Finding a quality hotel to suit your budget and itinerary can be the most challenging part of planning a trip to New York City. Trust us, we’ve done it enough times! With thousands of hotels spread across dozens of popular touristy neighborhoods, how do you narrow things down and choose the right hotel in the right area?
In this guide we help you figure out where to stay on a first visit to NYC, based on our experiences.
Our Experience
What do we know about booking hotels in New York?
Well, we’ve visited more times than we can count, and it’s the place we always end up meeting Mark’s family or friends from England. Oh, and we also lived in New York City for 4 months in early 2021, spending our own time, effort and money staying in various hotels around Manhattan and Brooklyn. So, we know quite a lot about the popular places to stay in NYC!
We think the best way to find the perfect hotel is to first pick the best neighborhood for your travel style. Do you want to be in the thick of the action? Or do you want a quieter family friendly area? Maybe you’d prefer a trendier spot out of the touristy epicenter? We’re going to show you the areas we think you should consider based on what we’ve experienced over the years. Read more about us.
Tip: Want a closer look at hotels rather than neighborhoods? Read our guide on the top rated hotels in NYC on our sister site Best Hotels Anywhere.
New York’s Neighborhoods
Okay, let’s get right into it. New York has 5 boroughs, but as a first time tourist you should prioritize staying in Manhattan. We also love Brooklyn as an alternative to Manhattan but it will only suit certain types of visitor, which we’ll explain later.
Now, Manhattan alone has more than 50 neighborhoods. But we want to keep things nice and easy to understand, so we’re going to show you 6 different areas we recommend staying. Each of the six areas we cover below contains several neighborhoods (for instance, Central Park includes Upper East Side, Upper West Side and South Central Park).
Here’s a summary of the areas we’re going to show you:
- Central Park – Upper East Side, Upper West Side, South Central Park
- Times Square – Garment District, Midtown West, Diamond District
- Midtown South – Bryant Park, Koreatown, NoMad, Chelsea
- SoHo – Little Italy, Nolita, Tribeca, Bowery, Lower East Side
- Lower Manhattan – Financial District, Seaport
- Brooklyn – Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg
Neighborhoods + Hotels Map
Click or touch the map below to activate. Zoom in and out, move around the map and look for the area outlines. We’ve included icons for each of the top rated hotels within each area. We recommend clicking on the “view larger map” icon in the top right to expand the map. It’s much easier to see.
Hotels:
- Green icons – Cheap hotels
- Red icons – Mid range hotels
- Blue icons – Luxury hotels
Neighborhoods:
- Blue outline – Central Park
- Green outline – Times Square
- Red outline – Midtown South
- Orange outline – SoHo
- Yellow outline – Lower Manhattan
- Black outlines – Brooklyn + Williamsburg
Next, we’re going to explain what makes each area of NYC a good place to stay. You’ll find the same hotels in the map listed as cheap, mid range or luxury so you know which will suit your budget. We know this sounds complicated, but we’re going to break things down so it’s all easy to understand.
One thing we’ve noticed after years of looking at hotels in New York is that prices fluctuate heavily by day and season. We’ve listed more hotels than we usually would in a guide like this, but it’s because we want to give you more quality options to help you find a hotel offering good value during the time you’ll be visiting. Let’s get into it, starting with Central Park!
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View NYC GuidebookCentral Park
Central Park is New York City’s most iconic green space. It’s stunning in all four seasons and there’s a surprising amount of fun places to visit inside the park. Plus, some of the city’s top museums are located on the edges of the park, including The Met (our favorite), the Natural History Museum and the Guggenheim among others.
Upper East Side has been home to some of the richest families in American history. It’s calm, safe and upscale but few subway stations mean transport links aren’t great. Upper West Side is livelier and cheaper than Upper East Side. It also has better subway access, but it’s not as glitzy or upper class.
