Where to Stay in NYC: Pick the Neighborhood First
The neighborhood matters more than the hotel. Which part of New York suits a first trip, a family, a couple or a budget, and the catch with each.
Pick the neighborhood before you pick the hotel. In New York the difference between a good trip and an exhausting one is usually 40 minutes of travel each way, twice a day, not the room.
Here is how to choose, then the honest version of each neighborhood we would actually recommend, straight from our neighborhood pages.
Start with three questions
How many days do you have? Two or three days means staying central and paying for it. Midtown, Chelsea or the Financial District will save you more time than the money is worth. A week means you can stay somewhere with more character and use the subway like a local.
Who is coming? Families want space, a park and a quiet street at 10pm. Couples want somewhere to walk after dinner. A group going out wants to be able to get home at 2am without a long ride.
What do you actually want to do? Museums point you uptown. Eating and going out point you downtown or to Brooklyn. Seeing the famous skyline every morning points you across the river.
The short answer, by trip
- First trip, short stay: Midtown. Everything is close, and you will walk to more of it than you expect.
- First trip, a week: Greenwich Village or Chelsea. Central enough, with a neighborhood to come home to.
- Families: the Upper West Side, or DUMBO if you want Brooklyn Bridge Park on your doorstep.
- Couples: the West Village or Brooklyn Heights. Both are built for a walk after dinner.
- Going out: the Lower East Side or Williamsburg. Both keep going late, and you can walk home.
- Solo: the East Village or the Lower East Side. Counters, bar seats and nobody wondering why you came alone.
- On a budget: Long Island City, Astoria or Washington Heights. All three are real neighborhoods with good trains.
- Older travelers, or anyone wanting calm: Brooklyn Heights or the Upper West Side. Flat, quiet, and easy to sit down in.
Things that matter more than the neighborhood
- Check the actual subway lines, not the distance. Two miles on an express train beats half a mile from a station with one slow line. Our subway guide explains how the lines work.
- Express stops are worth paying for. On a long trip they save hours.
- Weekend subway work is real. Some lines are cut or rerouted every weekend, which can strand you in a neighborhood served by one train.
- Noise. If you are sleeping above a nightlife block, ask for a high floor and a back room. In New York that is a normal request.
- Hotel taxes add up. Quoted rates are before city and state taxes and fees, so budget more than the nightly number.
- You do not need a view. The city is outside, and you will not be in the room.
Where we would actually stay
These are the neighborhoods we would send friends to, with the catch for each one. The price band is a rough guide to what hotels tend to cost there, not a promise.
Price is a rough guide to what hotels cost there, from $ cheapest to $$$$ priciest. It is not a promise, and rates swing hard by season.
Cheapest $
Washington Heights
The highest, greenest, most Dominican part of Manhattan, and the one most visitors never reach.
- Stay here for
- Longer trips and budget-minded travelers who do not mind a 30 minute express train
- The catch
- A real commute to downtown, and the A express is the difference between fine and slow.
Moderate $$
Astoria
Greek tavernas, Egyptian cafes, a beer garden from 1910, and one of the great riverside parks.
- Stay here for
- Longer stays, families, and anyone who would rather eat well than sleep near a landmark
- The catch
- Few hotels, and the trip in from Manhattan late at night is long if you miss your train.
Bushwick
Murals on every warehouse wall, the city's serious dance floors, and a neighborhood that is still genuinely itself.
- Stay here for
- A younger trip built around music and going out
- The catch
- Few hotels, long nights, and the L train is the lifeline in and out.
Chinatown
The best eating in Manhattan for the money, on streets that were laid out before the grid existed.
- Stay here for
- Eating, rather than sleeping: stay on the Lower East Side and walk over
- The catch
- Very few hotels here, and the streets quiet down early once dinner is done.
East Village
Cheap food, old bars, community gardens and a night that keeps going after the rest of Manhattan has gone home.
