I'm planning a trip to NYC the first week of April with my husband and our 2 sons, ages 9 & 12. It's our first visit, and after searching until bleary eyed I seem to have narrowed it to the Kimberly or the Affinia Gardens, as both offer rooms with 2 beds in a bedroom and a separate living room with a sofabed for under $325/night. Can anyone offer info/opinions on those hotels to help me make a decision? Or better suggestions?

The Affinia Gardens is more recently renovated and a bit closer to Central Park. I'm surprised for that time it is cheaper than it's sister Affinia hotels, since it's usually more.

The Kimberly would be a bit closer to Times Square. Between these 2, while both are fine, I'd go with the Affinia Gardens b/c it looks more up to date.

There are a number of other suite hotels that would offer this configuration, but I don't know whether they'd be under $325/night at that time.

You might want to double check prices b/w affinia.com and quikbook.com Lately the Affinia website has been cheaper, but right now the dates I checked, quikbook appears to be cheaper for the Aff. Gardens.

I should have said the Aff. Gardens is cheaper than some of the other hotels in the group but not all. The Eastgate Tower and the Beekman Tower are both cheaper than the Gardens and they should both have the set up you want.

Some of the Affinia properties that apparently have this arrangement must not have those particular rooms available for these nights. I've also noticed that while all the Affinia properties look attractive on the Affinia website (duh), some look a bit, well, grim from other views. What's the scoop?

Some of the suites at the Eastgate are pretty worn looking based on "candid travelers photos" on tripadvisor. Some of the furniture elsewhere could use updating. But they're well run hotels with good sized rooms. Some of the buildings were originally apt. buildings that Affinia has converted which is why some of the suites are so spacious with real kitchens. I believe the Affinia Gardens falls into that category.

Last May we rented an Affinia Gardens two bedroom/ two bath suite for our daughter. It was her 21st birthday with her girlfriends and we wanted a special place for them to stay the night, in a safe area.

I rented it directly from the hotel and received excellent service. They even provided a complimentary birthday gift for our daughter. She said it was a great suite. I think the hotel was newly-redecorated, in a contemporary style. We would definitely recommend the Affinia Gardens.
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We stayed at The Kimberly over Thanksgiving weekend and LOVED it. The only caveat would be to be sure and get a room with 2 beds, as the sofa bed mattress is awful. However, the reservation clerk warned me of this before we booked. We had 2 suites: one with a King and sleeper sofa; and one with 2 double beds. The staff and concierge were great and the restaurant next door was very good. They also recommended an Italian restaurant around the corner that was great (but I cannot recall the name).