Colette

Is this possible? I'm only going for three days, but this is a much-needed "I want to be alone" vacation.....and I want a comfortable room, bed, and nice surroundings. I was thinking either the Upper East Side, Midtown or Downtown. I do want to do some theatre, but probably only one or two shows, and I'd probably cab there. I also want to do some shopping. Any hotel suggestions? I've been doing the expedia/orbitz/travelocity, "affordable NYC hotels" thing, but haven't been happy with the "candid" photos I've seen of those "4* hotels" on the tripadvisor!! Any help out there my dear fodorites???

GoTravel

When?

In August, yes. You can find $400 upscale and luxurious.

From Labor Day through New Years, $400 will get you the Courtyard By Marriott.

nytraveler

You might look at Priceline and see what 5* are coming up. If they have availability it should be under $400 per night. Also - check travelzoo to see if they have any special deals.

Otherwise, sorry - true luxury in NYC is more than $400 per night.

You don;t say when you'll be here - but for real luxury I would expect at least $500 and up to $800 or plus minimum - depending on time of year.

escargot

How much luxury do you want and when are you going? Certainly there are luxury hotels more luxurious than the Michelangelo - but we love that hotel - and stay there every January - they have winter rates from 240 to 400 - they are also always offering packages - and whenver I call instead of booking online, excedpt for once, I always got a lower rate than they are quoting online except for once.

It's a lovely hotel. You can walk to the theater - it's close but out of the chaos - they are great as far as service, etc, lovely marble baths, plush bathrobes, etc. so you might want to try that.

Colette

Thx for replying! I'll check out the Michelangelo.......my travel dates are the end of March.....less than 2 weeks. I'll also check out 5-star Priceline. I got a 4-star priceline in downtown Chicago in Feb. and it was REALLY BAD!! So I kind of am wary of the "budget travel" website stars. Thanks again

NewbE

The Michelangelo. Very spacious rooms, very clean and pretty, good service and great location for under $400. Standard rooms are usually $290, "executive king" around $320-350, junior suites 450 and up. In very high season, like Xmas, these double, of course!

ExpertTripPlanner

I just returned from a one-night stay at the Carlton on Madison Avenue (28th/29th Streets). Web rate was $242 + taxes for "Deluxe King-" 325 sq ft with both bathtub and shower. Very clean, convenient. The bed was extremely comfortable. I am used to luxury, and while this was not luxury, it was surprisingly good and a good value.

nlg

I would suggest the Library Hotel. It is in Midtown-great location. Breakfast
and wine and cheese included in price.

Leely

Is your trip over a weekend? You might want to check the Palace for rates; they occasionally have fairly good deals. I stayed in one of the tower rooms over Christmas a couple of years ago. Not the absolute lap of luxury, but a very nice room, nice traditional-hotel atmosphere, and a convenient location for going up- or downtown. At Christmas at least, the atmosphere was festive and warm. I would stay there again.

Have a great trip!

mclaurie

I would guess your problem is your travel dates. If you're looking at the last weekend in March, not only is it very near, that coincides with Passover (which starts on Monday April 2)and probably a lot of school holidays.

There is a special on travelzoo right now for the Shoreham hotel which is a nice location for theater and shopping. The basic rooms are $199 but you can get a nicer room for $259.

Also agree the Michelanglo is a good idea as is the Library. I also mentioned the Blakely to you in your other post which is not far from the Michelangelo. The new London NYC is another idea in that same general location (west 50's).

If you'd prefer the upper east side near the museums, the Surrey is a good idea. Look on quikbook.com and affinia.com

mclaurie

Forgot to add bidding on Priceline is certainly an option but make sure you know which hotels you're likely to get my looking on biddingfortravel.com and/or betterbidding.com

Stick to 4* in any area with the word midtown in the description but understand that the likely wins in midtown west (closest to the theaters) are generally one of the Hiltons (good, clean but BIG).

