The Maritime Hotel Rating: 4.0 Pearls

Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City

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The Maritime is across the street from the shops, famous bakeries, and restaurants in the Chelsea Market, a former Oreo cookie factory turned upscale offices (among them, Google, the Food Network, and Oyster Hotel Reviews). Beyond it, there is Hudson River Park (perfect for those rental bikes), Chelsea Piers (perfect for a boat ride), and -- elevated above the street -- the new Highline Park. It's equidistant from the heart of Chelsea, the swank nightclubs in the Meatpacking District, and the more quaint West Village, three of the city's most fashionable destinations (SoHo being the other).

Many elements of the West Village culture -- the gay clubs, art galleries, and trendy restaurants -- have migrated north to the bordering neighborhood of Chelsea over the past decade. And today, with some 350 art galleries, it's often considered the epicenter of New York's contemporary art scene.

• Three blocks from the A, C, E, L subway lines; four blocks from the 1, 2, 3 subway line
• 20-minute subway ride to Central Park
• 20-minute subway ride to Times Square
• 25-minute subway ride to the Empire State Building
• 30-minute subway ride to the ferry terminal to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• 25-minute subway ride to Rockefeller Center
• 25-minute subway ride to the American Museum of Natural History
• 40-minute subway ride or $13 taxi to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met") and 20-minute subway ride to the Museum of Modern Art (the "MoMA")

Penthouse A

• Standard rooms -- starting at a very generous 300 square feet -- have queen-size beds.
• Junior Suites have king-size beds, and span a very spacious 600 square feet.
• Small, 20-inch flat-screen TVs with cable and DVD players
• Electronic safes, large enough for laptops
• Minibars (with liquor)
• Thoughtful treats, like an umbrellas (free to use, but $50 if you take it home)
• Cool, green-tiled bathrooms
• High-end C.O. Bigelow bath products
• Set of bathrobes
• Free Wi-Fi
• Three Penthouse Suites (though they're not on the rooftop) are enormous (1100 square feet) and include an outdoor patio and New York's only outdoor shower.
• Two actual rooftop Penthouses (one at 1100 square feet and one at a whopping 2000 square feet) that have full roof access (an enormous amount of space) and even fireplaces

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.