Hello. Help. I lived in NYC for 5 yrs. I have 5 family members going for a few days in July. They don't want to pay $$$$$$$ but they want something nicer than mediocre.

Is Loew's Regency good? They have a 1 bdrm suite ($500). Would you recommend another hotel?

Thanks.

What size people?

Most hotel rooms can;t accommodate 5 people due to fire laws - unless you get some sort of suite. I would think a one bedroom suite (assuming it has a pull out sofa and someone doesn;t mind sleeping on it) a great deal for that price. Does the hotel say the suite accommodates 5?

Doubletree Times Square.

Affinia hotels, a 2 bedroom suite (accommodates 6 people), in particular the Affinia Manhattan

Another option is the Embassy Suites. You can get a room with two doubles in the bedroom, and a pull-out sofa in the living room. It's located in the southern tip of the city, but has good public transit access, and the rates are generally reasonable.

I also recommend the Affinia chain.

Some of the AFfinia's also have 1 bedroom suites with 2 queen beds in the bedroom and a sofabed in the living room area. I've seen teh 1 bedrooms in Shelburne and htey are a good size. Bigger than the DOubletree Suites in times square.

They don't want to pay $$$$$$$ but they want something nicer than mediocre

IMHO, the Shelburne Murray Hill is "mediocre". I'd look elsewhere.

tough to tell what the budget is - but 5 in a 1 br suite, is that 2 on an open up couch and 1 in a cot?

you could look into either the Kimberly Hotel, which we have been pleased with over the years - or the London NYC and see if they have a suite or connecting rooms that may work

No - you need a suite with 2 double beds in the bedroom and a pull-out sofa in the LR. Most of the affinias have this as one of the options - and I would rate them moderate. (Not sure how this matches with "mediocre" - which to me is more a judgement of quality than a * level of hotel.)

NYtraveler, I agree with your differentiation between "moderate" and "mediocre"(a moderate hotel can be great, or it can be mediocre, but so can an expensive hotel be mediocre). I meant "mediocre" (as opposed to moderate) with respect to the Shelburne Murray Hill!

The NY Salisbury has one and two bedroom apartments.

Thank you everyone. 3 adults 2 kids (9,13). I spoke to this reservation person and she explained the fire code thing and recommended Loew's. Yes- they would have a pull out couch,king size bed and a twin brought in- 1 bdrm suite. Location is nice.
Right now, I like the location of the Salisbury and the Kimberly. Next the Affinia and then Doubletree. Embassy Suites would be great if they wanted to be in that area.
Are any other Affinia hotels worth looking into?
Thanks everyone.

Salisbury has huge suites and perfect location. London NY might be able to handle 5. The old Righa Royal could do so easily.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites. There was plenty of room for our family of 5.

Pros: Close to the ferry to the Statue of Libery and Ellis Island; can take the subway to Brooklyn, eat pizza, walk over the bridge and then walk back to your hotel. Convenient to drr Wall Street, the old federal building, and a couple of historic churches. (Also extremely close to Century 21 if you're looking for bargains on clothes and purses.)

Cons: kind of far from Broadway/Fifth Avenue/Midtown, etc. The walk from the subway stop feels a bit long when it's late at night.

Will check with London and Righa. Salisbury is booked. They referred me to The Wellington. I read some mixed reviews. Booked a suite there. Any current news on the place? Heard it called the "Smellington" a year ago. I think Embassy is too far south for them.

I stayed in a 2-room suite at the Wellington about 5 or 6 years ago. I would nicely call it a "tourist class hotel". 3* at best. I wouldn't stay there again. I prefer something a little less "tired". BTW, I think (but am not 100% sure) that the London was formerly the Righa.

Yes. Sorry that I wasn't clear. London used to be Righa Royal, and the suites were huge, so I thought maybe they would still have some large ones in the new hotel.

Missypie, if you check back on this thread again, did you have any problem with noise at Embassy Suites? The reviews on TA seem to indicate both construction noise from outside and interior noise from thin walls. Thanks.

I really didn't notice noise. There was a large family with small children (could have even been two famlies) staying next to us and I didn't hear anything. I will say that the kids of this family RAN the hallways during the day (we'd see them when we'd come back for breaks). This is probably an issue at hotels that cater to families rather than to the business crowd.

There is obviously a lot of construction going on in the area. There used to be a whole side of the hotel with a water view-they are building a building across the street, so most of the views are gone. That construction should be done by now (we were there last July) but if it's not, there could be some noise.

As far as the construction....it can make getting around the area taxing and stressful and time consuming. I think most Americans would be hard pressed to resent all of the construction, due to the reason why. I admit that the experience was sobering. I work in the tallest building in a major city. In the morning, we'd be heading in the opposite direction on the sidewalk of the office workers, us going to "tour", them going to work in the financial district. It struck me every day that the folks who lost their lives in the World Trade Center were not soldiers or heads of state or governmental officials. They were normal folks who worked in an office building, just like I do.

Kind of got off track there, but staying in lower Manhattan can trigger a lot of reflection.

right now it is btwn the Wellington and Doubletree Suite Hotel. Any advice???????????VOTE now.