After our Bermuda cruise this summer, I’m planning a short stay in New York City with my 3 kids for 2 nights. They are so excited! We visited NYC in October 2015. It was very enjoyable, and the kids have consistently asked when we can go back.
The last time we visited, we stayed at a Hyatt Place in Queens and took the subway into Manhattan every day. The 45-minute commute into Manhattan was doable, but I want this trip to be even easier since I won’t have another adult to help me.
Last month on our Facebook page, I asked our blog readers what they look for in a NYC hotel when traveling with kids. I loved reading your responses and it helped me formulate my own wish list.
Wish List for NYC Hotel
Based on my prior NYC experiences and the points/cash I have to work with, I came up with a wish list for the ideal NYC hotel.
Cost/Brand: We have 35k Marriott points earned from my husband’s work travel and a $300 Marriott gift card I received for Christmas at my disposal. My goal is to use those points and the gift card to cover the majority of hotel costs with as little out-of-pocket costs as possible. (By the way, if I had Wyndham points, I would for sure book this TRYP hotel with a family room that’s only 15,000 points until the Wyndham changes go into effect on April 3).
Location: I want to stay right in the heart of Manhattan, as close to Times Square as possible. We had plenty of subway experience on our last trip, and this time I’d rather be within walking distance of Times Square.
Beds: My kids hate sharing beds on vacation, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. But if they have to share beds, we need queen-sized beds (not double beds). That extra space makes a lot of difference! I will be sharing a bed with my daughter, and I’ll be kicked less in a queen-size bed.
Free Breakfast: Having free breakfast is more of a “nice to have” rather than a requirement. With kids, it’s convenient to just take the elevator downstairs and fill up before heading out for the day. But not having free breakfast isn’t a deal breaker, since NYC has McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts a’plenty on every corner.
As I started to search for hotels that met my wish list, I quickly discovered that finding our ideal hotel would not be as easy as I had assumed. Queen beds are very rare in NYC. Most hotels have double beds. And, the price per night for our dates was creeping into the $400-$500 range.
Was I looking for something that was impossible to find in NYC? Was I really just searching for a unicorn?
AAA Rates to the Rescue
In the past few years, most of our hotel stays have been on points. Admittedly, I’m a little rusty when it comes to the best way to search for hotels on cash. But since half of our stay will be on a gift card, cash price matters.
Just as I was feeling discouraged about the cash prices, I remembered our AAA membership and added that into the special rate on the Marriott search engine. Viola! It made a huge difference. Suddenly, more hotels came down to my budget.
Check out this price difference with the AAA membership. Same hotel, same room.
My $59 annual AAA membership saves $129 a night at this hotel.
Now that I found some Marriott properties in my price range, I just had to make sure they cost 35,000 or less on points and they met the other items on my wish list.
Contender #1: Moxy Times Square
Moxy NYC Times Square caught my eye. I’ve never stayed at a Moxy hotel. Points rate and cash rate are within my budget, and the location is great. The hotel doesn’t have a free breakfast, but buying breakfast nearby wouldn’t be too expensive.
What attracted me most to the Moxy hotel is the room with two bunk beds. None of us would have to share a bed.
The rooms are very small, but I think we could deal with it. My main concern with booking this hotel is the noise level from a nightclub within the hotel.
Contender #2: Springhill Suites New York Manhattan Midtown/Fifth Avenue
This hotel seems to have everything on my wish list. It’s walkable to Times Square, it has queen beds and a free breakfast. It’s even close to a McDonald’s and a Chick-Fil-A, which means I’m assured to have a quick place for meals with my kids. Sold!
I reserved one night with queen beds for an AAA rate of $269. Unfortunately, when I went to book the other night with points, the only option was a room with double beds, not queen beds. What?!? That means I would have one night in double beds and one night in queen beds. I don’t want to switch rooms after a night, so we would likely end up in a room with two doubles for both nights. Ugh.
Contender #3: Sheraton Times Square
Sheraton Times Square is the closest hotel to all the action. It’s convenient to Times Square, Rockefeller Center and Central Park. It only has rooms with double beds (not queens), but I figure if I’m going to have to settle for double beds, I may as well be in the best location, right?
This hotel currently costs 35,000 points per night and has cash rates under $300. It is one of the hotels that will change categories with Marriott’s upcoming changes on March 5, 2019. So, I’d have to book this now if I want the current rate.
Aside from only having double beds, the hotel also has a pesky $25 per day destination fee, which is annoying.
The Winner Is….For Now
I really didn’t find a hotel that fit my entire wish list. I feel like I’m on an episode of HGTV’s House Hunters, where none of the choices are perfect.
