New York Hotels
 

I am travelling to New York at the end of May next year with my wife and 13 year old daughter for 5 nights, and am thinking of staying at the Crown Plaza at the United Nations. Is this a good choice of hotel?

The UN is on the East River and far from the nearest subway lines, if that matters to you.

I'd suggest you'd be happier with a moer central location, or perhaps uptown in a more residential area.

Enjoy!

although it is not near to a subway station are there plenty of sites nearby?

No, not really. Sorry.

Don't know what you price range is, but the Sofitel is beautiful and in a great location.

Hope this helps...
Debi

For conveniece to a lot of places (via subway) you're better off on the upper west side, Central Park south, midtown west (except for Times Square). There is only one subway on the east side and it's all the way over on Lexintgton, so as soon as you go far east transit becomes more difficult.

And the tourist area of NYC is huge - more than 8 miles long - so there is no hotel that's close to most things. You need to make up your mind to a lot of walking (shorter distances) and subway (for those perhaps a mile or more).

Agree with above posters -- The Crowne Plaza UN is not a convenient location. There is a Crowne Plaza on 7th Avenue that would be an excellent location.

Thanks for your replies, however, I am a bit bemused because the hotel is clearly only 2 blocks from the Chrysler Bulding and I have seen some reviews of people who have stayed at this hotel and they have said it is onlt 10-15 mins walk to Times square, even shorter to Grand Central Station.

Interesting, but I never knew the Chrysler building was a major site that people worry about being close to. It's mainly something people like spotting from afar -- like from the Empire State or the Top of the Rock. Although admittedly it is worth a stop to peek into the lobby once.

I had a work colleague who stayed at that hotel on one of our work trips to NYC (I stayed at the Omni Berkshire on that trip). He got a very small room and complained about that to me, so perhaps make sure you arae getting a larger room for three people. For me, it would be a bummer to be stuck in a small room w/a 13 yr old girl and two adults.

I've walked from the U.N. to Grand Central and it is 10 min. walk to Grand Central and 20 min to Times Square at a good clip. It is not 10 min. to Times Square. Those are long blocks, and the area around Grand Central is crowded on the sidewalks.

For me it would depend on what you are going to do in your 5 days. What are your plans and do they involve using the subway each day? Are you going to the theater each night? Etc.

Have no idea what you are paying (or if you are staying on points) and if you could get something w/bigger rooms and more central to whatever areas you'll be visiting, but those are the things I'd take into consideration.

EMD, we have a room with 2 double beds so I am sure it isn't too small - but to be honest apart from sleeping we shall be spending very little time there as we plan to cram as much sightseeing/eating in as possible in the 5 days that we are there.

We do enjoy walking and therefore will not mind the 10 min walk to Grand Central and if we can't be bothered to walk, there is a bus stop directly outside the hotel to take us to Grand Central/Times Square.

Neopolitan - I mentioned the Chrysler Building as all the guide books say what a 'must see' sight it is. I consider a 10min walk to the main sights as a short walk personally and would welcolm being slightly away from the very centre of things to be honest raher than being in the heart of times square.

I would be interested however, to know what nice eateries for breakfast and dinner are near the hotel.

The point is that there is nothing to do nearby. It's nowhere. The beautiful high-energy bustle and hum of the city are several blocks away - and that is not a good thing in the minds of most visitors. However, you sound kind of drawn to it, for whatever reason - so that's cool.

It sounds like it will be good for you then and maybe you'll get one of the rooms w/a slight view of the river. And after theater late at night you can always cab it back to the hotel.

I can't recall and dinner restaurants right there when I met my collegaue a the hotel when he stayed there, but you can go to www.menupages.com. There is a search function that allows you to look for restaurants in the "East 40s" area, which is where this htoel is. Do that search, get out your map, and you can see what restaurants are right there by the hotel or btwn there and Grand Central. And the menus of all of them will be available there also.

Let us know how you liked it after you get back.