Those two neighborhoods are great, but they’re also a bit isolated. And that’s why South Central Park (between 54th Street and 59th Street) has a ton of hotels. This area is still safe enough for families, it has lots of hotels and restaurants, and it’s walkable to Fifth Avenue, Broadway, Times Square and Top of the Rock. So, it ticks a few more boxes.
Central Park Hotels
Hotels near Central Park are typically more expensive than most other areas of New York City. For instance, don’t be surprised if you find that a lower quality hotel in Central Park costs more than a better quality hotel in Times Square. You’re paying more for the upscale location.
We spent a night at 1 Hotel Central Park and it was fantastic. Actually, we’d go as far as saying it was probably one of our favorite hotel stays in New York, but it wasn’t cheap. We haven’t stayed at The Whitby Hotel (it has one of the city’s highest ratings on Booking.com) but we have enjoyed a wonderful afternoon tea in the Whitby Hotel restaurant.
Here are the top rated hotels you should check out around Central Park:
Cheap
Mid range
Luxury
The Lucerne would be our first pick in the cheap category we’d stay at the Wallace Hotel if we stayed in this area on a mid range budget. Next time we’d love to stay in the Plaza Hotel, mostly for Home Alone 2 nostalgia!
READ: 12 awesome hotels near Central Park
Times Square
Times Square is where you’ll find those famous flashing lights and the New Year’s Eve ball drop. It’s the beating heart of touristy Midtown Manhattan and it attracts millions of visitors each year. Is it our favorite part of New York? No, not even close. But staying near Times Square means you’d be close to several subway lines, top attractions and endless dining options.
There’s a bunch of low budget hotels within easy walking distance of Times Square if you need to keep things as cheap as possible when you visit the city. They’re not in the best areas, but they are cheap. If you can stretch the budget slightly, you can actually stay in quality family friendly hotels in Times Square for pretty good value.
Another benefit to staying around Times Square is easy access from JFK and Newark airports. Direct trains run from the airports into Penn Station, which is only 5-10 blocks south depending on where you book your hotel.
Times Square Hotels
The areas around Times Square are the cheapest places to stay in NYC. YOTEL Times Square and Pod Times Square are both very popular super low budget places to stay if you need the cheapest possible options.
We have personally stayed at Renaissance, CitizenM, AC Hotel and Arlo Midtown during separate visits to the city. All 4 were excellent stays, but CitizenM and Renaissance were higher quality. AC Hotel and Arlo both have rooftop bars and more affordable room rates but the locations aren’t as good. Also, Riu Plaza often runs deals so look out for those offers.
Here are the top rated hotels you should check out around Times Square:
Cheap
Mid range
Luxury
We really liked CitizenM so we’d stay there again on a low budget. If we wanted a more luxurious stay around Times Square we’d go for either LUMA or the more boutiquey Hotel Scherman.
READ: 12 highly rated hotels in Times Square
Midtown South
Our version of Midtown South encompass the strip of real estate between Madison Square Park and Bryant Park, sandwiched between 5th and 7th avenues. This area includes NoMad, Koreatown, the Empire State Building and Macy’s department store. But it also spills across into the northeast edges of Chelsea.
Midtown South is much quieter and less chaotic than Times Square, but it’s still within easy walking distance to countless restaurants, shops and attractions. Grand Central and Penn Station, along with plenty of subway stations, are also within easy walking distance so that’s transport links covered.
Some of our favorite NYC bagel joints are located between the Empire State Building and Penn Station near Midtown South. Don’t miss Best Bagel and Coffee or Liberty Bagels Midtown, both on W 35th Street.
Midtown South Hotels
We tend to book most of our hotels in Midtown South when we stay in New York City. The area has a nice balance between prices, location, transport links and amenities. Plus, it’s surprisingly quiet while still being close to the action. We especially like the immediate area around Bryant Park.
We’ve stayed at Cambria in the cheaper price range, MOXY Chelsea in the mid range and we also splurged at the Archer Hotel which cost a bit more. All three were great, but we had a king room with a view of the Empire State Building at Archer Hotel and it was a lovely stay.
