Anyone know a good tourist hotel in New York?
 

I've got a business trip coming up, and want to spend the weekend. I've never been there, and I'd like to find a hotel that's less unreasonable than most, but convenient. A little personality wouldn't hurt, either.

Peasants.

I've stayed at two hotels in Midtown Manhattan - the Swissotel, and the Waldorf Astoria, which you might have heard of. Peasant. :p

I had an awesome suite at the Swissotel complete with jacuzzi that went for about $450 a night in 1998. A standard room at the Waldorf (the hotel lobby is palacial, but the low-end rooms in the older part of the hotel are rather unimpressive) ran about $200 a night in 1999 (I'm sure they have better ones, though :D ). All was on the company dime, so it didn't matter much to me.

In Manhattan specifically?

Anything with the cross streets in the 40ths up to about 56th st and sandwiched between 5th and 8th ave will take good care of you.

That will put you just south of Central Park and north of Time Square. Can't go wrong with anything 4 star rated or higher in that area.

Take plenty of cash with you. Several years ago, (when I still followed the Royals) I remember the Royals players bitching about the prices of everything. Like $15 hamburgers.

The Renaissance New York Times Square would not be a bad choice...Cost you about 3 hundy a night range. Stayed there once and was not disappointed.

Are you gonna have a lot of free time? New York. Sheesh, I wish we had field trips to NY.

You can find quality dinners that are comparable to what you would pay elsewhere but most places you can find a cheap breakfast and lunch but not there. You will drop $12-18 just for some bacon and eggs with juice. And damn the beer prices...won't find a beer for less than a five spot.

Hilton in downtown Mannhattan is very, very nice.

Don't know how much it is though. I normally stay in the condo portion of the hotel when I'm out there.

I do not.

I will stop wasting your time now. Carry on.

Last time I went I stayed at The Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Quite nice and resonably priced (at the time at least).

I stayed at The Plaza last summer, but we had a conference rate ($200/night) and I only paid for a couple of nights out of my pocket. Great location, great lobby, mediocre room. Cost is totally unreasonable, but that is NY.

Before you go, just resign yourself to paying twice what you would pay for meals, drinks, etc any where else. In fact, unless you are a serious foodie, I would recommend eating as cheaply as possible: pizza, deli sandwiches, and the like. Chinatown is another reasonable option. If you try to find something "moderate" you are likely to end up spending $30 a plate for crappy food. There was lots to see and do, but the cost of everything just about ruined the trip for me.

Things I enjoyed most:
walking across the Brooklyn Bridge at dusk
Broadway play (get half-price tickets at the TKTS booth the day of the show)
Metropolitain museum of Art
riding the subway
planetarium

Have fun.