Frequent visitors to NYC (of which this lady is one) think staying near Central Park is so #basic but when you're traveling with kids or when it's your first time bringing the kids into NYC, staying near Central Park is exactly what you want and need. The park itself has so much to see and do, and then you're near the museums, Rockefeller Center, Broadway theaters, and the larger Times Square area. This, er, central location makes it easy to hit all the tourist attractions in a single day. And that's kind of important when you've only got a few days to spend.
But where to stay that's family-friendly? That's easy. Park yourself and the family at Le Parker Meridien New York. Aside from a killer location at 56th Street and 6th Avenue, just two blocks from the park, the hotel has a “secret” burger shop, a rooftop indoor pool, and junior suites that can easily sleep a family of four and maybe one more. Also, there are two Duane Reades within one block. Families, you know how crucial this is for picking up reasonably priced snacks, water, toys, diapers, wipes, etc. Did we mention there's a pool?
We're breaking down this hotel stay in a different sort of format with Giggles + Groans. Yeah, we're keeping it. Enjoy! Have any specific questions about the hotel for your family? Email us and we'll answer it for you!
GIGGLES
+ The Tower Junior Suites, which we recommend booking, are stylishly mod but perfectly comfortable for kids with a large l-shaped desk, minibar, pull-out couch, a little window seat, and a semi-separate bedroom area for the parental units.
+ The bedroom and the sleeper sofa are divided by a TV tower that can be spun around so while parents are “resting their eyes” in the bedroom, the TV can be spun to face the kids on the couch. And vice versa. Our kids just thought this was so cool. Yours might not. Just note: The TV tower does not entirely separate the kids room from your room.
+ The location is CHOICE. We touched on this above but you are so close to everything including The Plaza (where Eloise lives), Columbus Circle (where you can brunch with kids in a refined space at LandMarc), that super cool Apple store on 5th Avenue (sad FAO Schwartz and the dancing piano is gone), and Quality Meats (an upscale steakhouse where you can actually take your children since they have a off-menu kids' menu. Provided that you go at 5pm and bring a ton of Shopkins and My Little Ponies to keep them quiet, of course.) It is also around the corner from this cheesy souvenir shop where we bought earmuffs and where later on, the girls wanted to pose for a picture. #Kidsdothedarndestthings
+ The indoor pool on the very top floor is amazing for families. When we went up there to check it out, kids were having a blast. But there were no signs for an adult swim time.
GROANS
+ Check-in time was hectic with many people checking out and seemingly many more people checking in. This meant luggage was everywhere and the bellmen were completely overworked. Our room wasn't ready at check-in, which we expected so we went out to explore. After rolling down hills in the park and fighting the crowds at Rock Center, we finally received a call from the front desk letting us know the room was ready. Which was perfect timing since our stronger half had been carrying around this lump for a good hour.
+ Concierge confusion. We were told by the concierge that first night that we could rent a stroller through a nearby pharmacy and that the concierge could arrange that for us. But of course, when we called the next monring, the concierge on duty had no idea what we were talking about. About 15 minutes later, we got the name of the pharmacy and our stronger half went out to pick up the stroller. Along with crossiants from Petrossian. Another bonus of the location.
+ The bathroom can be treacherous for children, especially the shower where the floor is slightly sloped. Older children are totally fine taking a shower in here, but watch the youngsters who might slip and fall.
+ The Burger Shop is ridiculously good (it is no In-n-Out though) but the line is ridiculously long at all times. Except maybe right when it opens. So plan for that.
+ No fancy family-friendly Le Meridien initiatives were in place yet but hopefully, those will be rolled out soon. (They are in place at the nearby Westin Times Square.)
GO ON, HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Knowing that hotel room rates in Manhattan over the Christmas and New Year's holidays would be insanely expensive, we opted for a sort of shoulder stay, booking a room from December 28-30. We snagged that tower suite for about $400 a night, not including the $15 daily “facilities fee” which includes use of the pool and some other nonsensical amenities. For what it's worth, Airbnb's and Kid & Coe listings were going for around the same price. However, we actually spent quite a bit of time in the suite since it was freezing cold and rainy one day and we couldn't be bothered to leave the room until much later in the day. It's still on the high-end but we got a lot of space and it was incredibly comfortable. Which are not often what you can say about NYC hotel rooms.
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