I'm tired of surfing for a decent hotel in NYC - there are so many warnings on sites like Fodors to take care to avoid the many 'kips' (horrible hotels). I'm down to either Park Central (7th Ave) or Metropolitan (Lexngton) - anyone have a view? Spending 8 nights so I don't want to suffer for the duration of my visit! Tks. E.

If you are staying 8 nights, I highly suggest either an appartment rental or a suite hotel. NYC is notorious for having small hotel rooms and spending 9 days in one would make me stark raving mad.

Affina.com is a good place to start.

I "won" the Metropolitan on Priceline for 11/19-23. There are some reviews for it on Tripadvisor.com. I asked for further comments here hoping to hear from someone who had actually stayed there recently, but so far I haven't heard much. I'll post some comments here when I return to help out anyone who might be staying there in the future.

If you don't want to pursue an apartment as suggested above, you might want to book a room larger than you actually need, or even a suite if you will be spending a lot of time in the hotel and room size is an issue for you.

When are you traveling?

I really like the suite hotels run by affinia (www.affinia.com) They often have "deals" -- usually for over a weekend, but it would be worth checking them out. I think I may have stayed at the Park Central a couple years ago...it was pretty small, I got the feeling it was run by the Russian mafia, and my room and bathroom were really really small, but newly furnished in a sort of ikea fashion and quite clean. Oh, yeah, there was NO phone in the room. I only had to spend one night there, however. Don't know if I could spend 8 nights there. (I'm also not positive it was the Park Central, so now I'll go surf a bit to make sure I'm not describing the wrong place!)

I think it would be easier if the rest of you were aware that on another post, coober has stated he's trying to keep the cost under $150 a night, and is looking for "European standards". I'm not sure if IKEA fits that idea even though IKEA is European.

So, what exactly does "European standards" mean? No washcloths?

OK! Sorry! I knew I knew the hotel...and it's because it is near my firm's NY office. DUH! The Park Central is nice. You'll be comfortable there and well located. The cell I stayed in was called the Park something....obviously this was not the same place! What you do when you check in, is be charming and patient with the check in person, mentioning how you hope you'll have enough room since you'll be there all week. Sometimes they'll upgrade you on the spot, or they may just say something like, oh, don't worry you should be comfortable here. Or, if you get up to your room and really do find it too cramped (or too noisy -- I often take rooms that have no view in NYC because they are quieter. Or ask for something on a higher floor.) give them a call before you unpack and plead your case for something bigger/quieter/whatever. As a matter of fact, since you are there for so long, if you aren't happy after the 1st night (and they aren't totally booked up with a convention...which would leave little room for changing) ask to be moved. I have found hotel staffs in NYC have gotten better and better in the last couple of years. Customer Service has improved dramatically. No matter where you end up, don't hesitate to try to "better" your room if you aren't happy.