Hotel Chandler Rating: 4.0 Pearls

Gramercy and Murray Hill, Manhattan, New York City

Better known as the reality TV star from The Real Housewives of New York City, the Hotel Chandler's general manager, Simon van Kempen, helps set the tone of this 123-room boutique hotel -- cordial and competent service, a few high-end touches (like nightly turndown service with chocolates on the pillow), and a smaller, not-too-corporate vibe in the low-key nighborhood of Murray Hill (a short walk from nine subway lines and affordable international fare in Koreatown and "Curry Hill").

Before opening as the Chandler in 2001, this building (circa 1907) had many lives: a welfare hotel; a halfway house; a temporary home to Leona Helmsey in her meaner days. Like many other hotels in New York, the guest rooms are a bit small and, also like many other hotels in this price range, especially dark -- many standard rooms only have one tiny window.

But the hotel has managed to recover from its long, seedy legacy. The guest rooms are all well designed and include high-end details like Frette linens, 32-inch flat-screen TVs, and rainfall showerheads. Sufficient goodies -- free Wi-Fi, a well-equipped and cheerfully painted fitness center with a Finnish sauna, and free coffee and tea throughout the day -- keep business travelers and other visitors coming back to the hotel, year after year. Though competing boutique hotels might be a little classier (the Carlton) or more stylish (the Hotel Roger Williams), Hotel Chandler is still a pleasant option, especially for visitors who are already familiar with New York and want to be a bit outside the tourist crowds in Midtown.

The hotel offers the level of attentiveness you'd expect from a small and well-managed boutique, but there's nothing about the service that feels excessive. Guests ask for something and they receive it in a timely manner.

• 24-hour concierge service
• Nightly turndown service with chocolates
• Overnight shoeshine
• Same-day and overnight laundry and dry cleaning
• Room service is available for all three meals from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.
• Free coffee and tea each morning in the lobby, and available continually throughout the day in the library
• Free New York Times available in the lobby for guests each morning
• Valet parking is $40 ($50 for an SUV) a day.
• In-room spa treatments can be arranged with Oasis Spa, located two blocks away, but it's not likely that you can fit a massage table into one of the standard rooms.

View on a Larger Map

Murray Hill is a mixed business and residential neighborhood, just south of the Theater District and Times Square. While some streets hold high-rise office buildings (including the Empire State Building) others are quiet and treelined, like the Hotel Chandler's.

In addition to the shopping at Herald Square -- the hotel is two blocks from Macy's and the Manhattan Mall -- there are interesting places to eat in Koreatown (kimchi and dumplings with authentic karaoke) and in Curry Hill, which has some of the city's best Indian food.

• Four blocks from the B, D, F, V, Q, W, N, R, and 6 subway lines; easy access to anywhere in the city
• Bell staff members assist guests with hailing taxis by running around the corner to Madison Avenue and sending the taxi around to the Chanlder's entrance.
• Three blocks to the Empire State Building; eight blocks to the Flatiron Building; 15 blocks to the Chrysler Building -- three of New York's most famious buildings

A Superior Queen Room

• Standard rooms may feel small, but they are about average size for a New York City hotel room (200 square feet).
• Frette bathrobes
• Aveda bath products
• Comfortable beds: Frette linens; down duvets
• 32-inch LG flat-screen TV with premium cable (including HBO), movies on demand ($16), and Nintendo games ($10)
• Stocked minibar
• Electronic safe
• Free Wi-Fi and wired Internet in all guest rooms
• Suites have pullout couches.
• Only one tiny window in some rooms; rooms facing 31st Street tend to have more natural light

• Windowless, 24-hour fitness center
• Small, Finnish sauna in the gym, available to guests until 11 p.m. each night
• Single PC computer in the lobby, as well as one in the library
• Free coffee and tea each morning in the lobby, and available continually throughout the day in the library
• Free wired and wireless Internet in all guest rooms; Wi-Fi also in the lobby and library

Since guest rooms are on the smaller side (and there are no rollaway beds available), families will need to upgrade to a room with two twin or two double beds or to one of the hotel's suites, each of which have a pullout sofa and can sleep up to four people.

• Free cribs
• No rollaway beds
• Connecting rooms available
• Nintendo games on-demand for $10 each
• 12:31 restaurant and bar offer a kids' menu for both restaurant and room service
• Six blocks from quaint, but beautiful, Madison Square Park, which has a playground and the well-known Shake Shack gourmet food kiosk

Last renovated in 2004 (and refurbished in 2007), the hotel is still well maintained and very clean, both inside and outside the guest rooms.

• Bar 12:31 offers basic American bar fare -- burgers and fries; sandwiches; salads; a few pasta dishes -- from noon to 10 p.m. weekdays and 3 to 10 p.m. on weekends
• Cheap drinks at Bar 12:31; $3 beer and $5 wine is a rare find in Manhattan
• Breakfast -- prepared by the 12:31 kitchen -- served seven days a week from 7 a.m. to noon ($16 for a cold buffet breakfast; $20 for a buffet with eggs and bacon)
• Room service available 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.
• Great eateries at every price point nearby, from Artisanal Fromagerie and Bistro to Wolfgang's Steakhouse, to the recently relocated 2nd Avenue Deli.
• The hotel is situated a block from Koreatown which has plenty of great places for bibimbap, sushi, dumplings, and kimchi.
• Several blocks south on Lexington Avenue is known as "Curry Hill" for its wealth of Indian restaurants and ethnic grocery stores.

New York has three nearby airports: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Flying into JFK or LaGuardia is typically easiest and the least time consuming. From JFK, it's a flat-rate $45 (one-hour) taxi to anywhere in Manhattan. From LaGuardia, it's about a $40 (30-minute) metered cab ride to midtown Manhattan. Rides from Newark cost at least $40 (plus tolls) and can take over 1.5 hours. Don't forget to tip your driver 15 to 25 percent.

To save some cash, group shuttles 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. You can also take public transit from any of the airports for as little as $7 per person, but travel times can take up to two hours and involve a lot of lugging bags up and down stairs. For mass-transit directions right to the hotel, check out HopStop.com.