Location: the hotel is well located in the heart of Manhattan, on the 37th st between 5th and 6th avenue. 10 minutes walk to Times Square (5 blocks), and 15 minutes walk to Port Authority, one of the main bus terminals in Manhattan. It is also close to Penn metro station (7 blocks away - on the 34th & 8th Avenue) that can take you to Times Square (where all metro lines connect) and from there you can pretty much reach anywhere. There are also many convenience stores around the hotel. Blacksmith Delicatess is right across the street, where you can get breakfast and some snacks for USD10-20 per person. Many Starbucks are around the hotel within 5 to 10 minutes walk.
Airport transfer:
The taxi from/to La Guaradia airport will cost you around USD 35 depending on the traffic ... And 65 USD to JFK. The hotel offers shuttle service to the airport at USD 20 per person (max 2 light luggage & needs to be arranged 5 hours in advance). I personally prefer taking The train from/to JFK: take the AirTrain from the JFK to Jamaica Station (for USD 5), then the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) to Penn Station (USD 7.5), which is very close to the hotel.
Room: small but clean, elegant and well equipped with a large LCD, minibar and an iPod/iPhone alarm docking station. Don't expect much view: we stayed there twice: once on the 14th floor and yhe second on the 5th (don't take room 510 coz it was terribly small) ... In both times were surrounded by a forest of concrete buildings on very narrow streets (that is Manhattan!). We barely had a closet (we actually left our cloth in the suitcases as there weren't much space to put them in the wardrobe). We had free Internet.
Staff: mostly friendly, but few weren't! ... Tips is the name of the game in NY (and US in general) I asked them for a really BIG favor and they were accommodating: I had to leave 2 of my luggage there for 10 days as I was going on a Bahamas cruise, then coming back to NY, and didn't want to travel with my full luggage, especially with the excessive Woodberry Commons shopping that filled a full large suitcase. At the beginning they refused, but then agreed because my company has a corporate contract with the hotel. Mind you that space in Manhattan is very scarce, and comes at a cost! ... I wd have had to pay a fortune to store my luggage at JFK (USD 16 per luggage per day! ... ie they saved me USD 320 + USD 75 for taxis back and forth to drop the luggage and take them back) ... Don't forget to tip the bellman!
Restaurants: I didn't use any of their restaurants as they were not included in my package. However, the main restaurant at the lobby didn't look great anyway! ... We didn't have a problem finding places to eat ... Restaurants and convenient stores are all around the hotel.
Their Concierge is very friendly. We used them to book the bus tickets to Woodberry Coomons (a must do if you are a shopping guru and looking for branded stuff at very discounted prices) ... We also used them for tips around Manhattan (they provide nice maps) and recommendation for places to watch the 4th of July fireworks.
Value for Money? ... I would recommend the hotel. Although a bit expensive, however reasonable compared to other hotels in Manhattan with the same (or maybe less) quality.
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