Holiday Inn Express New York City - Chelsea

The hotel's courtyard makes for a welcoming entrance, but its location isn't the most attractive to tourists and the only real attraction is, perhaps, the Magnet Theater (well known for it's improv comedy). It's a pretty low-key, mostly residential neighborhood (compared with the bustling tourist centers like Times Square, about 15 blocks north).Most often, locals would refer to this area as a part of the Garment District, which stretches from Fifth to Ninth Avenues, and is where the city's designers -- and students from the nearby Fashion Institute of Technology -- shop for textiles.Many elements of the West Village culture -- the gay clubs, art galleries, and trendy restaurants -- have migrated north to the bordering neighborhood of Chelsea. Today, it is regarded as the center of both Manhattan's gay community and, with some 350 art galleries, New York's contemporary art scene.- One block from the 1 subway line; four blocks from the A, C, E subway lines; five blocks from the 2, 3 subway lines; seven blocks from the B, D, F, N, Q, R, V, W subway lines

• 20-minute subway ride to Central Park
• 15-minute subway ride to Times Square
• 10-minute walk to the Empire State Building
• 30-minute subway ride to the ferry terminal to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• 20-minute subway ride to Rockefeller Center
• 20-minute subway ride to the American Museum of Natural History
• 35-minute walk/subway ride or $11 taxi to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met") and 20-minute subway ride to the Museum of Modern Art (the "MoMA")

• Standard queen, king, and double rooms are all around 260 square feet (about average for a New York hotel room)
• King Whirlpool rooms are around 330 square feet, and feature a voyeuristic jetted tub with sliding wall opening into the room.
• Comfortable beds with triple sheeting
• Some rooms have flat-screen televisions; others have old, tube TVs.
• Coffeemaker in every room
• "Hard" and "soft" pillow options
• King rooms have sofa chairs
• Free Wi-Fi in all rooms
• Handicap-accessible rooms available

New York has three nearby airports: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Getting to town from JFK or LaGuardia is usually more convenient than getting there from Newark, but travel times are heavily dependent on the time of day and traffic conditions. From JFK, a taxi to anywhere in Manhattan costs a flat rate of $45 and takes around an hour in average conditions. From LaGuardia, a metered cab ride to midtown Manhattan costs about $40 and can take 30 minutes if traffic is light, three times that if it's bad. Rides from Newark cost at least $50 (plus tolls) and can take more than 90 minutes. It's customary to tip your driver 15 to 25 percent.Those looking to save some cash can use the privately run shuttle buses that are available at all three airports for about $15 per person. For more information on the shuttles, go to Super Shuttle or New York Airport Service. Public transit is also available for as little as $7.5 per person, but travel can take up to two hours and involve a lot of lugging bags up and down stairways.For mass-transit directions right to the hotel, check out HopStop.com.