Here are the top rated hotels you should check out around Midtown South:
Cheap
Mid range
Luxury
We’d stay at Cambria again in the low budget category, but we’d try the Park Terrace next time in mid range. The Langham looks great but it’s very expensive, so we can’t look beyond Archer Hotel in the luxury category.
READ: 12 top rated hotels in Midtown NYC
SoHo
SoHo and its surrounding areas like Greenwich Village, Little Italy and Lower East Side are more residential than touristy. We think these are the areas you should look at if you want to stay in trendy, lively, authentic part of Manhattan. They’re all great spots for couples, families with older kids or groups of friends who prefer things a bit less touristy and a bit more real.
Picturesque cobblestone streets and high end shops make SoHo a popular place to live for the wealthy. Nearby, the small grid style streets of Little Italy and Nolita are overflowing with places to eat. Lower East Side might still be a bit gritty but it has a vibrant nightlife and the area has exploded in popularity in recent years.
We’ve spent a lot of time walking around these areas and while there are still some rough parts like Canal Street, it’s a super fun place to explore, eat and drink. Transport links are fairly good, plus the Financial District and Brooklyn Bridge are within walking distance.
SoHo Hotels
Hotels around the SoHo area span the budget range, so you have plenty of options. But the thing we like most is that a lot of the hotels here are less generic and more boutique-style, which means a more personalized and tailored experience.
We’ve stayed at NobleDEN, Arlo SoHo and CitzenM Bowery. All three were great, but our favorite was NobleDEN. If you’re looking for the ultimate luxury splurge on your visit to New York, Crosby Street Hotel should be near the top of your list. It’s way out of our price range but we’d love to stay there.
Here are the top rated hotels you should check out around SoHo:
Cheap
Mid range
Luxury
NobleDEN is our top pick in the budget category but CitizenM was also great. Roxy and The Broome look like excellent boutique hotels, and we’d like to try The Bowery Hotel in the luxury category. If we figured out how to grow a money tree, we’d book Crosby Street Hotel.
READ: 12 excellent hotels in SoHo NYC
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (aka Downtown Manhattan) includes the Financial District, Seaport and the southern edges of Lower East Side. Yes, we know this area is known for business and stock exchanges but don’t let that put you off, there’s lots of fun things to do in Lower Manhattan and it’s still in a growth phase.
Cobblestone streets, stunning architecture, hidden gem hole-in-the-wall eateries, up and coming live music bars and riverside activities will keep you busy. Now, it probably isn’t the first place you think of when considering where to stay in NYC, but Lower Manhattan is booming with tourists after new shops and hotels have been developed in recent years.
It has excellent transport links, it’s close to Brooklyn Bridge and the ferry to Statue of Liberty, and the best part is that many hotels in the area offer discounted rates at the weekend when business travelers vacate rooms that are occupied at inflated rates during the week.
Lower Manhattan Hotels
You might be surprised to hear that we actually found Lower Manhattan to be one of the more challenging areas to pick out the top rated hotels because there are so many excellent options.
We’ve stayed at Artezen Hotel which was a wonderful experience and Club Quarters Hotel which was also great and had a super location. This might be an area of New York we stay in more frequently in future.
Here are the top rated hotels you should check out around Lower Manhattan:
Cheap
- World Center Hotel
- Hilton Garden Inn Financial Center
- MOXY NYC Downtown
- Holiday Inn Financial District
Mid range
Luxury
We’d book MOXY Downtown in the budget category, Artezen for sure in mid range and then choose between The Wall Street Hotel or Conrad Downtown for luxury depending on the type of stay we wanted.
READ: 12 top rated hotels in Lower Manhattan
Brooklyn
Brooklyn covers over three times the land area of Manhattan Island and it’s the most populated borough of New York City. It’s renowned for diverse residential neighborhoods and it’s the place we’d live if we moved to the city permanently. But when it comes to being a tourist or booking hotels, you only need to focus on Dumbo, Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg.
