Looking at accommodation options for a visit to New York is a little daunting, well it was for us. Knowing you’re staying in the ‘right area’ to make your trip as easy as possible is important, and there’s a fair amount of pressure attached to such decisions. Given we were visiting over the Christmas and New Year’s period, we were also competing with so many others to find the best New York accommodation. Here’s where we stayed and why we liked it…oh and by the way, the image above? Straight off our first hotel’s window.
Mid Town
For the first half of our trip, we decided to position ourselves pretty central, but not too close to Time Square. We’d been warned. But, I’m pretty sure we nailed it with our decision on our first hotel, not too far from all the things.
Moxy NYC Times Square
Located on 7th Ave and 36th Street, Moxy Times Square was perfect for us. Despite the name it was a few blocks from the tourist trap that is Times Square, a few blocks from Penn Station and just one block from Macey’s. Prime location!
Moxy hasn’t been open very long at all and it’s a funky, alternative style hotel looking to accommodate the stylish, yet budget conscious traveler. (We like to think that’s us!). With this in mind, their checkout desk isn’t your usual type, you get drink tokens when you arrive (not complaining) and they have a roof top bar, perfect for a late afternoon tipple. The room was comfortable and given Moxy’s new, everything is immaculately presented and clean as a whistle. My kind of hotel room.
East Village and the Lower East Side
Because we knew that we’d be done with Mid-town after five days, the second part of our trip was to be more focused on Lower Manhattan, so East Village was the place for us for the next 5. Much quieter, with plenty of places to eat and drink and tonnes of streets to explore.
Orchard Street Hotel
Due to unforeseen circumstances we ended up booking Orchard Street Hotel last minute (literally booked in the dark on the side of the road) and spent a night there. The room was good, views were of the skyline (tick) and location was great. They saved our butts from a night on the street in -10 Celsius. Can’t say enough about the helpful staff on the desk. If we were to go back, it’s quite likely we’d book here again.
Apartment Living
We stayed in an apartment for the rest of the time there, and while our host was the world’s worst communicator (hence the night at Orchard Street Hotel) it was a good idea in theory, and something worth considering for sure. An apartment gives you more of an authentic stay and lets you spread out and have your own space I reckon.
We’d love to recommend this particular apartment to you, but we really can’t. Despite it’s appearance, we weren’t down with freezing cold showers, a partial vacate sign on the Apartment building door or the un-refunded bond, we still haven’t got back. 
To sum it up, Lower Manhattan is the quieter life, while Midtown gives you the crazy, hectic, fast-paced NYC adventure you’re probably craving. If you can, get a little bit of both and then I reckon you’ll have the perfect stay. If you can’t, and sometime you don’t have the time, there’s always taxis and subways to get you to see the other part of the island.
Given you’re planning New York, check out our our guide to hitting New York, so you have all the activities at your disposal when you arrive!