Where to Stay in New York: Best Areas for Your Budget

Where should you stay in New York, and which is the best neighborhood to stay in New York? It depends on the kind of trip you're taking and what you want to do in the city.

To help you decide, we'll clear up your questions about where to stay, how much it costs, how far the attractions are, whether a hotel, a hostel or an apartment is the better call, whether it's worth what you'll pay, whether it's safe…

Best neighborhoods to stay in New York

There are more than 30 neighborhoods in New York spread across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens (the best boroughs for visitors).

With the efficient New York subway you can get anywhere, faster or slower depending on the neighborhood you stay in.

As a rule, places to stay in the most central neighborhoods are the noisiest, the most crowded and the priciest.

The quieter, more authentic and more affordable neighborhoods, on the other hand, are a bit farther out. Definitely keep them in mind when you decide where to sleep in New York.

Here's our pick of the 6 best neighborhoods to stay in New York (click the links for details on each area):

Midtown

If it's your first time, go for hotels in Midtown Manhattan, where you'll be close to the big attractions like Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the MoMA and Grand Central Station.

This is one of the most fast-paced parts of New York, always packed with traffic and people. It is, after all, the center of the city.

If you want the full-immersion Manhattan experience, this is the best place to get it.

Recommended hotels in Midtown

• Hotel Pennsylvania: a traveler favorite for its central location and reasonable price for the area (230 dollars a night).
• Vanderbilt YMCA: rooms with shared bathrooms that are cheap, well located and perfectly decent (around 120 dollars a night).

Upper West Side

This is one of the most elegant and quiet neighborhoods, yet it's full of things to do and close to the biggest attractions.

You'll always have Central Park right there. You'll see grand residences like the famous Dakota Building, where John Lennon lived, and Lincoln Center, the hub of New York's music, ballet and opera scene.

Best of all, it's full of small, affordable, well-located hotels and hostels.

Definitely one of the best areas to stay in Manhattan (I'll admit it's my favorite).

Recommended hotels in the Upper West Side

• West Side YMCA, cheap and ridiculously well located (shared bathrooms) steps from Central Park (around 130 dollars a night).
• Hotel Riverside Tower, simple rooms with a mini fridge and microwave. Book early and you can pay 90 dollars a night for a double with a private bathroom.
• La Quinta Inn & Suites Central Park, a more comfortable option, with breakfast included and steps from Central Park (around 150 dollars a night).

Times Square

Times Square is where the heart of New York beats. It's the neighborhood of the giant lit-up billboards, and it's where the city rings in the New Year.

You'll be close to Broadway, Fifth Avenue, the Empire State and plenty of other attractions.

It's packed with restaurants and landmark stores where you can fill your suitcase. Most of the big-name chain hotels are here.

The downside: it's always crowded. If that doesn't bother you, it's a great choice!

Recommended hotels in Times Square

• Holiday Inn Express and the Sheraton: given the sky-high rates in this area, their prices are reasonable, the rooms are clean and, most important, soundproofed.
• Pod 51 and City Rooms NYC, cheaper by the standards of the area.

Williamsburg

If you already know Manhattan, consider sleeping in Brooklyn.

Williamsburg is a terrific place to stay. It's an incubator of new trends, music, bars and boutique restaurants, just 20 minutes by subway from Downtown Manhattan.

Don't be fooled by its quiet streets during the day. At night the place comes alive.

Recommended hotels in Williamsburg

• Hotel Le Jolie, fantastic views of Downtown Manhattan for 170 dollars a night in a double room (if you book ahead).
• Pointe Plaza, close to the subway, generous continental breakfast, comfortable and clean (around 120 dollars a night).
• Pod Brooklyn, trendy, well located and spotless. Good deals in low season (doubles for as little as 75 dollars a night!).

Long Island City

Long Island City is a Queens neighborhood on the edge of the East River, very close to Manhattan thanks to the subway.

It used to be an industrial area, and little by little it has become New York's contemporary architecture playground.

