Quote: The hotel is in an excellent location on Lexington Avenue by 37th Street. The area around is residential - quite quiet, very pretty with lovely houses and apartment blocks. It is only a short walk to the Empire State Building and close to Grand Central Station.

We booked through an internet website and paid £2,060 for a 1 bedroom apartment for a week. It would have been cheaper at another time of the year, but all hotels in New York hike up their prices in December.

Our apartment was on the 15th floor - no views but we loved it nonetheless. It was really spacious with a big living room which had a sofa bed, huge television and dining table and 4 chairs.

The bedroom was also very large. It had a huge bed which was so comfortable - I had the best nights sleep here.

There was a small kitchen with fridge-freezer, coffee-machine, microwave and dishwasher - a bit old-fashioned but clean and functional. Similarly the bathroom was not the most modern, but it was very clean and had a bath and reasonable shower. They provided large amounts of white fluffy towels daily.

The decor is a little old-fashioned, but you get so much space and the apartments are so clean and comfortable - we loved staying here.

We had breakfast twice at Rare, the hotel restaurant. It was buffet style - ok but nothing special and cost $6 per person. The rest of the time we either walked to the food market at Grand Central Station or went to one of the local shops and bought bread, ham and cheese which we ate in the apartment.

The hotel restaurant was busy every night and got good reviews in a couple of magazines for its burgers. We never tried it there, instead we walked the short distance to 3rd Avenue where there are a host of small, private restaurants serving great food. They were always quite lively and seemed to be frequented by locals. An Italian called Patsys was a particular favourite of ours.

The hotel has a launderette in the basement and they serve complimentary tea/coffee in the den every morning.

Close by there are lots of small food shops, wine stores, delies etc. where you can get basic provisions.

On the 16th floor there is a roof terrace with wonderful views of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. Be sure to go up there at night as both these skyscrapers look incredible lit up.

We all loved staying at this hotel - it was conveniently located for all our sightseeing, was extremely spacious and comfortable and had everything we needed and more. We would definitely recommend it and would not hesitate to book it again if and when we return to New York.
From journals A Week in New York