We go to New York City a fair amount to visit our children — both in their 20s, surviving and working (thank G_d), and settled in their respective apartments — and to just get away and enjoy the plays, music, shopping, and museums and to explore the colorful neighborhoods.
The only problem is finding a place to stay that’s not charging a small fortune. The modest hotels we used to stay at a year or two ago now have seasonal rates in the $250 if not $300 range, and with parking at $30 a night and meals and entertainment costs, we just could not keep it up without visions of bankruptcy judges dancing in my mind.
So we turned to the popular websites craigslist and Airbnb (“bnb” stands for “bed and breakfast”), both offering deals by apartment owners and renters to stay in their pads. But that wasn’t much cheaper when you add parking. Then there’s the relative pain in the butt of requiring face-to-face meetings usually to get a key and pay in cash, including a deposit and a cleaning fee, not to mention the fact that often what you see in the website’s photos may not accurately depict the place.
So the Lodging and Entertainment Department CEO (my wife) scoured the websites of hotels.com, various hotels, and TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor is good because it provides a huge number of travelers’ reviews.
To our relief, when she looked for a place to stay several months ago, she found somewhat cheap rooms ($189 a night) at a small hotel, the Ravel in Long Island City — a “city” in the borough of Queens we’d never visited much less knew about but which was incredibly near Manhattan across the East River. And it had a small free parking lot.
We stayed at the Ravel twice more and enjoyed saving our loot. And we were surprised to find it ranked 17th out of the top 21 Long Island City hotels. The rooms were large, some with small porches outside with dramatic views of Manhattan.
But we stopped going there when the rates went up. My wife then booked the last available room for $159 at the Nesva, a new hotel in Long Island City several blocks away from the Ravel in a neighborhood around 39th and 40th avenues and 28th and 29th streets, where a collection of other new hotels had sprung up. You can park for free on the street, and they’re all right near the 39th Street subway stop, only two quick stops from midtown Manhattan.
Several weekends later we booked the Holiday Inn, across the street from the Nesva for an unusually low $126 a night. That place had the best shower I’ve ever used.
Last weekend we stayed at the top-rated hotel, the 87-room Verve a block away from the Holiday Inn and the Nesva and across the street from the Hotel Veviter, all relatively new buildings. The Verve cost $143 a night for a king-size bed and free breakfast. We could have picked the Country Inn Suites for $108, but my wife opted for more luxury.
Sunday morning we went down for a full, filling breakfast and got a surprise.
Manager Tom Brentlinger appeared and, with a booming, friendly voice wished everyone “Good Morning” and asked if anyone had questions or requests. That was the first time in all our hotel stays anywhere that someone from management ever came out and addressed a breakfast crowd.
Brentlinger then asked if anyone had a birthday that day. A youngster named Ethan responded that he was turning 9. Brentlinger had everyone sing “Happy Birthday” while Ethan smiled and stood on a chair. That seems to be the tone at the Verve.
But I had a question: Why did the Verve and the other new hotels set up shop in this bleak, mixed residential and industrial neighborhood with just two tiny grocery stores and hardly any attractive nearby restaurants or bars.
What happened, Brentlinger said, was that the U.S. was among five finalists bidding for the 2012 summer Olympics. The New York bid was to hold the games at the old World’s Fair grounds in Queens. so the zoning for the neighborhood had been changed to allow hotels in the residential neighborhood. The Verve started construction in 2009, as did many of the others and didn’t stop when the bid failed.
“We went ahead and advertised, as well as everybody else, and we’re doing well,” he said. “It’s an alternative to Manhattan and much closer because of the subway. You’re probably paying less than half of what you’d pay in Manhattan for much larger rooms and parking on the street.”
As to why clubs, bars, and restaurants didn’t also spring up, Brentlinger explained, “It’s rough because of the church and school across the street, and you can’t obtain a liquor license within 500 feet, and we’re surrounded by churches.”
But, he said, there are plans to open up a dining spot or two a few blocks away.
For more on Long Island City hotels, including reviews, visit
