Over the years I’ve developed a strategy for choosing accommodation that is particularly useful for city destinations. When I start planning a trip I use Google Maps to create a map with destinations (activities, sightseeing, and shopping) pinned along with restaurants. This gives me a general idea of the areas we will be spending most of our time.

I have destinations pinned in a magenta color and restaurants in purple. When it comes to choosing accommodation, if I have to choose between the two, I always opt to be closer to the restaurants rather than activities. At the end of a long day walking around the city I’d rather be near the restaurants we want to go to, so after we finish eating we can get back to the hotel and rest. This doesn’t mean we won’t go to restaurants further from our hotel. We might go to restaurants further from our hotel for lunch but I’d like to be closer to the hotel for dinner. As you can see on the map, it made the most sense for us to stay in the Midtown area. We opted for the Intercontinental Barclay in Midtown for our hotel. There was a subway entrance just down the street from us and Grand Central was only a couple of blocks away which meant getting around was very easy (although getting around the city is easy regardless of where your stay). I was really happy with the area we stayed in. It felt safe, central to everything but also not too crowded. When we inevitably go back to New York City we will either stay in Midtown again or in the SOHO area. The reason we would consider staying in SOHO is because the area is nice and most of the restaurants left on our NYC restaurant bucket list are in SOHO.

Tips for Choosing Accomodation

Determine the type of accommodation first. I tend to opt for hotels because they have more amenities and are often the same price as Airbnb.

Next choose the area. I suggest trying to stay near the restaurants you want to try.

Lastly make sure the area is ideal as far as safety, access to public transportation, or parking if you have a car.