Start spreading the news...New York, New York!
Touchdown! At last...the flight was good, landed on time at
So, landed, bolted off the plane to beat as many people as possible to customs (last time Mark and I waited for an HOUR), got through quickly, collected the bags and headed out to find a taxi. After my mum started an argument with the taxi queue steward for letting other people skip into the head of the line, we found a cab we could all fit in with bags and set off through 
The one thing I forgot to mention was, that on the 14th February there was a huge dump of snow, and it practically brought the city streets to a standstill. Then the temperature dropped overnight and the snow froze. There was no thaw the ENTIRE time we were there...admittedly, it made for some fab photos, but dear goodness was it gold. We think the most temperate it got was somewhere around -5c. So the taxi queue gave us our first introduction to proper cold, I was thrilled I'd packed my gloves and beanie and scarf in my carry-on luggage so I was able to whip them out and save my ears from the first stages of frostbite. Everyone else was cursing they didn't think of the same thing! Haaah Haaah!
Anyway, the journey into the hotel took about an hour and a half because traffic was crawling up some of the street because of the snow, which banked up about 3 feet high at the side of some of the roads.
Right back to the matter at hand! I'm a bit like Billy Connelly that way, I'll perhaps take the long way round to tell a story, but (usually) get back to where I was supposed to be!
We'd booked to stay at the Doubletree Metropolitan on 
Check in was pretty easy...I used the self-service terminals in reception after waiting for 5 mins for a clerk to become available, but a cabin crew had just arrived, so I used the computers instead. Mark and I got booked in fine, but Mum and Dad's room keys weren't dispensed. One of the doormen realised we had a problem and helped, bringing us the two key cards and our four warm welcome chocolate chip cookies out to us. Oh, they were SOOO good.
The rooms were fairly basic, especially given the trendy reception and bar area, and the bathrooms were really rather tiny (you can't open the door if someone's standing at the sink...i.e., I pushed the door open when Mark was shaving and left him with a door handle shaped bruise on his side! However, the beds were unbelievably comfortable (we'd read about this on TripAdvisor) and the rooms were, on the whole, clean, so it was fine.
OUT INTO THE CITY: After unpacking, we headed out up towards 
We stopped in at St Patrick's Cathedral where I took some nice photos. I was really amazed by the number of homeless people who were obviously in the cathedral to get out the cold. There were some really sad looking people there, some lying down asleep, others still sitting upright, a couple with bottles in brown paper bags beside them, all sitting off the main drag, near the shrines and statues. I suppose for many of them this was as comfortable as they were going to get, but it really brought it home that everything in NYC isn't shiny and nice, but at least they were able to thaw out for a bit.
After St Pat's we crossed the street to the Rockefeller Centre and Rink, we didn't skate - we were cold enough as it was - but admired those brave enough to put themselves through it!
After that I made a pit stop at SAKS FIFTH AVENUE...I figured it was worth a try to see if they had genuine UGGS which I decided I'd treat myself to if I could get them because of the favourable exchange rate. I also thought I'd have no chance getting them because every would be wanting cosy toes. But, joy be unconfined, they had a pair of the thick soled snow-proof ones left, caramel and in my size! Yaay!
Finally, it was back to the hotel and out for dinner at an Italian pretty near the hotel.
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The hotel, which became a Doubletree in February 2005, having previously been the Cross Keys Metropolitan, is located at 569 Lexington Avenue, right on the corner of E51st. It's right beside a green line subway station (4, 5, 6 trains) on the corner right outside the hotel, which means you could go all the way up to The Bronx or right down to Battery Park in one go. It's only three blocks up to Fifth Avenue - when you head up towards 5th on E51st you come out at SAKS Avenue beside St Patrick's Cathedral. It's easy to walk to the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Centre, Bloomingdale's (only 8 blocks along Lexington) and Broadway.