Colette

Thanks so much.....I've posted a couple of different times on this board, and have gotten lots of great responses. I ended up with an "executive king with balcony" @ the Muse. I looked at all the suggestions, and finally went with the muse through travelocity. I'm all ears if anyone has any more info! Thanks much! Colette

escargot

Well you will have to let us know how the hotel is when you return and how your trip was ! enjoy

emd

I stayed at the Muse in 8/06. I've stayed at at least a dozen other upscale hotels in NYC. Muse is nice, but not what I would call luxurious. Actually, it is more along the lines of clean and minimal, although not as minimal as some hotels. Bedding is comfortable, but bathrooms can be small (ours was) and carpet is kind of along the industrial look.

We did like it (esp. because we got a king rm for $189 via a travelzo special and wanted to be in walking distance to all 3 of our plays), but I am not sure it fits your bill for luxurious, so do not be disappointed in that aspect.

Below is the portion of my trip report on the Muse:

emd
Date: 09/06/2006, 10:20 am

Muse Hotel: I got this hotel (46th St btwn. 6th and 7th, less than one block off Times Square) on Travelzoo for an amazing deal of $189 a night for a King Superior rm. We decided to stay in Times Square because we had a Broadway play each of our 3 nights. Although the Muse is so close to Times Square, 46th street on this side is fairly quiet. I am a light sleeper and I had no troubles at this hotel. I requested and got a room on a quiet room on a high floor (17th), not on 16th street but w/a decent view overlooking a side street. Whatever street noise there was (potentially only garbage trucks in the a.m.) was completely drowned out by running the fan in the room, which was not loud by any means but enough to cover whatever we might have otherwise heard. And the AC control was great, as cool as we wanted it.

I liked this hotel, and I am picky on hotels. The lobby is small, and there are only two desk clerk/concierges (they function as both) but I got great service and all my questions were answered. The room was spacious by NYC standards. Modern but comfortable décor w/very comfortable bedding.

A few quirks in our rm.- no fan in the small bathroom which was a bummer for me, trying to blow dry my hair in the early a.m. while daughter slept, as I almost suffocated keeping that bathroom door closed, it got so hot without a fan running. That was my biggest complaint. Another inconvenience was that our closet door was right behind the room door so you couldn’t be getting something out of the closet if someone was at the door. Also the closet door wouldn’t stay open, it closed every time you let it go. But those were tolerable and I would definitely stay there again at that rate.

Also liked the evening wine reception from 5-6pm which I made one evening (and took the glass of wine up to the room), and the little tucked away bar behind the check in area where I snuck off for a drink one evening. I liked it better than the Michaelangelo where we stayed last time, because it was so much closer to the theaters and the service was much friendlier and better at Muse. I called down for service twice (once for a bandaid and once for ice, as the machine didn’t work on our floor) and they responded promptly both times.

Other than the convenient location for the plays, I hated being in Times Square. It was crowded and dirty and just a mass of crazy people. But of course my daughter loved being close to the Virgin Megastore and MTV, etc.

nytraveler

I think a lot depends on how you define "upscale" and "luxur"y. The Muse is definitely better than a budget choice - I would consider it moderate - but if you're looking for true luxury - you really need one of the major 5* places.

NeoPatrick

If you have paid $300 or $400 to stay in a Four Seasons or a Ritz Carlton somewhere in the states and are thinking you can get THAT KIND of luxury for $400 you are way off base. $400 in New York is at most likely to get you a typical Hyatt or Marriott somewhere else.

I too would ask how you define luxury. And I'd be curious what 4 star in Chicago you considered really BAD. That might help us with your assessments.

escargot

Neo, this is the same girl posted who got the Muse for her luxury stay - under the post about Solo female, nyc, wiwth a theater hotel location - so she is all set.

NeoPatrick

Geez, I need to keep a score card to keep up with these. Since this was brought back up to the top it never occurred to me this was the "Muse" girl who's throwing that cocktail party on her "expansive" terrace.

GBC

My view is dated for sure, but my idea of a luxurious NYC hotel was more along the lines of the Waldorf Astoria or the Regency.
I just checked the website. Using my AAA I-D I was quoted $299 for an executive king, non-smoking, at the Waldorf for the period March 30-April 2.

NeoPatrick

Everyone I know who has stayed at the Waldorf in the past couple years has complained of everything from walls that needed painted, to dilapidated bedspreads and draperies, to worn carpet. That's not my idea of luxury.

There's a difference between a "dated" interpretation of a luxury hotel (which I kind of like), and an actual luxury hotel that IS dated.