New York, New York!
I have been lucky enough to visit New York City several times and my love for the city has grown over time, which is not hard to do given that the first time I was forced to stay overnight due to a storm cancelling my flight. Twenty-four unexpected hours in the Big Apple- overwhelming would be an understatement! Side note: if your main exposure to NYC is TV shows and movies, let me tell you that NYC is a LOT dirtier in real life than it is as the backdrop to Gossip Girl!
This is a battle of the Ws: W Times Square vs W New York. I tend to like W hotels because I know that the service will be good and the vibe is always great. Also, Bliss spas are some of my favorite spas in the world as they tend to be of good quality and relatively well priced when compared to higher-end spas- maybe I’ll do a comparison of Bliss spas in later post.
The Times Square location is ideally located right on the edge of the square so it is a great hotel if your trip is an in-n-out affair. You can walk to most theatres and step right into the hustle of city life. That said, it’s definitely more of a touristy hotel than the W New York. I am planning my 7th visit to NYC and I still can’t get over how busy Times Square can be no matter the weather forecast!
Where Times Square is electrifying and immediately plugs you into the city we all learned to love in movies like 13 Going on 30, W New York is located in Manhattan a couple of blocks away from Times Square and aligns itself more closely with the New York of Sex and the City. The rooms are definitely more spacious at this location and I had a great breakfast in the restaurant in the lobby- eggs benedict, in case you were wondering. I happened to be there at Christmas-time and they had a cool mirrored tree up.
I would probably return to the W New York over W Times Square as I liked the quieter location and I find Times Square too much of a tourist trap, even the food options around the square tend to be over-priced for the quality. Also, with Google Maps, the metro is pretty easy to navigate and it is quite extensive so getting anywhere is not as hard as it may seem. Alternatively, cabs are plentiful and Uber is alive and well. Uber cars tend to be a little nicer in just about any city but I am impatient in NYC so unless there aren’t any cabs around, I won’t reach for my phone (not the case in Washington btw…a blog on this is coming soon).
