the 18th of Dec. It%26#39;s very inexpensive to fly from London on Xmas day or Boxing day (not a holiday here). Perhaps come end of Dec. and leave first week of Jan.





In addition to smaller hotels there are also some lovely inns. Does that appeal to you. Have a look at





1871house.com



wymanhouse.com





The Blakely is a nice smaller hotel with some apt. like suites.




comfy beds dressed in Frette linens;





They are my favorite. But there%26#39;s 2 kinds, the good and the REALLY good.




Let%26#39;s just say that whether the Frette bedding %26amp; towels provided by the Iroquois are the good kind or the ';really good'; ones, they%26#39;re better than anything in the linen closet at my own apartment :-)




Just wanted to supported Whiz%26#39;s recommendation for Wyman House. This is one where the pictures on the website really do show what the rooms are like. It%26#39;s a haven of peace of the Upper West Side, with a bus stop right outside the door which makes getting around really easy. It won%26#39;t be the cheapest option you can find, but it%26#39;s great value for money - we got a huge bedroom, separate kitchen and large bathroom - and wouldn%26#39;t hesitate to go back.




Thanks everyone....all good stuff. Will probably ask for further advice nearer the time, as the last time I was in NY was sailing in on the QE1 in the 1960%26#39;s !!! Must have changed a bit since then eh?


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