- Stay here for
- A younger trip, or anyone who plans their nights before their mornings
- The catch
- Loud until late, and there is no express train. Getting uptown takes longer than the map suggests.
Financial District
Colonial street plan, giant towers, and the whole harbor at the bottom of the island.
- Stay here for
- Value, space and good transit, especially at weekends when rates drop
- The catch
- Dead in the evening compared with downtown neighborhoods, and the restaurants are built for lunch crowds.
Long Island City
The best skyline view in the city, a serious art museum or two, and one stop from Midtown.
- Stay here for
- Anyone who wants Manhattan prices to stop hurting without giving up the location
- The catch
- A new-build neighborhood with less character at street level, and a quieter night than Brooklyn.
Lower East Side
Immigrant New York, the best late night in Manhattan, and the two greatest food counters in the city a block apart.
- Stay here for
- A trip about eating and going out, not sightseeing
- The catch
- Weekend nights are loud until 4am, and it is a long way from Midtown on a slow train.
Pricey $$$
Brooklyn Heights
Brownstones, the Promenade and the quietest good walk in New York, ten minutes from downtown Manhattan.
- Stay here for
- A quiet base that is still one stop from Wall Street and a few from SoHo
- The catch
- Very quiet after 9pm, and the restaurants are fine rather than a reason to come.
Chelsea
The High Line, the gallery district and the best food hall in the city, on the flat west side.
- Stay here for
- A central west-side base with good trains and great walking
- The catch
- Hotel prices run high, and the blocks right by the High Line get crowded all day.
Fort Greene
Brownstones, a hilltop park, and the cultural center of Black Brooklyn.
- Stay here for
- A Brooklyn base with excellent transit and real neighborhood life
- The catch
- Not many hotels, and most of them are down by the arena rather than in the pretty part.
Greenwich Village
Washington Square, the jazz clubs and the comedy cellars, on streets that break the grid and lose you on purpose.
- Stay here for
- A trip built around music, walking and eating, rather than sights
- The catch
- Loud on the main blocks, and hotels are small and scarce compared to Midtown.
Midtown
The postcard New York: the tallest buildings, the biggest crowds, and more genuinely great free rooms than anyone expects.
- Stay here for
- A first trip, a short trip, or anyone who wants to walk to the famous things
- The catch
- Expensive, loud, and without much neighborhood life. You are sleeping in the office district.
Upper East Side
Museum Mile, the park on one side, and the quietest grown-up evening in Manhattan.
- Stay here for
- Families, museum trips, and anyone who wants to sleep somewhere calm
- The catch
- Quiet in the evening, and the subway options are thinner on the east side than they look.
Upper West Side
Two parks, the best food shops in the city, and the New York that families actually live in.
- Stay here for
- Families, longer stays, and anyone who wants a real neighborhood
- The catch
- A quieter evening than downtown, and a longer trip to the Brooklyn side of the city.
Williamsburg
The most famous neighborhood in Brooklyn, and still a good night out if you know which blocks to walk.
- Stay here for
- A first trip that leans Brooklyn, or a second trip to New York
- The catch
- One subway line does most of the work into Manhattan, and the L is the line most often cut for weekend work.
Priciest $$$$
DUMBO
Cobblestones, warehouses and the best stretch of waterfront in New York, packed by noon and lovely at 7am.
- Stay here for
- A calm base with the best views in the city, if the budget allows
- The catch
- Expensive, and quiet at night once the day crowds go home. Cobblestones are hard on suitcases and heels.
SoHo
The best-preserved cast-iron district in the world, now a shopping mall with extraordinary architecture above the storefronts.
- Stay here for
- A shopping trip, or a central downtown base with good subways
- The catch
- Expensive hotels, packed weekends, and not much open late once the shops close.
West Village
The prettiest streets in Manhattan, the hardest dinner reservations, and the history that changed the country.
- Stay here for
- A romantic trip, or a return visit where eating well is the plan
- The catch
- Expensive, and a longer walk to the big sights. The subway is thinner here than anywhere else in Manhattan.