I have heard so many mixed reviews from friends who have stayed in hotels in New York. Usually they failed to live up to their expectations, being dirty or noisy and all far from cheap. A friend of mine sugested I stated at the Vanderbilt YMCA when visiting New York. It is cheap, and although unglamourous, you know exactly what to expect when you get there. After tax we paid each $333 for a week (works out as £223 with a dismal exchange rate of $1.49 to the pound). So really not a bad price, all things considered. For this price, we had a small room with bunkbeds on the 7th floor which is accessable by lift and staircase, and the rooms are operated ...  Read the complete review

I have stayed in the Vanderbilt twice now. The first time was through a friends recommendation, and although you have to share a shower/toilet area I never had to queue during my stay. The second time we originally booked into Jazz on the Park in North Manhattan which was awful (but thats a different review). The Vanderbilt is located just across from Central Park and the Empire State which makes it ideal for just about everything. There are plenty of rooms, albeit bunkbeds so no nookie and there is an excellent cafe/diner thing just round the corner that sells gorgeous breakfasts, as well as an Irish pub which servers Stella! They also have a swimming ...  Read the complete review

I stayed here for 6 nights on a school trip to NY when I was 15. From the outside, it looks quite impressive - its down a dark little street but it's within walking distance of the centre of NY and the shops. In the lobby is a self-service cafe/restaurant which is unvaried but quite cheap and good quality. I recommend breakfast there, especially the pancakes, although the service is mind-numbingly slow. Theres also a little shop with postcards, stamps etc. There are 10 floors, with hundreds of rooms. The room is tiny, with a bunkbed taking up about 3/4 of the space, and the rest taken up by a chest of drawers with a cable TV on top. If your suitcase ...  Read the complete review