Travelling to New York and want a great hotel at a reasonable price? Of course you do and you will also want room to spread out and relax after a hard day’s sightseeing. On our recent NYC holiday we discovered two hotels that we think are pretty special; The Benjamin in midtown and the Affinia Gardens on the Upper East Side.
The Benjamin is housed in an iconic Emery-Roth designed building on the corner of 50th and Lexington so it’s an easy walk or handy subway ride from everything of interest in this amazing city.
We booked a Studio Deluxe King which was huge and included a kitchenette, large and comfortable lounge area with desk and fast internet connection, king-size bed in a spacious separate bedroom and a bathroom with bathtub – in New York and at a reasonable rate – we were truly in heaven!
There’s a Guest Lounge (or what we called our ideal living room) that’s open 24-hours where you can check your emails, print a boarding pass at the two work stations or just kick back and meet friends before heading downstairs for dinner at The National Bar & Dining Rooms.
Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian and Executive Chef Paul Corsentino have created a warm and welcoming place to enjoy a beer, wine or cocktail at the bar while enjoying the cool sounds of a jazz trio (on some nights) before moving into the brand new dining room for a menu of modern bistro cuisine.
We loved it and found ourselves there on both nights of our stay.
Discover more: The Benjamin
We moved to the Upper East Side and into the Affina Gardens at 215 East 64th Street which was just a couple of blocks away from Central Park and all the museums we were looking forward to discovering. Once more the suite was way above our expectations for size and comfort and included a full kitchen and spacious lounge, dining and bedroom area.
We were also close to some great restaurants but found our favourite was a large Italian place called Tony’s Di Napoli just around the corner on West 43rd where the food and ambience was pure ‘Old Italy’ with the cliched red check tablecloths and food platters for two that could actually feed four!
Affinia Hotels are located all over the city offering reasonable rates and comfortable digs.
Discover more: Affina Gardens