If you’re looking for hipster, bars spilling out onto streets, artsy, chilled and quite frankly awesome, Williamsburg is the place you should look for a hotel. Transport links aren’t great, but it’s a really cool place to stay with a totally different vibe to Manhattan. Mark recently did a tour of Brooklyn Brewery with a mate from England and it was great.
Dumbo is located next to Brooklyn Bridge and it’s a fun place to explore. Downtown Brooklyn has a ton going on, but unless you have a specific reason for staying there, we’d suggest it more as a place to stay for a return visit.
Brooklyn Hotels
Brooklyn is far less touristy than Manhattan. Just do a quick hotel search and you’ll see there are fewer options available. But there’s also fewer people booking rooms in Brooklyn, so it evens out in terms of supply and demand.
We’ve stayed at Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg and EVEN Hotel in Downtown Brooklyn. Both were excellent for what we wanted at the time, but we personally preferred staying in Williamsburg.
Here are the top rated hotels you should check out around Brooklyn:
Cheap
- Pod Brooklyn Williamsburg
- NU Hotel Downtown Brooklyn
- EVEN Hotel Downtown Brooklyn
- Hampton Inn Downtown Brooklyn
Mid range
- Penny Williamsburg
- The Hoxton Williamsburg
- ACE Hotel Downtown Brooklyn
- NY Marriott Downtown Brooklyn
Luxury
We’d skip the budget category and choose between Penny or ACE Hotel in mid range. Otherwise it would be any of the three luxury Williamsburg hotels. We would also like to stay at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge but it’s very expensive.
READ: 12 fantastic hotels in Brooklyn NY
What’s The Best Area To Stay?
This is a question we get asked all the time, and here’s the answer we always give: it depends on your travel plans. But don’t worry, we’re not going to leave you hanging with “it depends”.
Personally, we think Midtown South is the best place to stay for the majority of tourists going to NYC for the first time. More specifically, we’d say as close to Bryant Park as possible. It has excellent transport links, it’s close to top attractions, there’s an abundance of restaurants nearby and hotels are high quality.
With that said, we think families with younger kids might prefer to stay near Central Park because it’s quieter and safer. Foodies and socialites might prefer to stay in SoHo or Williamsburg. And younger groups of friends might want to party in Lower East Side or the Meatpacking District (if you can get on VIP lists).
Where To Avoid
For starters you should skip Harlem, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island simply because you’re in NYC to be a tourist and they’re too far out from attractions. You’d be sat on the subway, a lot.
In Brooklyn we’d suggest sticking with Williamsburg, Dumbo or Downtown Brooklyn if it’s your first visit. Once you get to know the other areas, you can always book a hotel in a place you like next time you visit.
In Manhattan, we honestly think that as long as you use common sense, there are no “avoid at all costs” areas below 96th Street. There are certain areas near Times Square and Chinatown that are a bit sketchy (even to us as seasoned New York tourists) and you’ll find a couple of grittier streets in almost every neighborhood, but it’s the same in most major cities around the world.
Our Hotel Picks
It’s tough to pick out a handful of hotels among thousands, but we do have a small list of hotels that we give to our friends and families when they visit New York. They’re also the first hotels we check every time we revisit ourselves.
Here’s our list:
- Cambria Hotel – Cheap and quiet near Empire State and Penn Station.
- CitizenM Times Square – Great value for money near Broadway.
- NobleDEN Hotel – Very highly rated with excellent value in Little Italy.
- The Wallace – Upscale lodging at affordable rates near Central Park.
- Park Terrace – Quality mid range hotel located right on Bryant Park.
- Archer Hotel – Affordable luxury located close to Bryant Park.
- LUMA Hotel – Top rated and affordable luxury next to Bryant Park.
- Artezen Hotel – Super price and location in Lower Manhattan.
