The Hotel at Times Square Rating: 3.0 Pearls

Midtown West, Manhattan, New York City

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The Hotel at Times Square is not immediately "at Times Square" -- it's a 10-minute walk from it. Rather, the hotel is located around the corner from a long series of small-scale, discount jewelry shops that are better known as the Diamond District. But its location outside the noise of Times Square is, in many ways, a good thing. Plus, the hotel is closer to Midtown West's many other attractions, including high-end shopping along 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, and Radio City Music Hall.

• One block from the B, D, F, and V subway lines; three blocks from the N, R, and W lines; five blocks from the Q, 7, and S lines; six blocks from the 4, 5, and 6 lines -- quick, easy access to all Manhattan neighborhoods
• 10-minute subway ride to Central Park
• 10-minute walk to Times Square
• 10-minute subway ride to the Empire State Building
• Five-minute walk to Rockefeller Center
• 25-minute subway ride to the ferry terminal to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• 15-minute subway ride to the American Museum of Natural History
• 30-minute subway ride to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met") and a 10-minute walk to the Museum of Modern Art (the "MoMA")

The Queen Bed Room

• Standard rooms start at about 200 square feet (average, for a hotel room in New York) and have a queen-size bed.
• Upgrades also available for larger rooms with king-size beds or two double-beds as well as family suites (a combination of rooms)
• Large, 32-inch flat-screen TV
• Free Wi-Fi
• Alarm clock with an iPod hookup
• Coffeemaker
• Cordless speaker phone
• Nintendo 64 video games availbale
• Smoking rooms available

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.