Planning a trip back to NYC and can get a friends/family rate at Choice hotels. Based on dates we want to come choices are Comfort locations at either 42 W 35th St or 305 W 39th ST or GEM locations of 449 W 36th St or 300 W 22nd St. We plan to do all touristy stuff (Rockefeller, Times Square, Ellis Island, etc) so based on that are there either of these locations that would be ';best'; suited to our needs? Thanks for your input!
Comfort Inn/GEM Hotel Info
My vote would be 300 West 22nd Street, in the heart of Chelsea, great restaurants nearby. Transportation close by. Very lively neighborhood.
My second choice would be 42 W. 35th Street (near Macy%26#39;s).
The W. 36th Street property would be my last resort. 305 W. 39th Street wouldn%26#39;t be far behind. The W. 36th and W. 39th Street locations are too close to the Lincoln Tunnel for my liking.
Comfort Inn/GEM Hotel Info
The GEM hotel on 22nd and 8th is brand-new... just opened a month ago or so. Just down the block from me, actually -- i%26#39;ve been watching the construction as they%26#39;ve transformed it from an old SRO welfare hotel to a fancy-schmancy boutique hotel. Looks pretty nice, and you can at least be certain everything will be pretty clean -- it%26#39;s so new, it couldn%26#39;t not be!
Also, obviously as I live right nearby, I love the neighborhood. You%26#39;re literally around the corner from the C/E trains, and an avenue away from the 1 (and two aves from the F/V... etc). Lots of dining and shopping in the area.
Only heads-up I%26#39;d give you is that that strip of 8th avenue is really one of the hearts of ';gay'; new york, including a few shops on the 20-21st block that can have some rather ';adult'; displays in the windows... most people don%26#39;t bat an eye (hey, this IS new york), but I know some more conservative families traveling with kids have expressed discomfort before.
If you do wind up staying there, though, feel free to hit me up for restaurant suggestions! I%26#39;ve been to almost everything within a 5-block radius several times!
Looks like I have 2 of 2 voting for the GEM a6 22nd! I would be interested for restaurants recommendations in the area. Any good spots for cheap breakfasts and other reasonably priced places we can hit multiple times and nicer for relaxed dinners. Guess we%26#39;re looking for a little of everything.
Breakfast... Well, Venus cafe is right over on 8th towards 23rd on the other side of the avenue. Over on 9th and 23rd, you have a choice of Chelsea Square or Moonstruck Diner... all those have cheap diner-type food.
My personal recommendation is La Grainne Cafe at 21st and 9th -- absolutely WONDERFUL crepes, coffee, and atmosphere.
Also, if you want a good bagel, go to Murray%26#39;s on 8th between 22 and 23rd. Though they have made a lot of additions to cater to the trendy yuppie crowd (tofu cream cheese, health bagels, etc), do yourself a favor and get something classically NY.. maybe a salt or poppyseed bagel with a schmear and real belly lox. (actually, don%26#39;t do a salt bagel with belly lox... that%26#39;d probably give you instant hypertension). They have an amazing selection of smoked salmon, and because these are real bagels, they don%26#39;t do no toasting! ;-)
Other restaurants... I%26#39;d stroll down 8th between 23rd and see what strikes your fancy. For Thai, I suggest Room Service. Lasagna is very reasonably priced with huge portions, and while nothing spectacular, is unquestionably delicious.
Over on 10th Avenue, there%26#39;s a terrific little run of restaurants between 22nd and 25th on the far side... Tia Pol (spanish - tapas), Izakaya Ten (japanese/sushi/pub/sake bar), and Red Cat (upscale new american).
For Chinese, I like Home on 8th, which is up around 28th I think... somewhere thereabouts. Huge vegan/vegetarian menu, all of which is very good. Traditional meat dishes are good too... about as good as you can get for traditional ';american style/takeout'; chinese. Sit-down restaraunt is usually packed.
For Chinese of a type you probably can%26#39;t find in St. Louis, try Empire Szechuan on 9th and 24th... most ';american'; chinese food is a bastardized version of cantonese cooking... Szechuan is very different, much more focused on spicy and sour flavors.
Blossom is a good Vegan place on 9th between 21 and 22...
sorry, ';stroll down 8th between 23rd and 14th'; :-)
Lots of great choices it sounds like. Thanks so much for your suggestions!
its amazing how 1 block makes such a difference... I live a block away too (but on 7th Ave) and have completely different restaurant recos!
(Dave - havent been to the place on 21st and 9th since it was Le Gamin - will have to revisit. thanks for reminder)
Le Zie - excellent, non-red sauce Italian. On 7th between 20th-21st.
In addition to Tia Pol, the other great tiny tapas places are El Quinto Pino on 24th and Soccarat on 19th between 7th and 8th (the bartender told me Sun-Wed are more accessible nights - the place is packed Thurs-Sat and that was before it got written up in the Times.
Le Singe Vert for great, reasonably priced French bistro food - 7th and 19th-20th
Regional Thai Taste on 22nd and 7th. Salsa y salsa for decent Mexican next door.
also there is a decent taco cart on 14th street just east of 8th Ave
best Chinese in the neighborhood - Grand Sichuan International on 24th and 9th
I have stayed at Comfort Inn Times Square on 39th and found it very comfortable (even though it is near the Lincoln Tunnel). I believe all of the hotels you mentioned are owned and operated by the same company so you should receive the same service from any of the them. The front desk staff was amazing and the rooms very comfortable. There were four of us in a double room, not a lot of storage but we had no problem whatsoever. Enjoy your trip!!!
Ah! GRAND Szechuan! Sorry for messing up the name there in my post. That%26#39;s the one I was talking about, too.
Also, for Thai, there%26#39;s Pongsri on 23rd between 6th and 7th (almost all the way to 7th). Huge menu, and suprisingly good. Also willing to second the recco. on Regional Thai -- a pleasantly different menu from the ';standard'; fare at most thai places. I eat Thai way too much, and love ordering from there when I need to mix things up!
Monster Sushi on the opposite side of the same block is okay, too... though I%26#39;ll be the first to admit Chelsea isn%26#39;t the greatest when it comes to Sushi (thanks to the business crowd, downtown/tribeca and midtown have dibs on that).
Oooh... also going over to 7th, there%26#39;s Cafeteria at 7th and 17th... very stylish and trendy and overpriced for what is basically diner food... but fun to see and be seen.
also, evening -- I have NO idea why the name change from Le Gamin to La Grainne. The place, the atmosphere, the theme, the quality all stayed the same! They actually added a few more entree-type items to the menu, but nothing out of character... Who knows!
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