- Wythe Hotel – Excellent hotel in super Williamsburg location.
Our Top Tips
1. Subway Stations
We always look at subway stations when we book our hotels in New York. Why? Because even though we walk as much as possible, there’s always going to be a time when we need to take a subway. Whether it’s to Penn Station for the airport train, to get to other side of Manhattan or just because we’re feeling lazier than usual, it pays to be close to several subway lines.
2. Hotel Cost
Let’s not beat around the bush, hotels are not cheap in New York City in the peak visiting months. From around April through October, you’re not going to find much value for money. The best thing you can do is expect to pay inflated prices so you’re not shocked when you see the numbers. Or, visit NYC in the winter instead when hotel prices are more affordable.
3. Taxes
It’s important to look for tax exclusions when booking your hotel. Whether you go direct or through a company like Booking.com, there may be additional taxes to pay so check the small print. Hotel tax is common at US hotels, but New York has higher taxes than other states and NYC also has a “city tax”. Plus, because it’s an in demand destination, some hotels might cheekily throw in a “resort fee” or similar.
Follow these steps to find excluded fees on Booking.com:
- Click on a hotel name from our list above
- Enter your travel dates
- Click “see availability”
- Scroll down to the available rooms and prices
- Look under “today’s prices”
- Find the excluded section at the bottom
- See which taxes aren’t included in the price
4. Use Membership Rewards
When we book hotels in NYC we always check the price direct with the hotel and compare it against the price we get with Booking.com. Because we travel a lot, we have Genius Level 3 membership rewards with Booking.com so we often get amazing deals. It’s completely free to register, there’s no strings and the rewards start coming in immediately. It’s a no-brainer if you like to travel.
5. Find Promotional Offers
Hotels run promotions and discounts at different times of the week, month and year. For instance, you can pick up deals on weekdays vs weekends or winter vs summer. We strongly encourage you to shop around, click on every single hotel we’ve listed in this entire guide and find the best value for your travel dates. Read our guide on how to book cheaper hotels for more tips.
The Morgan Conclusion
New York City has an abundance of places to stay but finding the right hotel can be an overwhelming task. After spending a lot of time looking at things like location, price, amenities and guest ratings, we eventually cracked the code on what makes a good hotel option. The key is to figure out which part of New York you want to stay, then find the hotel to fit your budget.
While this guide is mostly aimed at first time visitors who don’t know much about the city, the hotels we’ve included also apply to second, third or tenth visits too. We still use this list ourselves when we revisit New York!
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- Comparison of the NYC observation decks
Want more New York information? Head over to our NYC Travel Guide for help with planning your first visit.
We hope our guide on where to stay in New York City helps you choose the perfect hotel!
Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.
Happy Travels,
Mark and Kristen
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I loved reading this, it was very helpful.
Ive been to NY a few times in my 20s. I am now in my 40’s, a single mother living in Soth Africa.
My 10 year old son and I are planning our NY trip this December. Considering that we are from Johannesbueg, crime is somethi g we are very use to.
Afrer reading your aricle I am leaning towards Time Square or Brooklyn (I think Central Park might be over my budget)
Qould you recommend TS to us seeing as the 2 of us will be traveling alone?
Our tonso list is wide spread;
Museum of natural history
Central Park
Time Square
Statue of Libirty
Grand Central
We are only spensing 4 days there before traveling down to Atlanta.
Kind Regards
Shannelle Pieterse
Hi Shannelle, thanks for getting in touch and we’re happy to hear you have a trip to NYC planned with your son. Staying somewhere near Times Square is perfect for having a central location in the city with good transport links both up to Central Park and down to the Statue of Liberty ferry. We would recommend trying to find a hotel within your budget in Midtown South, between Bryant Park and Empire State Building. You will be close to TS but far enough away to avoid the chaos, plus you have subway links to all of the places on your to do list via 34th St – Herald Square. Hope that helps but let us know if you have any more questions and have a wonderful trip!