Where to stay in Miami?

Miami is the largest city in Florida, United States. The city, which lies between Atlantic Ocean and large Everglades swamps is 100 kilometers long but just 20 kilometers wide and is famous with its beaches. If you ever visit Miami, going to Miami Beach is a must. Thanks to the almost tropical climate in Miami, it is possible to enjoy the sea and the beach year around.

Before going into the answer for the title of this blog post, where to stay in Miami, we would like to give some general information on Miami hotels. Miami is famous for its boutique hotels. Especially the Miami Boutique hotels of South Beach are very famous. Thanks to hotel designers such as Ian Schrager (the Delano, Shore Club), André Balazs (Raleigh, Standard on Belle Isle) and Todd Oldham (the Hotel), the area is full of interesting and creative hotels. But there is something you should know about Miami boutique hotels in general : hotel rooms are generally small and if the hotel is constructed during Art Deco time, they are extra small. If you are looking for larger rooms to stay in, you should book a room in a large, multi storey hotel instead of a boutique hotel. You can find such large hotels to the north and south of South Beach and Downtown Miami. But these large hotels are usually luxury and expensive. If you are looking for something in between, cheaper but relatively larger rooms, try to find a smaller chain hotel.

The peak season for Miami hotels is the period between November and April. While rest of USA is deep in cold winter, the weather is relatively warm in Miami so Americans flow to warmth and create the peak season. And during the peak season there are organizations like Winter Music Conference and Spring Break, during which hotels are extra full and expensive. If you are planning to stay in South Beach and a boutique hotel, you need to book your hotel room months in advance.

And a last but important warning : Miami hotels will charge 12.5% room tax and some Miami hotels will charge 15% service charge which will not necessarily be reflected in online or agency room prices.

Now let's look at some of the most popular places to stay in Miami.

Miami Beach and South Beach

For almost a century, Miami beach is the undisputed king of beach holiday in USA. In addition to the beach, the colorful night life, cultural and art activities in Miami makes the area a tourist magnet. The Miami Beach area is on the opposite shores of Biscayne Bay compared to Downtown Miami. South Beach and Collins Avenue, which runs parallel to Atlantic Ocean is full of art deco hotels. After 21th Street, MiMo (Miami Modern) architecture dominates and Miami Beach starts. The 6 mile long jogging street here is very famous and you will easily recognize it from many movies.

In Miami Beach you can stay in a hotel or a rental condo near the beach. For a comprehensive list of hotels in this area with price compared room rates and guest reviews, you can check Miami Beach Hotels or Miami South Beach hotels pages.

Miami South Beach

Coconut Grove and Coral Gables

Coral Gables and Coconut Grove are wealthy neighborhoods to the south of Downtown Miami. Once a bohemian village, Coconut Grove is famous for its alfresco Cocowalk shopping and restaurant complex, night life and high class shopping opportunities as well as beautiful hotels. Coconut Grove Playhouse is famous with its Broadway shows. Coral Gables is famous with its Mediterranean style houses and high class shops and Venetian Pool from 1920s here is a must see.

Miami Map. As you can see in the map, famous Miami Beach is on the opposite side of Downtown Miami.

Downtown (Central Business District, Park West, Omni, Brickell)

Miami is not only a tourism center. It is the cultural, business and economy center of Florida. Downtown Florida is full of museum, business centers, parks, shopping malss and historic buildings. If you are in Miami for business hotels like InterContinental Miami, Hotel Urbano, Marriott Biscayne Bay ve Trump National Doral Miami are some of the best Miami hotels to stay. But Downtown Miami becomes almost deserted in the night (although it is lively in daytime).

For hotels in Downtown Miami, check Miami Downtown hotels page.

South Miami

The most important tourist attraction in South Miami is Miami-Dade Zoological Park and Gardens (once known as Miami MetroZoo). This is the only tropical zoo in United States and is a must see tourist attraction in Miami. Monkey Jungle to the south is a very fun place to visit in Miami with its 400 monkeys.