Forty-second St is often clogged with traffic and walking to Grand Central is always faster than waiting for the bus (which could be 10/15 minutes in daytime or 20 minutes at night) and then take 10 minutes on the bus to get there.

The point is that the only thing to see in that area is the UN - everything else is either uptown, downtown or farther west.

Why pick a hotel so far out of the way - unless you got a really great deal? If that's the reson - fine - but it's still in an inconvenient situation. (You want to be near SUBWAYS - which are efficient and much faster than buses - which are often slower than walking pace due to traffic.)

Also - it's not a great area for eating.

Kevey, I have a question. Have you been to NYC before? You have gotten some very good advice from some knowledgeable people who are well acquainted with the City. I wonder why you asked:
>Crown Plaza at the United Nations. Is this a good choice of hotel?<
if you aren't considering the answers you have gotten.

I'll be the contrarian here as I always advise people to stay away from Times Square. Despite the convenience, the crowds and high prices simply don't appeal to me, but then I'm a New Yorker. I live relatively close to the Crowne Plaza, and I think you won't find it too horribly inconvenient, but it is about 10 minutes to Grand Central. Once you get there, however, you're hooked into the entire NYC subway and can get anywhere else easily. While you'd probably find a location in Murray Hill (i.e., directly south of Grand Central) moderately more convenient, the UN isn't a bad location for the east side. And you do have a quick walk over to a limited bus M15 on Second AVenue, which will whisk you downtown, all the way to the Wall STreet area. What's inconvenient is getting to the Upper West Side, but you're unlikely to go there except to see the Museum of Natural History. If you find yourself out late, just take a cab back to your hotel and save the walking.

Well Doug - I used to work near there (and, granted lived on the upper west side) and it was a pain in the butt to get there. Also - we had a client in New Jersey and it took forever either to go crosstown to the Lincoln tunnel or down the FDR and across to the Holland Tunnel. Going crosstown by car (and bus is obviously slower) can easliy take 30 minutes during the day.

It's not a bad area to live in - since you're not trekking all over the city every single day - and using the crosstown bus (or even downtown) in off hours is OK - but during the day is usually excrutiatingly slow.

But - the OP seems determined to be right - so I'm not sure why he bothered to ask the question.

Regarding Times Square and those high prices, I paid $189 for a king superior room at the Muse in late August, just before Labor Day, through a Travelzoo promotion.

I have paid $240 a night at the Sheraton NY in May for a double double.

If I thought Kevey was interested I'd give him info on how to perhaps

oops, I hit to post too soon, sorry

If I thought he was interested I'd give him info on where to look for rates in other places but I think he just needs to stay at the UN and enjoy it there.

Doug, I don't know why you assume that hotels that are in short walking distance to Times Square are so expensive. As I have said here and on other posts, I've gotten good rates at different times of the year at hotels within 4 blocks of Times Square. We stay there because we go to the theater every night we are in NYC on every trip.

I also have stayed at the Michaelangelo Hotel for $199 in late May, just before Memorial Day (booked it in Feb. for that stay). I did a trip report on that stay on here.

Doug, I am just curious, have you tried booking a hotel in that area in the last few yrs? Because it isn't always as expensive as you seem to think and post on this thread and another one I saw. I think it is a diservice to lead posters to beleive that it is too expensive to stay there and towards Central Park from Times Square.

The crowds are a different issue.

emd - I'll agree with you 100%!

I have found that hotels near to (but not actually in) times square seem to offer the best deals available for travelers. Those hotel relatively walking distance to times square offer great prices, easy access to subway lines, and easy return to the hotel after theater. Yeah, it may not be great for those who live in NYC, but how manyh of us posting NYC hotel questions here live there?

But, that said, it does seem that kevey is determined to believe that his hotel of choice is the only perfect one, so go for it kevey. This was just in response to the side convo going on here. If you're so sure you'll be happy there in spite of recommendations to the contrary, so am I.