Thanks everyone for the recommendations! The Beacon was fine; we got one of their suites to have a little more room, and it had a tiny, tiny kitchenette and a small living room, and three clothes closets — it felt a little like a tiny, old city apartment and I wondered if it had originally been built as an apartment building and been converted into a hotel - it reminded me of a hotel in Chicago where we used to stay on family trips because it was next to the Hancock Tower and near the American Girl Doll Store (important at the time!) and had a little kitchen and living room (called the Seneca) and was old and reasonably priced. Well, one day as we were in the elevator at the Beacon a woman got on with a sack of clothes and laundry detergent and I said “Are there laundry facilities here?” And she said “Yes. I LIVE here.” I said I had wondered if it was built as an apartment building. She said “there aren’t many of us left.”

Also — the last time we went to Chicago I tried to book the Seneca and couldn’t find it listed. We went by the building out of curiosity and learned it had turned into condos.

ANYWAY - we had dinner the first night at Cafe Luxembourg and really enjoyed it, and the next two nights we ended up meeting friends or family for supper and they were in other locations so we spent a lot of time Ubering to different areas. One night we had supper at Park Avenue Soring, which I learned is a restaurant that changes its theme as the seasons change, and we were there on the last night of Soring. It closed to convert to Park Avenue Summer and our waitress said everything would change — the menu, the decor, the uniforms the waitstaff wear, even the hand soap in the restrooms (lavender when we were there).

the other night we were there for supper we ate at Uplands near Gramercy Park.

We had breakfast near the Beacon at a bagel place (but sadly not the recommended one above because I didn’t yet have the recommendation!) and lunch one day at the Boathouse in Central Park (which had excellent Eggs Benedict) and lunch another day at 2nd Avenue Deli.

It was a lovely trip. Thanks all.