How to find the best accommodation in New York City
Finding the perfect accommodation in New York isn't going to be an easy task. In fact, our opinion is that in New York you always have to give something up when it comes to choosing accommodation, because the perfect location means paying a lot of money and if you want something cheaper you'll have to lower your standards. The first thing to ask yourself is: what exactly do I want?
- To stay as centrally located in Manhattan as possible, regardless of budget.
- Staying in Manhattan, but I can do it in more distant or less charming areas if it's a bit cheaper.
- Stay outside of Manhattan if it means I pay a lot less.
- Share room and/or bathroom if I can be centrally located and reduce costs.
Later on we will give you options for all these traveler profiles!
It's not a secret that the price of accommodation in New York is currently crazy. And the worst part is that in many occasions the high cost doesn't reflect on quality. This is a reality that you must be aware of! Then, since you're going to pay a lot of money, at least being comfortable and happy with the choice. You can balance your budget out trying to do some of these free things to do in New York 😊
For this reason we recommend you to follow these tips when looking for a hotel in New York:
- Focus on the areas we recommend below.
- Try not to book hotels that score below 7.5. This isn't a bad score in other parts of the world, but in New York it means there is something wrong with the hotel. In general, accommodations in the city have a quality below our standards.
- Always read guest reviews and start with the most recent ones. This is where you'll see the true pros and cons of each hotel.
- Always check if taxes are included in your reservation to avoid surprises. Booking.com always shows the taxes both at the beginning and at the end of the reservation. In addition, some hotels may charge a deposit, but unless you've destroyed the room they'll refund it when you leave the hotel.
The accommodations in New York have the following taxes (and it's impossible to get rid of the first 2):
- 14.75% of the total hotel price
- $3.50 per night (municipal tax)
- There are hotels that add a 'resort surcharge' (regardless they're resorts or not) for the use of their facilities. This tax is entirely for the hotel and can vary between $10 and $50 per night. The truth is that many of them have it and from our point of view is a way of raising the price of the night without raising it directly.
- Don't add breakfast unless it's already included in the price. It's usually quite expensive and in the city you have lots of options for having a cheaper breakfast.
Cheap accommodation in New York City
Cheap accommodation in New York doesn't exist, but there are some things you can do to find less expensive options. We explain more in detail in our article about cheap places to stay in New York (coming soon).
We know we aren't going to reveal the Coca-Cola formula with what we're going to tell you below, but some guidelines to follow to find cheap hotels in New York would be:
- Travel during the off-season. Christmas, Easter, summer and holidays such as Thanksgiving and Halloween tend to be the most expensive times to travel to New York. Visiting the big city in the off-season, such as January through early May (avoiding Easter) or mid-September through November (except Halloween and Thanksgiving), can mean finding hotels at half price.
- Sharing a room and/or bathroom. Your idea of an ideal trip to New York is probably not to share with strangers, but you can find good options for private rooms with shared bathrooms (or shared rooms) that aren't too bad either.
- Stay in Manhattan but in less central areas or directly outside Manhattan. Always keep in mind how much time and money you're going to lose in transportation. Sometimes you want to save on the hotel but then you have to pay a lot more to get to the sights, it may not be worth it!
Best places to stay in New York City
In New York City there are a total of 5 boroughs:
- Manhattan
- El Bronx
- Queens
- Brooklyn
- Staten Island
With no doubt, Manhattan is the most recommended district to stay, specifically from Battery Park (south) to the north-central part of Central Park (more or less 96th Street). There are also parts of Brooklyn or Queens that aren't bad options. Taking all this into account, these are what we consider the best areas to stay in New York (at the end you'll find a very visual map):
1. Midtown (center of Manhattan)
- Advantages: central location, well connected (several subway stops) and close to several places of interest.
- Disadvantages: high prices and noise at night depending on the location.
- Nearby tourist spots: Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, St Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, MoMA, Summit, Empire State, Chrysler, Flatiron.
- Recommended accommodations: all Midtown hotels here.
The heart of the city, that's how we would define Midtown Manhattan. It's the city center par excellence and, therefore, the most popular area to stay, which makes it also one of the most expensive. Within Midtown there are small neighborhoods such as Hell's Kitchen, Flatiron District, Union Square and Gramercy Park, any of them are good options to stay.
Here you will find iconic spots such as Times Square, emblematic buildings (Rockefeller Center, Empire State, Chrysler, Flatiron...), the Summit observation deck, the Grand Central Station, the New York Cathedral and some museums (MoMA and Madame Tussauds), among other places. You could visit all these attractions on foot without major problem and also the southernmost part of Central Park.
2. Chelsea (center of Manhattan)
- Advantages: central and modern area, with several subway stops and close to several places of interest.
- Disadvantages: High prices.
- Nearby tourist spots: Vessel, Little Island, The Edge, Chelsea Market, The Highline.
- Recommended accommodations: all hotels in Chelsea here.
Chelsea is another area where to stay in Manhattan, located next to the southwest part of Midtown. It has an atmosphere that mixes modern and bohemian and its location is still central and convenient to move to other parts of New York, as it has subway stops nearby. On the other hand, it's an expensive area.
Chelsea is growing all the time and the focus is on modernity, as some of the most innovative places within the city have been built here recently: the Vessel building, The Edge observation deck and the extravagant Little Island floating park. Macy's shopping mall is also nearby.
3. Upper West Side (north of Manhattan)
- Advantages: residential and quiet area, somewhat less expensive than neighboring Midtown or Columbus Circle.
- Disadvantages: far from tourist attractions.
- Nearby tourist spots: Central Park, Museum of Natural History.
- Recommended accommodations: all Upper West Side hotels here.
