GEM Hotel Midtown West Rating: 3.0 Pearls

Midtown West, Manhattan, New York City

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Between 9th and 10th Avenue on 36th Street, The GEM Hotel is situated on a quiet block lined with nondescript residential buildings, parking lots, and garages. But while the area sees a lot of traffic from the Lincoln Tunnel -- traffic that one needs to pass in order to get to the more interesting parts of Manhattan -- it is still just a short walk to the restaurants, bars, and famed Flea Market of Hell's Kitchen along 9th Avenue, and just a 10-minute walk from the heart of Times Square.

• 10-minute walk to the A, C, and E subway lines; 12-minute walk to the 1, 2, and 3 lines -- easy access to Manhattan's westside, but expect a transfer or a very long walk to get to anywhere on the eastside
• Eight-minute walk to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
• 15-minute subway ride to Central Park
• 10-minute walk to Times Square
• 20-minute walk to the Empire State Building
• 20-minute subway ride to Rockefeller Center
• 30-minute subway ride to the ferry terminal to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• 20-minute subway ride to the American Museum of Natural History
• 35-minute subway ride to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met") and a 20-minute subway ride to the Museum of Modern Art (the "MoMA")

A King Room

• Guest rooms are small, in general, and room types differ based on the beds -- either a queen, king, and two doubles.
• Business rooms are about the same as the standard guest room, but they also have a fridge and microwave.
• Small, 27-inch flatscreen TV
• iHome, iPod-docking alarm clock
• Free Wi-Fi and hard-wired Internet
• Small desk and workspace in every room
• Bath robe -- not bad, for a hotel in this price range
• Coffeemaker with Wolfgang Puck coffee
• Electronic safe, large enough for a laptop

New York has three nearby airports: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Getting to town from JFK or LaGuardia is usually more convenient than getting there from Newark, but travel times are heavily dependent on the time of day and traffic conditions. From JFK, a taxi to anywhere in Manhattan costs a flat rate of $45 and takes around an hour in average conditions. From LaGuardia, a metered cab ride to midtown Manhattan costs about $40 and can take 30 minutes if traffic is light, three times that if it's bad. Rides from Newark cost at least $40 (plus tolls) and can take more than 90 minutes. It's customary to tip your driver 15 to 25 percent.

Those looking to save some cash can use the privately run shuttle buses that are available at all three airports for about $14 per person. For more information on the shuttles, go to Super Shuttle or New York Airport Service. Public transit is also available for as little as $7 per person, but travel can take up to two hours and involve a lot of lugging bags up and down stairways.

For mass-transit directions right to the hotel, check out HopStop.com.