The hotel itself is quite impressive. The recent overhaul when it became a Doubletree means it's very modern, the lobby is clean and contemporary and you can check in at automated kiosks when reception is busy. Mark and I got checked in without any problem at the computers, but it wouldn't issue keys for my parents, but a gallant doorman helped out and gave us our chocolate chip cookies, which were warm and freshly made - everyone gets one on arrival, but we somehow managed to get eight, so we had one when we got upstairs, and the other later that night!
The difference between the reception area and the rooms is quite marked. The rooms are comfortable and absolutely adequate for a city centre New York hotel, but the bathrooms were the biggest disappointment. They were tiny! If you were using the toilet your knees were pretty much touching the door. If Mark was shaving at the sink he had to move right into the bathroom so I could squeeze past to switch the shower on! Although the shower was extremely powerful (which I like) and everything was clean, just a bit dated. The Neutrogena toiletries were appreciated - especially as I'd forgotten shower gel!
The beds were SUPREMELY comfortable. The feather toppers were cloud-like and the duvet and pillows contributed to the sleeping in a Marshmallow experience! In saying that, the bed was firm enough, which was the main thing.
The room had the bed, a desk, a bedside table by the window, a sprung arm chair, a chest of drawers with the TV and a built in wardrobe which was the tattiest part of the room. The doors were pull apart and jammed on the carpet, and the paint was quite chipped in our room, but they held the clothes, and the safe worked so it was perfectly useable. The other small problem was that there was quite a large gap under our door, and for some reason a bunch of kids were rampaging up and down the corridor one night and they were very noisy - we ended up having to phone reception and plug the gap with a towel to keep the bright corridor light out when we were trying to sleep. I think each floor of the hotel was being gradually upgraded - maybe they just hadn't got to our floor yet? The views were nothing special either - another roof top. Some rooms face onto Lexington and have views towards the ESB but not ours. That didn't bother us though.
We didn't eat in the hotel at any point, but I hear room service is good. The gift shop/ newsagent in the lobby was great because we could pick up bottles of water or a chocolate bar or two in the mornings to stick in our back packs and keep us going. We ended up buying a few touristy mugs there so we didn't have to trail them around the city from anywhere else.
The concierge was EXCELLENT. I don't remember his name, but he recommended Mr K's across the street as well as Shula's at the Westin Times Square, both of which were fabulous restaurants. We also went to the Revolving Restaurant at the Marriott at Times Square which was good but confusing. You have to queue for an elevator up and some people seem to get priority! The guy also booked us our airport transfer and asked how we were every day, which was a nice touch - he always checked if we'd enjoyed our meals after his recommendations too.
We checked out the hotel on TripAdvisor.com, which I think is a pretty good site, although I always take really bad reviews with a pinch of salt, especially if they crop up amongst a string of good ones. Apparently there's been an issue with staff at rival hotels posting exceptionally negative reviews against their competition. But if the general consensus is good (or bad), or reviews continually refer to any good points or problems, you can pretty much take it as read that's what it'll be like
All in all, we were pleased with the Doubletree - absolutely adequate for Midtown Manhattan, and better the places like Thirty-Thirty by all accounts! And considering the amount you can spend to stay in some place (I'm particularly thinking the Waldorf=Astoria) the Doubltree is more than adequate. To me the beds at the Doubletree were more comfortable, the staff friendlier and there's no complimentary cookies at the Waldorf! Of course somewhere like the Waldorf is grander in fixtures, fittings and furniture, and there is a more sophisticated atmosphere, but for a family out to see New York and spend hardly any time in the room, it was fine.
We'd go back - sure the bathrooms are small and the wardrobes need done up, as do the cracks under the doors, but they're minor, especially the cosmetic things. We managed to seal our safe accidentally with our wallets, passports and flight tickets in it and the security officer was up within minutes to crack the code with an electrical gadget. He stayed while we set a new code and made sure it was working. We called for something at the Waldorf and didn't get it til the next day...
And I think that's the thing about hotels in NYC: many of them have small rooms, many of them have no view, but unless you plan to spend masses of time in your room (which in NYC it's unlikely you will, unless...) then somewhere like the Doubletree is absolutely fine.
