We undertook a great deal of research and spoke to many previous visitors to the city - the key advice was "don't spend a fortune on your hotel room as you'll hardly be in it!"
Ok, point taken - but I also wanted somewhere that I could at least chill and relax after pounding the pavements for 5 days.
We were lucky enough to snag an amazing FaceBook deal which gave us a 40% discount on our stay + an upgrade to an exec suite! What a deal - we were on the 18th floor looking West over Chelsea (if you want to avoid some of the street inevitable noise from 6th avenue request a high floor room at the rear of the building).
From the door man, through to the check-in plus all of the many members of the team we met during our stay EVERYONE was warm, genuine, friendly and helpful. The rooms were immaculate and the facilities excellent.
We found the location to be really good - 2 blocks to the subway for up town/the Village/or downtown. Reasonably easy to grab a cab and many, many places within walking distance. Unless you are willing to really splurge and stay on Madison or 5th up near the Park, then this is a perfect area from which to explore.
Always managed to grab a free coffee in the morning but didn't make the wine hour. The Food Parc next door was good for a take out breakfast.
We covered masses of ground in the city - the food/bars which were highlights include
Eatly - Italian/American food retailer / restaurant on 23rd
Jane in the Village
The Cookshop in Chelesa
Daniel - 3 Mitchelin stars - unbeatable
Lamb's Bar - cocktails
The Essex - lower East side for brunch - book and go early
Ellen's Stardust Diner - great fun
And a special note for Big Apple Greeters. We were lucky enough to be matched with Ross a guy who has a love for his city. We really loved our 3 hours walking round the Village which ended with a wonderful lunch in Tony's for a genuine NYC burger in the East Village.
BAG is a wonderful charity and I truly hope that they continue to give more and more visitors a taste of the real NYC.
The subway - $29 for a weekly ticket - the best deal we got in our visit. We were all over the place using this ticket - on buses and subway. The system is SO easy to use and as others have said, if you even look slightly lost someone will help you. My OH was gobsmacked when someone stopped me on day 3 and asked for help understanding the subway system!
We loved the city - it wont be long till we are back!
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