Ten Budget Hotels in New York City under 100 Dollars per night

Both business and leisure travelers are looking for more ways to save their money on upcoming travel to New York City and one of the best way to do that is to stay in a budget hotel in New York to cut cost on expensive hotel room prices.

New York City is a very popular tourist and business destination and New York City hotels are known to be expensive. You would usually need to pay 250 - 350 USD per night rate for even mid range New York city hotels but on the other hand you will be spoilt with choice. And don't worry, there are still some nice hotels in below 100 USD range. In this post we have listed 10 of these New York budget hotels with below USD 100 per night room rates (*). These New York budget hotels have also collected the best customer reviews and many are located in or near the city center. With their affordable room rates are a boon to both business and leisure travelers.

Although New York City hotels are known to be expensive, travelers can take relief that there are still cheap hotels to be found in New York.

#1 - Opera House Hotel
436 East 149th Street, Bronx, New York 10455

A converted 1913 opera house is the setting for this boutique hotel in the South Bronx. Opera House Hotel is 2 blocks (100 meters) from the nearest subway station and 1.5 miles from Yankee Stadium. There are plenty of good places to eat close by and it is a short ride to central areas.

#2 - Serenity at Home Guest House
57 Rutland Rd, Brooklyn, New York 11225

Serenity at Home Guest House is an elegant B&B, set on a tree-lined street in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, is a 6-minute walk from the subway, a 7-minute walk from Prospect Park and a 12-minute walk from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The house is a late Victorian brick fronted property, not a Brownstone. There is no TV in the hotel but there is free Wi Fi and the neighbourhood feels safe. The location relatively quite. It's easy to get to the subway which has a direct route, Q line, into Manhattan.

#3 - Lefferts Manor Bed and Breakfast
80 Rutland Road, Brooklyn, New York 11225

Lefferts Manor Bed and Breakfast is a a small, owner-operated Bed & Breakfast that has branched out to offer a lovely variety of accommodations in charming Brooklyn, New York. It is a comfortable place to stay in budget.

#4 - La Maison d'Art
259 W 132nd St, New York 10030

La Maison d'Art is a private Brownstone, providing an artistic experience and a feeling of private art gallery all throughout its 3 floors, all carefully curated with hand-selected local art and designs. Comfortable beds, clean rooms and good service.

New York City

#5 - The Local Hostel

1302 44th Ave, Long Island City, New York

In a converted industrial building with views of the Manhattan skyline, ultra-hip The Local Hostel is a 5-minute walk from the MoMA PS1 modern art museum and the MTA Subway's E, G, M and 7 trains, and a 15-minute subway ride from Midtown Manhattan.

#6 - Nesva Hotel
39-12 29th St, Long Island City, New York

Nesva Hotel is a boutique hotel in Long Island City and is 3 blocks from a subway station and 2 stops from Manhattan. Nesva Hotel is also within a mile of both the Museum of the Moving Image and MoMA PS 1 Contemporary Art Center.

#7 - NYC Summer Dorms

1 University Plaza, Brooklyn, New York 11201

NYC Summer Dorms offers clean comfortable dormitory accommodations for international students and interns in downtown New York City campus. The rooms are spacious (4 students in each room). It's located 5 minutes away from downtown Manhattan (Soho, Canal Street, Greenwich Village) and walking distance to the Barclays Center. Every major subway line is one block away.

They also have monthly rates for $700 per month online.

#8 - Verve Hotel Long Island
40-03 29th St, Long Island City, New York

Verve Hotel Long Island is in a chunky 6-story tan stucco building which is in a quiet Queens neighborhood full of automotive shops and single-family homes. An elevated subway station 3 blocks away is 2 stops from Midtown Manhattan, and Astoria's Museum of the Moving Image is a 12-block walk away.

#9 - Hampton Inn Manhattan Downtown Financial District
851 8th Ave, New York 10019

Chic Hampton Inn Manhattan hotel is a 9-minute walk from Times Square and 7 blocks from Central Park. It is not exactly below 100 USD but it is still around there. The location is very central and rooms are large and clean.

#10 - Club Quarters Grand Central
128 E 45th St, New York, NY 10017

Contemporary, unfussy rooms with free Wi-Fi, plus a clubhouse, Club Quarters Grand Central also offers Italian steakhouse & fitness room.

