cyog

The ones I've been looking into are mainly The Lexington Hotel, Westin Times Square, W Times Square, Renaissance NY Midtown, The Times Square EDITION, Le Meridien NY and the Algonquin Hotel Times Square. What are people's preferences between these?

Mr. BoH

Of these, I would say Edition is the “nicest”, though obv no free breakfast. Ren Midtown is also nice, though the lounge may still be closed. The others are pretty tired but decent properties. Except I dislike the Algonquin.

Ken C

i have stayed at each of these properties, if there is no particulars you are looking for the Algonquin is the most unique. It’s like stepping back in time and would be a memorable stay. The blue bar has a great atmosphere. The rooms are small but the mattress will be the best you find in the city.

bmwe92fan

This post may get deleted / moved -- but as a Lifetime Titanium -- and a completely loyal Marriott member -- I signed a corporate contract for my company with the Hilton Garden Inn in Midtown as many of the good Marriott properties in Midtown have closed -- probably forever (our corporate HQ is in Midtown and Marriott was our former partner)..... The HGI is a solid property in a great location -- Midtown is only now starting to recover -- and the few remaining Marriott properties here are not great honestly... If one isn't scared of the train (I live here and live downtown) -- the Marriott's downtown are way better and much cheaper -- and very close to the train to get anywhere in NYC for $2.75 -- and you get all of the great places to see with an easy walk to SoHo -- if that's your thing....

sxpsxpsxp

I'm considering a quick stay at the Algonquin. Why do you dislike it? With regards to street noise, I'm wondering if they have interior-facing rooms? Some of these old hotels have those and they're usually dead quiet.

lostlittleladybug

I just wanted to post an update. Our trip was successful. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn, Henry Street, in Chinatown. The rooms were clean, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful, and they offered a pretty decent breakfast with lots of options. If you stay there, then go to the Chinese grocery store at the end of the block (it's in the same building, just on the opposite side from the main entrance). You will be able to find bottled water for less than $1 each. They also sell some American snacks like Pringles and Poptarts. They have other things that may be of interest there too like umbrellas, some toiletries, tissues, etc. We took the PATH train to the WTC from Newark. It was easy to use, and while it was crowded, it was a cheap travel option from NJ to NYC. We also took several Ubers while we were there. Many of the drivers did not speak fluent English, but they got us from place to place without any problems. We had no issues until the last night when we went back to Newark. We had a reservation at the Renaissance Inn in Elizabeth, NJ by EWR. We had more than a four hour wait for a room, according to them the delay was because we requested it to be feather free. Then they said it would be another hour because the people in the room checked out late. It was one thing after another, so eventually we cancelled our room there and took an Uber to Residence Inn by the airport. While it was a bit outdated, the rooms were extremely clean, the staff was amazing, and it only took them about ten minutes to convert a regular room to a feather free room. We were able to get in a room not even twenty minutes after we arrived.
The entire time we were in NYC, I never felt unsafe. We encountered very few homeless people. None in Chinatown. We saw them by Rockefeller Center. Overall, people were friendly. We were given consistent advice from staff at the hotels. They all said to be aware of our surroundings and only be in areas that are well lit and where there are lots of people around. The only thing we didn't do while we were there is ride the subway.
Thank you again to everyone who gave information and advice. It helped me feel less anxious about the trip.

bocastephen

Not sure if this property has it's own thread, but if so, please move my post.

Aloft Long Island City - Manhattan View.

Had a one night stay on points, coming in off an early morning arrival from Tokyo. I requested an early check-in and a late check-out, expecting a surly front desk clerk with the typical NY attitude telling me it won't be happening, but the exact opposite occurred. I was pretty exhausted coming off the flight with limited sleep and was greeted with a big smile by the front desk clerk who not only let me check in before noon so I could sleep, but took time to find me a Manhattan view room and ask if I wanted regular or late check-out the next day.

I was offered points or breakfast, and when I chose points being somewhat skeptical of the continental option, she thought I should try it and gave me both.

The room was clean, well maintained, and had a nice view of the bridge and Manhattan beyond.

All interactions with the staff were great, and with the location being a 3 minute walk to the subway, I would not hesitate to stay here again.

ElevatorEnthusiast

Very happy to hear this as I'll be staying two nights next month before flying out to Italy (I thought why not take advantage of an extra night and take in some of my favorite NYC food?) - rates were high in Manhattan, and this will be my first time staying outside of Manhattan and seemed convenient to the E for JFK.

bocastephen

It’s a great location, you can get to midtown on the E train faster than if you stayed in downtown Manhattan and you just hop on the same E to the JFK AirTrain. Just load an extra $8 on your metro card in advance to cover the AirTrain fee and avoid the lines of tourists trying to buy Metrocards at the entrance while staring at the machine like it’s the launch controller for Artemis.

GW McLintock

I generally don't care for Aloft properties but this is the sole exception -- everyone here is really great and it's really such a pleasant and convenient hotel.

-J.

ElevatorEnthusiast

LOL - so true - I encountered this the last time as I had been using OMNY solely for my subway journeys so didn't have a MetroCard with me. Luckily, the line wasn't too long. AirTrain needs to get OMNY working soon...

mediator

Just noticed there is a new Four Points by Sheraton Flushing opened recently. Looks like the hotel provides free shuttle to LGA.

olindacat

On Farrington. It has been open for about a year. There's a pool in the basement, and the rooms are fairly nice. They have struggled with their F&B. Not sure there is a restaurant now, but know they were working on this as the GM (Michael) is quite nice. They usually only have two people at the front desk and that's it! Housekeeping may be outside vendor. A bit of a hike to a train from there, but the shuttle to airport I have seen running very regularly. Lots of people stay there. I've stayed there maybe 5-6 times.

olindacat

FYI also a new hotel at Langham just on the other side of Northern Blvd off Price just opened as well. Lots of reviews upthread methinks.

bmwe92fan

The mistake I see 90% of tourists make is trying to use the keyboard instead of the touch screen for the zip code -- even I sometimes forget -- I can't explain why it doesn't work right but it doesn't -- and yes it is complex -- but not that bad lol!