My go-to hotel for NYC is always going to be Z Hotel NYC, make no mistake about that. However, with our trip being peak summer, rates were rather high and as we were on a budget an alternative was required. A quick look on Google Hotels and we have a room that fits the budget.
The Price
For a 4 night stay, we paid £465.40 which is an exceptional price given it was a Thursday to Monday. It’s also good when you factor in that’s the final price we paid. What I mean by that is you start out with a search for a hotel and it list’s all the prices. You find somewhere you like click on it all to discover you have even more to pay at the property. City tax, Building tax, Resort fees, etc they all culminate and end up costing up to an extra 25% on top of the price that’s displayed. Its a joke, fortunately, we didn’t have any of that to worry about.
Top Tip – When booking, if the price for breakfast is only up to $5 more per night I’d recommend adding it on as it will be an extra $20.36 per night per person once you are there.
Location
The reason this hotel was booked over a few others in the same price bracket is that I remember seeing it a few months earlier (when I was last there) and thinking how well-situated it was in the Lower West Side Financial District. Just over the road from the 9/11 Memorial, a 1-minute walk from World Trade Center train station (which has most of the subway lines running through it) and only a 5-minute walk from The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog (one of the best cocktail bars in Manhattan).
Check-in
A real standout for us. Most hotels let you check in from 14:00 onwards with some allowing early check-in from 12:00 if there is space. We landed into JFK at 07:45 and after a long Uber ride due to traffic we were at the hotel by 09:10. Fully expecting to just drop our bags off at reception so we could get straight out into the city and check-in later. Our room was ready on arrival!
The Room
Our first room was a King Room in 404, as you could probably guess, on the 4th floor. Considering this is their entry-level it was fairly spacious.
The bathroom was fairly large as was the shower which had plenty power however the head was on the smaller size. There was a separate hair dryer, unfortunately, it had a faulty switch so you had to hold it a certain way for it to work.
Toiletries are provided by Paul Mitchell. You’ll need your own factor 30 though.
The bed, like the room, was spacious being a super king. Less cosy, more comfy due to being a little on the firm side.
Entertainment is taken care of in the way of a fair-sized 4k TV. A plethora of channels including premium ones like HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc. There was Netflix, Prime, Hulu, etc all ready to go.
The desk and ergonomic chair were nice with plenty of sockets to charge things. Whilst were on power, sockets were conveniently located around the room, 2 at either side of the bed with 2x USB charging sockets and a couple more dotted around. One thing to note here though, the sockets are only 120 volts so trying to get your British GHD’s to work isn’t going to happen.
Office
If you’re in need of a formal office setting, this isn’t it. Whilst the computers are loaded up with Microsoft Office and you have access to a printer, you best be able to work in a fairly loud environment as there is no isolation.
Room 2?
I said “Our first room” as we actually changed rooms mid-way through our stay. They are currently building a residential block next door and our room was facing it so I asked if we could move to a room with a better view, they happily obliged and we moved.
Our second room was a King Room Partial River View. Room 1208, though slightly smaller than our previous room actually had a decent view, a trade-off I was more than happy to make.
The same bed, convenient socket layout, bathroom, etc, only this time a hairdryer that worked.
Due to the different layout, the TV was on a hinged bracket which swung out from the wall. This made it a bit of an issue when going to the fridge for example as you’d have to crouch to get under it.
Partial view is apt for describing the view of the Hudson but also in describing the view of Ground Zero. Apparently, after talking to someone in housekeeping, rooms 10 and 11 are the ones to try and get. They are on the corner that faces The World Trade Centre and have amazing views. Obviously the higher up you go the better the views.
Though the new bathroom was a decent bit smaller than our initial room on a much lower floor, the water preassure stayed the same.
Breakfast
As you step out of the lift on the breakfast floor of a morning, you are greeted by a nice wrap around sofa with a TV opposite. If you’re one to be catching up on news whilst you eat you’ll want to be grabbing this seat.
If you take a more formal approach there’s plenty of seating for you. Unfortunately though, in the land of the free, unless you have status breakfast’s are a $20+ optional extra.
My Take
The beds are comfy, the rooms are clean and the staff are nice. If you can manage to book a room for around £110 or less it’s worth booking. Yes you give up the chance of spectacular views, but the practicality of where the hotel is based is incredible.