NYC long weekend in April
 

I'm considering going to NYC in mid April for 3-4 days for an anniversary trip and I'm looking for some advice to start narrowing my research. We tend to like staying in a more residential area that is convienient to tourists sights, ex- in Washington DC we like Georgetown and the Dupont Circle area. I also like the idea of staying somewhere near Central Park. What are the neighborhoods I should be looking at? We are huge foodies and definitely are excited about exploring different restaurants and markets. My husband wants a stop at the Doughnut Plant (and who am I to argue?) and I'd also like to include some ethnic food and 1 high end place. As always any advice is appreciated.

Do you have a price range for hotel? We don't want to start by suggesting places out of your financial reach.

"Near Central Park" and "residential" narrows your choices to Upper East Side and Upper West Side. South of the park is not too residential. North of the park offer few options close to the park.

Which is more important: Central Park or your foodie desires? Putting Central Park aside, the entire world of downtown Manhattan becomes an option . . . very residential and many, many worthy restaurants and variety of cuisines.

Foodie desire definitely win out on this one :). As far as price range we'll say up to $300 but that can be a little flexible for a great property.

A few things that your husband should know about Donut Plant. It is closed on Mondays. They close when they run out of donuts (that is usually after 5 according to them.) And there really is no place to sit.

Besides the Upper West Side, the West Village or Soho would be interesting area in which to stay.

The W side of Central Park is residential. The E side is residential along with great hotels and restaurants. I suggest you consider NY Palace Hotel on Madison and 50th. You will be one block from 5th Aveune and SAKS. It's a great hotel and there are great restaurants near.

It sounds like you want the upper west side: mid/upscale residential right next to Central park and with 2 subway lines to take you to the rest of Manhattan quickly. Several Museums are on the west and east side of the Park - you can easily walk across in 15 minutes or so - or grab the 79th St crosstown bus. The area has a ton of moderate to inexpensive restaurants of every possible ethnicity, along with numerous sidewalk cafes. There are also several upscale to very upscale places (including Per Se) but the subway will take you to diing all over the city.

The key is your budget. Without that how can we make a reco?

The OP stated: "As far as price range we'll say up to $300 but that can be a little flexible for a great property."

The upper west side has the leafy neighborhood feeling you want and proximity to Central Park. It also has some of the better gourmet markets like Zabar's and H & H bagels but it's not got many of the foodie type restaurants. Beaconhotel.com is a moderate but very good hotel in the area. Closer to Columbus Circle on the edge of midtown, you have the Empire and 6 Columubs, smaller boutique hotels.

If you're willing to give up proxmity to Central Park, the W Union Square is one hotel to consider if it fits your budget. There's a big open green market in Union Square on multiple days during the week and it's within easy reach of lots of downtown foodie restaurants.

The upper west side has the leafy neighborhood feeling you want
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I like the Upper West Side but leafy is not the adjective I would use to describe it. In fact there aren't any neighborhoods in Manhattan that one can describe as leafy. Concretey maybe, leafy, no.

<<<leafy, no>>>

That may be true of the avenues, but the streets are definitely leafy!

Defintions are usually limiting but here is one:

leafy adjective, leaf·i·er, leaf·i·est.
1. having, abounding in, or covered with leaves or foliage: the leafy woods.
2. having broad leaves or consisting mainly of leaves: leafy vegetables.
3. leaflike; foliaceous.

Well I live on the upper west side- and while Broadway isn't very leafy - all of the side streets are - as well as Central Park West, Riverside Drive etc. - and you have parks on both the east and west side. so leafier than anyplace else in Manhattan.

Thanks for the responses so far. Neighborhood definitely isn't set in stone, I just don't want to stay in an area like Times Square. W Union Square looks nice. As far as ethnic cuisine I'm leaning more towards really good Chinese or something I can't get here in Virginia Beach like Malay or Ethiopian.

I also like the looks of the NY Palace.