New York Hotel Suggestions and Other Ideas
 

My wife and I are traveling to New York for a long weekend (3 or 4 nights) and are looking for a clean, convenient and more boutique style place to stay. We've stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Times Square for one night before and I thought that was just fine...nothing special of course but it was a very good location; clean and decently priced. I'd prefer to keep our budget at or below $300 a night but I'm not completely opposed to going slightly over that :). We are in are 30's and like to go out and enjoy fun restaurants and bars and I've listed the touristy things below we'd like to do. We don't have to be by Times Square because we aren't even likely to go see a Broadway show, but we love to be in the "middle of it all".

We thought it would be a little more fun to stay in something different than the Hilton Garden Inn so I stumbled across the CitizenM hotel. It gets good reviews on TripAdvisor and everywhere else. I can see it has very tiny rooms but it's a little funkier and something unique which I think sounds fun while traveling to a place like New York. I've been browsing airbnb.com and I'm not so sure about what I see there...some of it looks cool but it sounds a little strange to stay in someone else's place to me.

Below are the things we are planning on doing in order of preference. I'd love to hear thoughts or suggestions on these and other things we could do. We love to do cultural things such as a cooking class, food/walking tours, etc...

Jimmy Fallon show
The Met 1/2 day
Natural History Museum
9/11 memorial and museum – about 4 to 5 hours
Greenwich Village - Had a recommendation to visit the Red Lion pub but would love to hear other suggestions - I love music/vinyl, good antique stores and original art (would love to buy a painting) if you have any tips along those lines.
Rockefeller Center / Top of the Rock
New York Public Library
Chelsea Market for lunch
Grand Central Terminal - Just going to take photos
Peter Lik photography studio in SoHo - Anything else in SoHo worth seeing? We are not into clothes shopping

Just a quick comment right now: >> I've been browsing airbnb.com and I'm not so sure about what I see there...some of it looks cool but it sounds a little strange to stay in someone else's place to me. <<

Forget about airbnb. 99% of the listings are illegal in NYC. Go w/ a hotel.

Thanks for the tip janisj! I just realized I neglected to say that we are going to NYC in the middle of November.

Also, I've been reading up a little more on staying outside of Times Square and that is sounding more and more appealing. I really don't care about the theater stuff and I understand Times Square is just all tourists and overpriced/average everything (shops, restaurants, etc...). Any nicely located hotels that are not in Times Square that are around the $300/night price point? We will primarily be taking public transit, so close to a metro/subway stop is important.

Although there are still scores of galleries in Chelsea, many have moved to the Bowery and Lower East Side due to the expensive and the damage from Sandy. As you get closer to your visit you an google Chelsea galleries and Bowery galleries for the latest listings.

The best restaurants for value-quality and variety for a reasonable price-are in the East Village.

If you like photography try to get over to the International Center for Photography.

http://www.icp.org/

There are a number of stores that sell vinyl records including Academy, A-1, and Bleecker Street.

Airbnb is a problem in NY. The way the law is written, the owner must be present in the apartment during your stay.

Time Square is in the tourist epicenter of NY. The middle of everything, by your age and choices, would be the LES and East Village where the partying starts on Thursday night and ends some time around Sunday 4 AM. The West Village is more expensive, thus more staid except for Bleecker St.

While not a boutique hotel, the Holiday Inn Lower East Side may be in a location you will find interesting and often has good rates.

The WAshington Square Hotel has small rooms but a great location in the Village.

look at the Kimpton hotels in Manhattan. Friends stayed at the Evanti and really liked it. Join Kimpton's free rewards program and you get to raid the mini bar up to a certain amount or perhaps free drinks during your stay.

November in NYC is busy and expensive so make your reservations ASAP.

We just spent a night at Eventi and it was quite nice. By joining their reward program, you can often get deals and last minute prices (7 days advance). They seem to have good sales too.

Meant to add -- time of year makes a big difference in price, don't see when OP is going.

Unfortunately OP is going in November - so a true boutique hotel for their $300 budget won;t be easy - although they can get a number of budget places for that.

If you can find any hotel in Midtown for $300 or less, you should book it now, assuming you can cancel without a penalty. If the rate is nonrefundable, run it by the forum first. I don't know the CitizenM (it used to be something else), but it's a particularly good location near the subway and Broadway. I used to work across the street when the hotel had a different name. It was then a very modest hotel, a former SRO that had been spruced up into something decent and budget-oriented, so I suspect rooms are pretty small. Not sure what it's like now. There's a Palm Steakhouse downstairs and lots of good inexpensive restaurants a few blocks west on 9th Avenue.

Try The Beacon Hotel. Great location, large rooms.

Great suggestions on the vinyl and photography IMDonehere!

I checked out the Holiday Inn. Seems quite nice but very similar to the Hilton Garden Inn Times Square. I checked our dates and it was $335/night (including taxes) so it's the same price as the Citizen M hotel.

I checked out the Evanti and it looked very nice but was closer to $500 a night for my dates. No go on that! Though I might try that rewards program still if it's just an e-mail sign-up.

The Beacon hotel looks quite nice but it was another $158 more compared to Citizen M for our same dates. I'd rather save that money for spending cash.

Thanks for the tips Doug and the background on the citizen M hotel. Based on what others are saying and my own gut feel I'm going to just give that one a go. I know it will be a super tiny room but it sounds fun and the king sized bed is always a plus. If anyone has any brilliant non-Times Square location hotels let me know!

Enjoy your stay.