Ok, thanks for all the help and input on my previous quest for a hotel in lower manhattan. I was unable to find a perfect spot in the village/lower manhattan, well i found two, but one was way out of reach monetarily (Inn at Irving Place) and one had a 4 night minimum (abingdon guest house)

so we eliminated off the bat anything in midtown and times square area, and settled our sights higher up....

Any real life experiences with The Lucerne? how's the neighborhood, cleanliness, service?

thanks again!

The hotel gets mentioned a fair amount here. Here's an entire thread on it (everyone satisfied).
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34487806

Poster Maggi has mentioned it a number of times and has some suggestions for getting the best possible rate here

uthor: Maggi ([email protected])
Date: 07/13/2004, 09:41 pmMessage: We loved our recent stay at the Lucerne. Try to call the hotel direct and ask about discounts for AAA, Costco, Sams, etc. I got a AAA discount for a $160 a night rate (in April.) The location was perfect - just a block from Central Park and close to the subway. There is a great little bistro attached to the hotel we loved for breakfast or lunch.

Have only read good things about this hotel. Location is good. It is on the upper west side, a relatively high rent neighborhood. Very busy area day and night.
It is actually two long blocks to Central Park, about a 6 minute walk.
One short block to the subway. Once on a train the trip will take less than 10 minutes to Times Square.
There are more than 25 restaurants of all types within a 10 minute walk of the hotel. More than 50 restaurants within a 20 minute walk. For example, on Amsterdam Avenue between 80th and 81st Streets there are 12 restaurants. The hotel is on 79th and Amsterdam. I have never eaten there but I have heard the restaurant in the hotel is quite good.

I can't speak to the hotel's interior, but I agree with Rob that it's a nice location. Not a "touristy" location, but a real Manhattan neighborhood (and a desirable one at that!). Be sure to peruse Zabar's for a snack, breakfast or just the people watching. You are very close to the Museum of Natural History at 79th and Columbus and Central Park. You are an easy subway ride south to the theatre district, Times Square and a further ride to Battery Park (Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island).

thank you thank you thank you!

Rob, would you say that if i met dh at the hotel after he got off work and we just headed out to find somewhere to eat in the neighborhood we'd be ok? i was thinking that sat. nite would be a the nice dinner out somewhere "special" but friday since he'd have worked all day and i would have done my running around as well, something lower key would be nice.

lisettemac,
i'm glad to hear it's a neighborhoody area, i hate when you leave a hotel at night and it's dead as a doornail around you.

thanks again!

Nice Matin is the restaurant just off the lobby of the hotel. I haven't been there in a while but I remember it was good. I would suggest that's a good option for Fri night and you can make a reservation in the morning. I don't remember when you're going but in the fall a Fri. night can get crowded. If it's still warm, the Boat Basin Cafe at the 79th st boat basin (just walk west from the hotel til you get to the water) would also be nice for a drink and a burger, watching the boats go by (boatbasincafe.com)

Considered the best rest. in the area is Ouest on Broadway bet 83-84 (ouestny.com)

Two other serious splurges in the general neighborhood Cafe des Artistes (cafenyc.com), considered by some to be the quintessential romantic rest. and The Terrace in the Sky rest. (terraceinthesky.com) further uptown at the top of an apt. building at Columbia University.

Have not stayed in the hotel but have heard only good things. The location is great - one block to the subway, a couple of minute walk to the Museum of Natural History/Planetarium and directly across the Park from the Met and the Guggenheim.

Also a great restaurant area - from splurgy to literally dozens of good, inexpensive neighborhood places of every possible ethnicity. (I especially like Malaysia Grill - B'way/87th for something very modest but with a different twist on the familiar [between chinese/thai] at the same time.)

Also you have the advantage of staying in the real New York - IMHO the upper west side is the essence of New York - extraordinarily diverse, with every type of shop and service and residences from $20 million co-ops on Central Park West to modest (for NY) brownstone floor throughs within a block of each other.

We had a nice meal at Arte Cafe at 106 West 73rd Street. You may already know this, but if you go to www.menupages.com and type in the name of a restaurant in NYC, you can see a sample menu and reviews of the restaurant (the good, bad and the ugly). Have a great trip!

margie, thanks for that link.

thanks again everyone.

i booked a queen bed room for $200 a night, i feel like i could have gotten something cheaper, but i did ask for the AAA rate, and they took $20 off each night.

Hello

We stayed at the Lucerne last September and really loved it. The neighbourhood was great. The room allocated to us at first was not to our liking but they very kindly offered us several alternatives and we ended up in a wonderfully large corner room.