“Nice Hotel In a Great Location”
I stayed in a standard room at the Empire, facing back into the mechanical zone, so nothing fancy. It was a typical Manhattan hotel room, meaning small. As in, you have to close the bathroom door to physically use the toilet. Plus, it had one of those half-closed showers with a modern wand - the ones that make you want to scream "Would you PLEASE just put a door on this thing?" Sure, they save water, but they're annoying. And the cell phone broadband is marginal on the backside, or you pay for their wireless. And the safe (which is free and otherwise nice) won't hold a 17-inch laptop.
But other than those things, it was great. Nice furnishings, courteous housekeeping staff who don't barge in and respect your privacy, very attentive but never annoying doormen, and a nice lobby to meet folks. The location is fabulous, with a Starbucks and a great but casual pub/grille right next door. The price is good, and when it's all worked in with a nice air fare, it seemed like it was almost free. Would I stay there again? Absolutely.
Area recommendations
I'm a fragrance writer, so I'm interested in what might be called the fragrance districts. These are places where you can smell some high-end perfumes that you pretty much aren't going to be sniffing outside of Paris, London, and (in the US) maybe Los Angeles. One of them is downtown, near a store on Crosby Street called MiN NY. The Bond no.9 flagship store on 9 Bond Street is down there, too. The other, main district is uptown near 57th Street, around Henri Bendel, Barneys, and Bergdorf Goodman. The Creed boutique is up in that area, too. Fragrance lovers should definitely plan to spend a day in New York on a sniffing expedition. It's a lot of fun, and especially in the holiday shopping season, when there are a lot of new things and a lot of seasonal staff.
When to go
The holiday season is exciting and somewhat magical, but it can be crowded. Spring and fall are nice in general. Summer is great in the morning, when it's cool and the streets are empty. I love Manhattan all year, but it's probably best to stay away in the dead of winter and the hottest part of the summer.
Getting around
Walking in Manhattan is actually the best way to get around, but the subway is good for moving quickly up and downtown. Cabs are good in the morning and night, although events can create local gridlocks when famous people are in town. Cabs move in the early afternoon, but things can lock up around 3-5, so be careful. Like I said - walking is king, and it's fun, so why not?