Long Island City is full of modern hotels that are significantly cheaper than in Manhattan, so it's a great way to stretch your budget. Add to that the fact that many of them have spectacular skyline views 🙂

Recommended hotels in Long Island City

• Holiday Inn Manhattan View and Fairfield Inn & Suites, both 2 minutes from the subway, with Manhattan views from the rooms (around $250 a night).
• Nesva Hotel is ideal if you're traveling as a group of 3 or 4. It books up fast thanks to its reasonable price for NYC (between $180 and $210 a night).
• Best Western Plaza also has quad rooms, as cheap as a hostel but with chain-hotel quality (around $200 per room per night).
• The Local Hostel: a bed in a shared room goes for $60 a night. Dirt cheap if you're traveling solo.

Lower East Side

The Lower East Side is one of the oldest neighborhoods in New York, down in the south of Manhattan (Lower Downtown).

It's one of the best areas to stay in Downtown Manhattan, close to everything yet relatively tucked away.

Being near the port, it was the first home for many immigrants. You'll notice it in the number of communities that have left their mark here: Germans, Italians, Puerto Ricans, Vietnamese, Chinese…

Nearby you'll find the World Trade Center, the Statue of Liberty, Chinatown, Little Italy, the Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street…

Today it's a great place to hear live music and a favorite for nightlife lovers.

Recommended hotels in the Lower East Side

• The Bowery House, set among shops and restaurants and close to the attractions. Double rooms with a shared bathroom for $120! (very cheap for the area).
• Hotel Orchard Street, small but comfortable rooms with a private bathroom. Given how pricey Manhattan is, the rates are reasonable (around $210).
• Bluemoon Boutique Hostel & Hotel, a hostel that works well for solo travelers or big groups. Prices start at $99 a night.

Where to stay in New York: hotels, hostels or apartments

Where to stay in New York is a very personal decision, and it largely comes down to your budget.

Here are a few things to weigh before you decide (and some tips for finding a place to stay for under $50 a night):

Hotels

There are plenty of hotels to sleep in around New York.

You can check prices and availability, and even book without paying anything upfront, on Booking's hotel search.

We recommend it for its reliability and its wide range of packages and discounts (create a Booking account and you'll get member rates).

Hostels

Hostels are a good option if you're traveling solo, and also for large groups and young couples who don't mind sharing a room and bathroom (some places do have private rooms).

Here's a selection of good, centrally located hostels.

Apartments

If you're traveling with family or a group of friends and privacy and independence matter to you, renting a short-stay apartment in New York is an excellent call.

Book far enough ahead and you could pay less than you would at a hotel.

Booking's search is efficient and trustworthy, and it lists everything from small budget apartments to luxurious design lofts (just filter for apartments).

How do you get to your hotel?

As we've said, the key is choosing a place to stay with a subway station nearby.

Then check how well connected it is to the rest of the city and to the attractions you want to see. Our guide to planning trips on New York public transit will help with that.

Is New York safe?

Since Mayor Rudy Giuliani's time in office, New York is no longer a grim scene out of Taxi Driver or the more recent Joker.

Seriously, don't let the storylines you see on NYPD shows keep you away. The moment you arrive you'll notice there's a strong police presence, sometimes bordering on paranoia since the tragedy of September 11.

Be as careful as you'd be at home. Obviously some neighborhoods have higher crime rates, and we'll flag those as we go.

For example, the Bronx is the least practical borough to sleep in, since it's far from the center of the city and doesn't offer many options.

Staten Island has no subway, which makes life tough for tourists. But if riding a giant orange ferry back and forth sounds romantic to you, à la Melanie Griffith in Working Girl (1988), go for it. It's very safe.

Is it worth sleeping in New Jersey?

A lot of people ask us whether it's worth sleeping in New Jersey. We answer that on our page dedicated to New Jersey.

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We hope these notes help you make the best decision about where to stay in New York, the city that never sleeps.

One last piece of advice: you'll never see all of New York in a single trip.

Accept that and you'll enjoy every street and corner you visit in any of its neighborhoods. Practice makes perfect.

It's up to you, New York, New York…