‘The city that never sleeps’, this is soooo true. New York is one busy city, no matter at what time you go outside there is always something to see or to do. Last month my fiancée and I decided to set sail to New York City to discover as much as possible during our 7 days in the Big Apple.

The hardest part of this trip to NYC was actually finding a hotel in a list of over 800 hotels that had a good price/ quality value. During this quest I was really surprised how expensive the hotels are in NYC (maybe another reason why this city never sleeps 🙂 ). For me it is important that the hotel (when doing a city trip) is in a good location so I can walk everywhere or at least have some good public transport connection. The room must be clean and last but not least I must be able to have breakfast. I know NYC has lots of great breakfast places, but when I wake up I need an instant breakfast fill up 🙂 otherwise I just can’t function correctly (I am one hungry man).  After a long search I did find a hotel that even topped my criteria, it was the one and only Yotel.

• 10-15 minute walk from Time Square (where you have all subway trains at your disposal, all sightseeing busses, etc…)
• They serve complementary muffins (10 different types) accompanied by coffee, tea, … at breakfast time

• Has a rooftop cocktail bar (mmm, I loved their Margarita’s)

• You can sleep up to the 27^th floor (we were on the 24^th floor),

•  Very modern

• Normal NYC price
• Friendly staff
• Walking distance from Broadway (I love musicals, don’t care what you think 🙂 🙂 )
• …

Something that might initially scare you is the size of the room, but you shouldn’t be scared. I can say for a fact that the architect who has designed the rooms made sure every millimeter of the room got used in a good way and that you have all the comfort you need. If I go back to NYC, I wouldn’t doubt of staying there again.

A little tip if you go to NYC (or North America in general), no matter which kind of hotel you stay in (5 star or a B&B), you must always check the room (before putting your bags down) for Bed Bugs.  This seems to be a big problem in North America. (FYI, the Yotel didn’t have any).

Hotel -> Check

For me the best way to start your visit in NYC (or any other city of this size) is by using the sightseeing bus lines on the first day! Yes, I know it seems very touristy and usually I’m also not too keen on it. But for a city of this size taking these busses is just common sense. It helps me to get a good overview of the city, plus, during this ride I can write down the things I definitely want to see. (And as there is a tour guide on the bus you also learn some stuff). We took the Grayline on our first day and are proud of it :-).

After the first day the best en fasted way to get around is the subway or at least, that’s what we did. The NYC subway is very easy to use and it is best if you buy a pass for your whole stay (this might be most convenient)

To be continued with some great eateries and must see’s in NYC….