If you like to travel on a budget, and if you don't like to compromise on some basic essentials, style being among them, traveling to New York City usually isn't supposed to be a good idea. New York offers you great budget options (but be warned that hotel review websites find hundreds of cases of bug infestations among budget hotels in the city), and great fashionable luxury options (not a good idea unless you have pockets like Bill Gates), but never the twain shall meet. What kind of fashionably affordable options are there in a city like this where rooms go for about the highest in the country at about $250 on average? Why, you go for boutique hotels of course, the new middle ground.
The whole boutique hotel movement began around the time Barack Obama's presidential campaign started; at first, it was barely a drop in the ocean - a couple of tiny cozy uber-fashionable hotels like the Pod and the Jane opened up with luxury offerings on a tiny tab. They were so successful that the hotel industry caught on to the trend, and went to town market with traveler friendly, New York style boutique hotels that had really cool architecture and great facilities, and a price tag that was barely above the average at about $200. Among boutique hotels, these are a new breed - they are the budget boutique hotels.
The whole movement with boutique hotels was always supposed to be about young hungry entrepreneurs with a vision in fashion. The new budget boutiques are anything but though; most of them are owned and run by international hotel chains like the Intercontinental. They're just trying to draw in a special kind of fashion-conscious independent customer that they couldn't have lured to a major hotel. Let's look at what some of these hotels are like; for the most part, they have great service, the design of the rooms is thoughtful and hip, and the amenities they provide are all for the new generation, if they do go over the top little bit with the iPod docks. So without further ado, let's look at a handful of the best of the lot.
Fashion 26 on West 26th actual almost succeeds in living up to its name. Everything about it seems new and exciting; get this, they have contests all the time for best-dressed guest; if you win, you get a free room upgrade. The fashion theme runs throughout. The housekeeping staff all wear little risqué French maid costumes, and the windows are framed so thatyou get a look into the showcases of fashionable clothing stores across the street. The service itself is pretty fantastic; they come in and turn down the bed before bedtime, leave you little notes about the weather, change the positions the pillows and so on. The food could do with a little improvement though.
Boutique hotels are all about the flourishes, the quirky touches here and there. Take the Strand for instance, on W. 37th St. In the men's urinals, instead of those antiseptic cubes, they have ice cubes. The hotel itself is a great location with great views over the Empire State building. The rooms are large and fresh; but you don't get the boutiquey coziness anywhere. The bathrooms are airy and kind of cold. There is an Art Deco theme going around, that doesn't help all that much. They get it with the creative complimentary breakfast though, and the seafood restaurant is imaginative.
There are many others too - The Indigo, the Vibe, and the Distrikt among others. You snag a room in any of these places for about $200 a night, and they are a good deal. They usually seem eager for the opportunity, and that's a feel has been missing for quite a while at any hotel.
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