Has anyone stayed at a good Upper West Side Hotel...mid-priced and decent size room? Thanks!

The Mayflower across from Central Park.

I read some reviews on another site that some of the rooms at the Mayflower were shabby? Does anyone know if it has had a recent renovation?

Have you looked at the Excelsior? Right across, oh, is it 79th Street, from the Museum of Natural History and just half a block from the park and the subway. We got a decent rate using Quikbook.

Beacon - 75th and Broadway
Lucerne - 79th and Amsterdam
Excelsior -81st St. just east of Columbus Ave.

The Milburn Hotel, 242 West 76th Street. See many good reviews at www.tripadvisor.com

We enjoyed out stay very much. It is worth the extra $$ to get the suite. Bedroom was large. Bathroom is not luxurious but quite adequate, plenty of hot water, clean towels etc. Nice to have the little kitchen with frig for drinks etc. and to have the separate room with a sofa, chair and t.v. Many very reasonable eating places within walking distance.

www.milburnhotel.com

Sandy

My family and I stayed at the Mayflower in December. We booked a 1 bedroom suite (Bedroom and 2 queen beds, living room and queen sofabed) overlooking the park for $229 - which was a great deal 5 days before Christmas. When we checked in, however, the suite we had reserved was not available and we were given a choice of: A) a room overlooking the park, with 2 dbl beds, and they would bring in an extra cot which would make the room "a bit tight", or B) a suite with a view of the building next door, but the proper bed configuration. Either way, they offered a whopping $20 break off our reserved price. Needless to say we chose space over view. The suite was very large. The closets are huge (you could fit a bed in them. Unfortunately, the rooms are extremely shabby - in dire need of an extreme makeover. We have stayed at the Mayflower 3 times over the last few years and doubt that we will be returning after our last visit.

If you won't be spending much time in the room, it's not a bad deal, but if you are looking for something the least bit special or charming - this isn't it.

Good luck.

kat1

We stayed at the Lucerne last year and really enjoyed the hotel. We did change rooms on arrival as it was pretty small but they gave us a choice of two others one of which was a very large corner room and we were extremely happy.

Thanks so much everyone for your help... great ideas for me. The Lucerne looks like a nice place to stay if we can get a spacious corner room like Sofie did! Has anyone else stayed there recently and been pleased with it? I read some posts on tripadvisor.com and people were complaining about some of the rooms being small like Sofie stated.

The Lucerne is also very convenient to the subway - there is a subway stop one block away at 79th and Broadway. There are also dozens of restaurants within a less than 10 minute walk. For example, the are 12 restaurants on Amsterdam between 80th and 81st. St. The building is a handsome structure. If it doesn't have landmark status it should be designated as such.

Sunny, I also am researching hotels in that area. It's frustrating because when I find one I like and search reviews online there are always a few raves and a few horror stories. How people can view the same place so completely opposite is beyond me. I think websites can be misleading because they show a picture of the absolute best room in the house. I have tentatively made reservations at "On The Ave" Hotel, 77th and Broadway. I need a room with two beds late April and they quoted me a price of $219. http://www.ontheave-nyc.com/

Good luck!

I was going to add On the Avenue to your list but the last poster has mentioned it. Ontheavenue.com You should also know the Beacon has kitchens in their rooms I think. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Lucerne has 1 or 2 very small rooms per floor but the rest are decent sized.

If you're just looking for nice, mid-priced decent size rooms I'll suggest some other options in other neighborhoods.

affinia.com is a group of suite hotels located in different areas. The one in the group many posters here like is the Shelburne Murray Hill (37th & park) but I think they're all good. Some of their hotels also come up on quikbook.com (don't know what website you're using to check rates but poeple like quikbook)

Another decent place is the Park South Hotel. They usually have special packages on their own website (parksouthhotel.com) that include extras like theater tickets, meal vouchers etc.

Finally, I read on your other thread you'll have a car & need parking. Once you've picked a hotel, go to the website iconparking.com. You can check prices at various garages in your neighborhood & even reserve a spot with a guaranteed price.

I have actually seen the rooms at the excelsior, on the avenue and lucerne.
The lucerne would be my pick, you might want to check and upgrade from the cheapest room because those are definitely small. The same at the excelsior. On the avenue seemed shabby to me. Room service trays in the hallway that looked like they had been there for days, and some people wandering around that made me uncomfortable.

I have had guests stay at both the Lucerne and Excelsior and both have been happy. The Lucerne is in a slightly better location and has a great restaurant downstairs for breakfast. The last time I saw the mayflower, although many years ago, it was not in good condition, and I do not believe they have done any significant work.

Lucerne it is for us too! (I changed from On the Ave.) Sunny when I called reservations I asked for a corner room and they said no problem. On the plus side, it was $160 a night, $60 cheaper than On the Ave (with my AAA discount.)

I agree with the previous poster about the Lucerne and Excelsior being good quality, good value, convenient to subway and restaurants. On the Avenue, which looks sort of crummy from the street, would be my last choice. The Beacon, conveniently located, would also be good if you want a kitchenette. You save so much money by being on the U. West side, with fun, economical restaurants, convenient subway connections, and you could even walk from Bway theaters, if you don't mind a long walk. It being a residential area, the atmosphere is much more relaxing than the crush of midtown.

I stayed at On The Ave, and the rooms were actually quite nice and comfortable. but mine wasn't what I would call spacious. maybe they have larger rooms. I thought it was a good deal at the time, and would stay there again.

I stayed at the Excelsior and like it. Small, but normal for N.Y rooms and convenient.
My post is really more about reading reviews and trying to reconcile the horrible comments and the wonderful comments. I was just talking about this with a friend. I think you have to imagine the people behind the review. Some people are not satisfied with anything. They are just perennially crabby miserable people. On the other hand, there are other people who may not share the same standard as you and who will be wowwed by anything. So I always try to read between the lines and to if I can weed out the extremes.

Thank you, thank you, one and all again for all your help and good hotel ideas!! SMB, I certainly agree with you to try to read between the lines when reading reviews. It's so hard to know what to do when you read such mixed reviews on one particular location! I do not usually spend so much effort pondering over booking a hotel room, but have never stayed in NYC before! I've checked with the Lucerne (direct call to hotel) and gotten a $170 rate (they say they can't do any better) for our late June/early July trip...nothing booked yet. I plan to call some of the others this weekend.

Keep in mind the anything around the 4th of July is probably - along with Thanksgiving/Christmas the most expensive part of the year both because its such a common vacation week and also because of the fireworks show (people even come from Europe for this).