Hello. I am trying to find an upscale boutique hotel on the East Side (mid-town). Considering Hotel Elysees or The Benjamin. I've seen a lot of feedback on The Benjamin here, but not much on the Hotel Elysees. We are also traveling with our 12 year old daughter. Any other suggestions would be great too. Thx!

We just stayed in a lovely suite at the Benjamin and loved it!
The pillow concierge was incredible..
Service was impeccable..

Bedrooms at the Elysee, as in most boutique hotels, tend to be small, often with one bed. I don;t think you can fit 3 adults (12+ is usually an adult in NYC) except in a suite.

It's a great location.

The Elysees Hotel gave us a rate of $375 for a Junior Suite, balcony, which includes a full breakfast. The Benjamin has a rate of $433 for a 1 bedroom suite, no breakfast. Is the Benjamin a more luxurious hotel to warrant the price difference?

I would find out exactly what a junior suite means.

Are you getting an extra room with a pull out bed - and do they know it's for 3 adults? Sometimes a "junior suite" is just a slightly larger room with a loveseat stuck in the corner.

The suites at The Benjamin are two rooms but are on the small side. Great service, though. We stayed at Hotel Elysee a few years ago. Because it is older the rooms are bigger. It is very nice too but I don't remember the same level of service as at The Benjamin-it is really a priority there (maybe to make up for the shrunken rooms). I hesitate to say this because I haven't thought about alternatives but both hotels might be a little boring, quiet and stuffy for a 12 year old. At 12 I was all about the grand lobby, lots of activity. But as far as boutique hotels go I don't think you could go wrong with either choice

The junior suite at the Elysees has a king size bed and a queen size pullout sofabed. My discussion with them was quite specific on the room size since they don't have rollaways and only have pullout sofabeds in the suites. I have been to the monkey bar in the Elysees and actually like the smaller scale lobby. But service is very important. Is the Benjamin worth the extra $$?

Your post caught my eye since I have reservations at The Benjamin in May. The Benjamin suite has 550 square feet whereas the Elysees suite has 700 sqaure feet. I've stayed in neither as of yet.

The Benjamin had different rates for different days of the week and the rates were/are discounted if paid in advance. I am staying four nights, Wed. through Sun., in a "one bedroom deluxe suite" that has a balcony. I made my end-of-May reservations directly with the hotel months ago and paid in full, so that I'm paying less at The Benjamin than your quote for Elysees.

Did you check The Benjamin web site?

Snowgirl, we are also taking a daughter, 14 yrs. old, who will sleep on the fold-out couch.

Our one bedroom suite at the Benjamin was fairly large (700sf approx) and had a kitchenette..
The queen sofa in the living room was a sofa bed and we had a computer work area with printer and a huge desk.
Pillowtop king mattress with great linens and all those pillows..
We loved this hotel!