Marcel Hotel Rating: 3.0 Pearls

Gramercy and Murray Hill, Manhattan, New York City

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The Marcel is just a five-minute walk from the beautiful Madison Square Park, and its few surrounding subway lines. Dotting the area, low-key, but high-quality, bars and restaurants -- such as Eleven Madison Park (two blocks away) or 'inoteca (just downstairs from the hotel) -- attract more locals than tourists.

Primarily residential, the neighborhoods of Gramercy and Murray Hill don't have the tourist crowds of Times Square or Midtown East. For most visitors, the main draw is that it's a quiet, convenient place to stay, just outside the theaters, funky shops, and restaurants of the East Village (to the south) and the business-focused hub and high-end 5th Avenue shopping of Midtown East (to the north).

• Three blocks from the 6 subway line; five blocks from the R, W subway lines
• 30-minute subway ride to Central Park
• 20-minute subway ride to Times Square
• 15-minute walk to the Empire State Building
• 30-minute subway ride (one transfer) to the ferry terminal to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• 25-minute subway ride to Rockefeller Center
• 40-minute subway ride (one transfer) or $12 taxi to the American Museum of Natural History
• 35-minute subway ride or $12 taxi to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met") and 25-minute subway ride to the Museum of Modern Art (the "MoMA")

The Deluxe King Room

• The Standard Queen -- the most basic room type -- starts at about 200 square feet (about average, for a New York hotel room).
• King and Deluxe King or Double rooms each have a bit more space to move around.
• Junior Suites -- at about 420 square feet -- have separate living areas with couches and desks.
• Shared walkout balcony in the Deluxe King Balcony Rooms; a railing divides the common balcony into private sections for each room
• Deluxe King Patio Rooms have private outdoor patios as well, and include a dining table and chairs.
• 32-inch flat-screen TV
• iPod-docking alarm clock
• Minibar
• Electronic safe, large enough for a laptop
• High-quality LATHER-brand bath products
• No smoking rooms
• Wi-Fi costs $11.95 per day
• Breakfast buffet is $12.95 per day

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.