- Riverside Tower Hotel
- Lucerne Hotels
- KAMA Central Park (shared room option)
The Upper West Side is the area that surrounds the entire west side of Central Park. With a residential feel, it has always been considered an inexpensive area to stay, but the truth is that nowadays we don't see prices as competitive as they used to be.
Also, our advice is that if you choose this area, stay in the southern part of it (from 56th to 96th more or less) and close to a subway stop (the options we suggest fulfill all this). The northern part doesn't offer any advantage in terms of prices and is far away from tourist places.
4. Financial District (south of Manhattan)
- Advantages: one of the cheapest areas of Manhattan, well connected, with several places of interest and quiet at night (if that's what you're looking for).
- Disadvantages: it isn't a particularly nice area (business centered) and if you're looking for nightlife there is no here.
- Nearby tourist spots: One World Observatory, 9/11 Museum, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, Brooklyn Bridge, ferry to Statue of Liberty.
- Recommended accommodations: all hotels in the Financial District here.
The Financial District is one of the best areas to stay in New York for several reasons: it's one of the cheapest in Manhattan (especially on weekends), it has several subway stops, the atmosphere during the day is good (especially for business people) and it has many restaurants.
In addition, if you're looking for tranquility at night, it's an area that fulfills it perfectly. On the other hand, if what you want is nightlife, it's best not to stay here.
In the Financial District there are lots of places you're going to visit for sure during your trip to New York: the 9/11 area (with the museum and the One World Observatory), the business spots (Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange) and from the southern part of the district is where the ferry that takes you to the Statue of Liberty departs. In addition, the Brooklyn Bridge and some of its best viewpoints are here.
Take a look to this comparative of travel insurances for the United States in case you need to book one
5. Soho (south of Manhattan)
- Advantages: nice and central area, well communicated, many options of restaurants and nightlife if that's what you're looking for.
- Disadvantages: high prices and the nights can be noisy if you want peace and quiet.
- Nearby tourist spots: the neighborhood itself. Nearby are Tribeca, Chinatown and Little Italy.
- Recommended accommodations: all Soho hotels here.
Soho is currently one of the most chic areas of New York and characterized by its wrought iron buildings, we really like it! Here you can find luxury stores, art galleries, high quality restaurants and a nice atmosphere. The latter means that if you're looking for a quiet area to sleep, this isn't the best option as it's normal to have noise at night.
Although Soho has no tourist spots as such beyond the neighborhood itself, you can walk to neighboring areas such as Tribeca, Chinatown and Little Italy. It's also connected by a couple of subway lines.
6. East Village & Lower East Side (southeast of Manhattan)
- Advantages: quiet residential areas, centrally located and well connected. Good choice of restaurants and neighborhood stores.
- Disadvantages: There are no tourist attractions.
- Nearby tourist spots: there are no points of interest but nearby you have Chinatown, Soho and Little Italy.
- Recommended accommodations: all hotels in the East Village here and in the Lower East Side here.
If you want to be away from all the tourist hustle and bustle but without going far from downtown, the East Village and Lower East Side areas (they're next to each other) are a good option. We've been in the Lower East Side and everything was perfect! They're residential neighborhoods ideal to feel the local life up close and you can find local stores, bars, restaurants and subway stops. In terms of prices, we would say that they're intermediate if we compare with the surrounding areas.
These areas don't have any tourist attractions to visit, however, from there you can walk to places like Soho, Chinatown or Little Italy.
7. Queens
- Advantages: budget accommodations and good views of the Manhattan skyline.
- Disadvantages: not very charming and you need to take the subway always.
- Nearby tourist spots: none.
- Recommended accommodations: all the hotels in Long Island City of Queens here.
- LIC Hotel
- The Local NY (shared room option)
- Wingate by Wyndham Long Island City
Queens, one of the 5 boroughs of New York, is one of the most affordable places to stay in New York City and you could consider it if you're looking for cheap accommodation in New York. However, we only recommend you to stay in the area of Long Island City, as it's safe and the closest to Manhattan. It's not pretty, that's for sure, as it has an industrial feeling, but it also has green spaces and offers good views of the Manhattan skyline.
Keep in mind that to get to the tourist sites you'll always need to take the subway. It will take between 20-30 minutes and sometimes you'll need to transfer between lines.
We would only go for this option because of the budget, in case you haven't found any alternative that fits you well in the previous areas that we've recommended. If staying here would mean a good saving for you, go for it!
8. Brooklyn
- Advantages: quiet area, not so touristy and with very good views of Manhattan.
- Disadvantages: far from the tourist sites of Manhattan and you always need public transportation.
- Nearby tourist spots: Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge and Squibb Park Bridge.
- Recommended accommodations: all Brooklyn hotels here.
- NU Hotel (Brooklyn Heights)
- Hampton Inn Brooklyn (Downtown)
- Under Brooklyn (Williamsburg)
- Pointe Plaza Hotel (Williamsburg)
Brooklyn is the other borough that we recommend to stay in New York, an area that is becoming increasingly popular and with many more accommodation options than it had a few years ago. However, it's best to avoid the Bedford-Wtuyvesant or Bushwick neighborhoods, especially at night. In Brooklyn we recommend choosing between the Brooklyn Heights and Downtown areas (they're next to each other) and Williamsburg. All of them have subway lines nearby.
However, keep in mind that the prices don't differ at all from those in Manhattan. For that reason we wouldn't choose Brooklyn for a first trip to New York but yes for subsequent occasions.
Map of areas to stay in New York City
Finally, here our map with all the areas by colors and the accommodations we've been recommending throughout the article. We hope you find it useful!
We hope we've helped you find your perfect accommodation in New York! 😀
