yk

Which one would you choose, and why?

I know Affinia Gardens is in the UES, and Affinia Manhattan is near Times Sq. Either location is convenient enough for us on our upcoming trip.

Right now, both have deals on Travelzoo:
Affinia Gardens $169/n for jr suite
Affinia Manhattan $159/n for 1BR suite plus free breakfast

Is one significantly better than the other; or should I just go with the cheaper one (Affinia Manhattan in this case)?

ellenem

Affinia Manhattan is on 7th Ave opposite Penn Station--a really bad location with sad food options. You will probaby always want to leave the nieghborhood for almost anything you might want to do. The Affinia Gardens location is tremendously better in my opinion--well worth the $10 extra. (To my mind, well worth $30 extra)

mclaurie

I agree 100% with ellenem and will go further and say the Aff. Gardens building is much newer and the furnishings are more recently redone. The Affinia Gardens is really on the edge of midtown (not far from Bloomingdales) and just into the upper east side. Affinia Manhattan is really in Herald Square Macy's/Penn statio/MSG area south of Times Square and as ellenem says, a pretty rotten area for dining.

But beyond location, there's the issue of budget and who's traveling. If you're a family (vs just a couple) I think the extra space and free breakfast at Aff. Man. makes sense. If you're a couple or 2 girlfriends, I think the Aff. Gardens is much nicer and a nicer location.

yk

Thanks - quite a dilemma.

Right now, it's going to be me & DH, and my parents; and I'm planning on getting 2 rooms. Of course, with the Affinia Manhattan deal (1BR suite), we can even all stay in one room and save $$$$$ (we're staying 3 nights).

My parents are casual eaters, and they're old so they don't eat much anyway; therefore, dining options is really not that important to us.

Location-wise, we are arriving into Penn Station. DH & I depart from Penn Station; my parents will probably catch the shuttle service from Penn Station to EWR.

On one day, we need to stop by the Rockefeller Univ. And we mostly likely will visit the Met Museum. We also have tickets for Met Opera one night.

The Affinia Manhattan has the slight edge because of its proximity to Penn Station, which will make our arrival & departure (w/luggage) easier. But Affinia Gardens is better for access to Rockefeller Univ & to Met Museum.

Decisions decisions ...

ellenem

I think it will be much easier to find a place where you actually want to sit down and eat near Affinia Gardens. Penn Station is all fast food and bars.

The old dilemma: make it easier for arrival and departure or make it more pleasant for the three days of your visit.

christy1

Have you read trip advisor reviews to figure out which is nicest? I've stayed in the AM and while we had a really nice remodeled room, staff were clear that our room was a lot nicer than most. I don't know that I would have wanted to stay in a regular room. We've stayed in the Affinia Dumont and I much prefer that hotel. The AM was indeed very convenient in terms of travel since Penn Station is right there. I also liked that it was an easy walk down to Chelsea and even Greenwich Village. We cabbed to all our dinners (we had pretty much everything reserved in advance) so the lack of good options in the immediate neighborhood was not an issue.

mclaurie

I'll confuse things and tell you there's a special for the East Gate Towers for a 2 bedrom 2 bath suite for $199/night on the Affinia website for stays thru June 30. http://affinia.com/Special.aspx?name...oom-Suite-Deal Everyone gets their own bedroom and bathroom. Sounds ideal to me.

yk

mclaurie - that would have been perfect; but unfortunately it's not available for my dates.

nytraveler

I would not stay near Penn Station when there are other similar options available. The area is not very pleasant, dingy and quiet (business district) at night a- and very few places to eat - unless you plan on sticking with fast food.

The UES is way nicer and has a lot of places to eat that are much more pleasant - and a much greater variety. (Can't imagine seniors would want to live on McBurgers or bad pizza even if they don;t have large apetites.)

mclaurie

I think it's really down to how you'd use the 1 bedroom suite. If having a separate room so some can stay up later if they want is a big benefit, go for the 1 bedroom. There are enough pubby restaurant options near MSG to make it work for meals. Ayza is a decent wine bar/restaurant and I hear Il Campanello and Mario's Trattoria are both good as is the pub menu at Keen's.

mclaurie

What about this Affinia 50 deal???? http://hotels.travelzoo.com/new-york-hotels/751602

Margo_Chester

I would compare convenience, amenities and price and pick what works best for your group. I'm not sure why people are all bunched up over what restaurants are near the hotel, you can easily get to other areas for dinner via cab, or you might want to have dinner near whatever you last activity of the day is.

yk

mclaurie & others, thanks again for your input.

As of now, we've decided that we'd rather have 2 rooms than one 1BR suite for the 4 of us; and I've reserved the Affinia Gardens for 2 jr suites.

I'll keep checking to look for better deals (our trip is 2nd half of April), esp if there is a 2BR suite option (and cheaper than our jr suite x 2).

mclaurie

Just reminding you there's the 2 bedroom suite at the Eastgate Tower for $199/night that I linked above, but I certainly grant the Aff. Gardens is nicer and better location for your itinerary.

mclaurie

Sorry, you did say it's not good for your dates.

Gwendolynn

You'll be much happier at the Affinia Gardens. Lots to do in the very safe, pleasant neighborhood. It's a straight shot across the park to the Met. You could walk over to Rockefeller U. if it's good weather. The nabe around PennStation is really ugly.

Bokhara2

I stayed at Affinia Gardens on 3 separate occasions last April YK, and was very satisfied with it. The location was great - close to the 59th St subway, good variety of restaurants within easy walking distance - ditto the Met & Central Park. For breakfast - Le Pain Quotidien at 833 Lexington (between 63rd & 64th Streets) is good. There's another coffee + place on the corner of Lexington & (I think) 63rd, where the coffee is good and the other things look inviting, but I didn't try them. The staff at Affinia Gardens were unfailingly helpful and polite, stowed my luggage when I was away for a couple of days on two occasions, and upgraded me without charge on my last visit. I thought the reception area & corridors were a bit tired, but the rooms were a pleasant contrast - spacious and well appointed.

yk

Bokhara2, thanks for your additional input! It's so much nicer to read reviews from our fellow Fodorites than anonymous reviews from tripadvisor.

Bokhara2

You're welcome, YK. I got so much from your Spanish notes, I wanted to reciprocate, albeit my NYC knowledge is pretty meagre (more visits required !) There's a very nice Italian restaurant just around the corner from the Affinia, too. The name escapes me at the moment. Has a casual & slightly more formal areas, good food & ambience. McLaurie will know.

suite7

i stayed at the AG about ten times last year while renovating an NY apt from out of town. I think you'll love it. kitchen has coffee, bottled water, microwave, full fridge. bathrooms are a littl small but designed well. they serve complimentary coffee and tea in the lobby lounge all day, the location is perfect. nice neighborhood. excellent italian restaurant on the corner on 3rd avenue: accademia di vino, also Brio two streets away on lexington, fig and olive also on lex,
and a casual little french place at 62 and lex, plus tons of little delis and a cheap and cheerful chinese; china fun on 63rd and 2nd.