When I tried to circle back and book the Moxy, I got a message that the hotel is no longer accepting award stays for my time period. You snooze, you lose. Dang it!
For now, I have a reservation at Springhill Suites, one night with double beds on points and one night with queen beds on a gift card. I called the hotel to see if I could request queen beds for the first night. I’m willing to pay some cash in addition to the points. The front desk clerk noted my request on my reservation, but said I’d have to request it again at check-in. I’m not confident we will get the bigger beds. I’m hoping we will all be too tired to care that someone is kicking us in our sleep.
Since we still have a few months before our trip, I plan to keep checking a few other Marriott locations with queen beds to see if the cash price comes down.
Have you traveled to NYC with kids? What are you requirement when picking a hotel? Are double beds a deal breaker for you? Does location trump bed size?
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
We are staying at the Tryp in a premium 2 queen room for spring break! Scored it for 15,000 Wyndham points. The next night we move to the intercontinental Times Square using my last free unrestricted ihg free night cert. I got tickets to see Hamilton last year so we have that planned. We also have Statue of Liberty pedestal tickets! Good luck on finding a hotel.
@Natasha That sounds like a great trip! I want to see Hamilton some day.
Well, it looks like now I’ll be staying in a family room at TRYP after all. A friend saw this post and she had extra Wyndham points and booked the room for us. Woohoo! Now we have space and beds.
Yay!!! I’m so happy for you. I’ll make sure to review the room when we get back!
TRYP looks like the perfect place — you scored!!!
I hate double beds as they’re way too small for my adult size children. We just came back from Spring Training, and the Hyatt Place we stayed at had 2 double beds and a Queen sofa pull out. The largest kid had his own bed, dad had his own as well, and you guessed it…mommy ended up on the sofa bed with the youngest. At least my youngest was happy with the arrangement.
In NYC, we stayed at the Hyatt Place NYC Midtown and they had 2 Queens and a sofa bed…no one slept on the sofa bed because we needed a place just to sit down after a long day of walking.
@Stephanie Oh no, not the sofa bed! I hope it wasn’t too uncomfortable.
Having the first night being the Queen beds might help. We will try TRYP family plus this December (from mattress run) and another night at Residence Inn Manhattan/Central Park with a King bed+sofa. If you liked Broadway musical, getting in line for Rush ticket at 9 am for $42 Mean Girls Ticket is worth it.
@Agnes That’s great that you were able to get that room at the TRYP hotel! I’m undecided if we will make it to a Broadway play or not. I was thinking about seeing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but it’s two nights long.
We stayed at the Sheraton Times Square with two kids two years ago. The location was soooo amazing. I’m not a fan of the double beds either but we brought our aerobed for our daughter, my son had the other bed, and then I just shared with my husband (he doesn’t kick too much!) At the time the Business SPG card was giving lounge access so we had free breakfast too – in fact three of our five days it was full in the morning so they sent us downstairs to the full buffet. I don’t remember the destination fee but maybe it was waived because we stayed on points. It was so great to be able to walk so many places and the subway was a few steps away.
@Wendy The location of the Sheraton Times Square really seems amazing. Under different circumstances, I would bring a blow-up bed and go for it. But, since I’ll be traveling without my husband and going on a cruise before this, I really want to pack light. I think the destination fee is new and it appears it applies to point stays as well. Several of the Marriott properties in NYC now have it.
I just booked my sister in NYC for Spring Break this year in April…they chose the Moxy hotel in downtown, they factor in the price and 2 queen beds in a room (non-negotiable).
If you want, you can email me more info with dates and see what discounted rate I can see what friends rate I see from my end. These discounted rates usually are available to book 90 days out from arrival date.
Fyi, I just re-matched myself from MLife to Hyatt (again, just to see what happens)…I got an error on the page that I was already matched BUT…the Club Lounge certificates expiration got extended another year to expire Feb 2021.
@lea Please report back on how your sister likes the Moxy hotel. I’ve never stayed in one! We are not quite at 90 days out yet, but I might email you. 🙂 I’m glad you were able to get your MLife/Hyatt status matched again. I got mine matched last month, now I just need to figure out if I can use the lounge certificates.
We stayed in the Hyatt Place on w. 36th when we joined my husband on a work trip. Double beds, but I don’t know that queen beds in Manhattan are easy to come by. Next time, I’d probably want to stay a little north of there, but would stay again if needed due to availability.
We went to MoMA, the natural history museum, and the flagship branch of the library. Also wanted through Times Square.
@Kacie That sounds like a great time. My husband and I went to the natural history museum on our anniversary trip a few years ago. When my kids were younger, we didn’t think twice about booking a room with double beds instead of queen beds. Now that my kids are older and bigger, beds and space are higher up on our priority list.