hotel recs. for girls' trip
 

Please recommend hotels for girls' NYC trip. The three of us are in our 40s. Want security; luxury (3 star and up) but not stuffiness; do want some liveliness: not meat-market but lively public spaces, bar or restaurant, people watching. No preference on location yet. Thanks.

Do you have a budget in mind per night including tax?

Budget and WHEN is this for? Most importantly, will 2 of you be willing to share a bed or do you need 3 separate beds? Will one sleep on a sofabed? Or do you want separate rooms?

My point is there are lots of hotels with rooms with 2 queen beds but NO hotels with a regular room with 3 beds so you either need a suite hotel where one of you sleeps on a sofabed OR a 2 bedroom suite or more than 1 room.

Also - budget matters a lot.

In Dec rooms cost probably double what they do in January - most of the year is somewhere in the middle.

Budget not a primary consideration, but don't think we want to pay more than $600/nt. Do want to reserve just one hotel room for the three of us; don't need 3 beds (we're related).

Most people like to stay in midtown (anything from 34 st -59 st.) Ironically most hotels I can think of in midtown that have lively bars with good people watching tend to have small rooms. These are the trendier places like the W Times Square, the Hudson, Bryant Park Hotel, the Royalton. One of the nicest hotels, the Sofitel, doesn't have a room for 3, to my knowlege.

Some ideas are
>the W Court or W Tuscany have some big rooms and at least one of them has a lively bar. They're next to each other in Murray Hill (east 30s)

>the Elysee is a smaller upscale hotel with good bar (the Monkey Bar) ok restaurant and great location for shopping.

>the NY Palace has spectacularly beautiful public spaces (bar, rest.) Great location for shopping.

If you don't stay midtown, the W Union Square, the Soho Grand, 60 Thompson are in fun areas.

I would stick your dates in on quikbook and see what comes up and then come back for more direction.

My daughter stayed at the Benjamin and loved it:
http://www.thebenjamin.com/

The WHEN is important. The same hotel room at the Benjamin is over 600.- in December and $230 to 300.- in Jan.

Thanks, mclaurie, for your suggestions. The NY Palace and 60 Thompson seem like they might be both lively and secure.
The W hotels seem to fit the bill for their public spaces but have such mixed reviews on their rooms.
Know anything about Grammarcy Park hotel?

Yes, a lot. The bars there are evidently over the top divine with expense being spared. The place recently underwent a massive renovation. Reviews look very mixed.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

The Gansevoort and the Soho House, both in trendy meatpacking district might appeal to you.

While some of the rooms are small, the bar is lovely at the Hyatt. Be prepared for very expensive drinks though.

But, I don't really like the big, busy hotels, so I probably wouldn't stay in one.

The Affinia hotels have some all-suite properties that get good reviews. We rented a two-bedroom, two-bath suite last May for about $650 at the Affinia Gardens. It was very nice. Large kitchen and living room. Great front desk service. On the Upper East side. They also have smaller suites.
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