For detailed information on the places to stay in New York, visit our where to stay in New York post.

(*) - New York hotel rooms are usually advertised without taxes added. You would need to pay plus 2 USD + 5.8% hotel tax and 1.5 USD extra. So a New York hotel room advertised as 100 USD per night will cost you around 118 USD per night.

Where to stay in New York?

New York is the most populous and developed city in United States of America (USA) and the most important financial, business, culture, culinary, trade and art center in the world. New York houses the most impressive skyline in the world with the infamous skyscrapers on Manhattan Island.

New York is a very popular tourist destination and New York hotels are expensive. Even hostels in New York charges nightly prices starting from 50 USD and a mid-range hotel in New York would charge 250-350 USD per room per night. And luxury New York hotels like Waldorf Astoria and The Plaza would charge thousands of dollars per suite per night.

Although New York hotels are expensive, you will be spoilt for choices. All the chain hotel groups you know (and probably do not know) have a hotel in New York. Manhattan is the most expensive place to stay in New York and any Manhattan hotel below 200 USD per night would be a tiny cell with a bed, TV and a little more. In New York hotel prices range significantly as well as their quality so check the customer reviews of the hotels online before booking one. Some places like the outer regions of West Side High Way and Queens may offer cheap hotels where main customer group are the customers of the sex workers booking “hourly” for the trade.

New York hotel rooms are usually advertised without taxes added. You would need to pay plus 2 USD + 5.8% hotel tax and 1.5 USD extra. So a New York hotel room advertised as 100 USD per night will cost you around 118 USD per night.

Ok, we may have scared you up to this point but do not worry: It is still possible to find relatively cheap hotels in New York if you follow our tips:

• Use online hotel booking sites for the best and cheapest prices as well as discounts. Online bookings will almost always be cheaper than the reception rack rates and there are also significant price differences for the same type of room in the same hotel among different booking sites. We suggest using a hotel meta-search engine like hotelscombined.com which auto compares almost all online booking site prices and lists them for you.
• The low seasons for New York hotels are January and February especially the days after the New Year; the last 2 weeks of August; 3 days before Thanks Giving and Sunday’s. If the cold and snow does not scare you, hotels in New York are cheapest in January and February.
• Sometimes the airline you use to fly to New York or the travel agent offers “flight + hotel” packages which may provide cheap hotel accommodation in New York.
• Instead of staying in a hotel. you can stay in a B&B or private apartment room advertised on sites like Airbnb starting from 50 USD.

So where to stay in New York? Let’s answer this question with some of the most popular places to stay in New York.

Midtown Manhattan

Housing some of the most iconic places in Manhattan such as Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, United Nations HQ, Sixth Avenue, Madison Square Garden, Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square, M'dtown Manhattan is also the most popular and the best place to stay in New York. The area contains the largest number of hotels in New York and although it is expensive to stay here, its central location in Manhattan makes it the best place to stay in New York.

For hotels in Midtown Manhattan as well as useful details such as  room rates and price comparisons, you can check New York City Midtown Manhattan hotels page.

Panaromic view of Midtown Manhattan from the Empire State Building

Central Park and the Upper East Side

Upper East Side is to the north of the Midtown and to the east of the Central Park. It is one of the most affluent neighbourhoods in the city. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue,  Jewish Museum, Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Temple Emanu-El of New York are here. The area hosts some of the most famous museums in the world and the strings of museums along the infamous Fifth Avenue fronting the Central Park is called "Museum Mile" (it was once named Millionaire's Row). Madison Avenue and Second Avenue offers some cool bars while Central Park is a must see in every New Yok itinerary. Also do not miss The American Museum of Natural History on the west side.

For thew hotels in this affluent New York neighbourhood as well as a room price comparison list, you can check New York Central Park hotels ve Upper East Side hotels pages.

New York Central Park

Chelsea and Greenwich Village

With its brown colored stone mansions, green streets and wonderful art galleries, Chelsea is just two blocks to the south of 34th Street. You will love the restaurants, delis and bakeries here. Greenwich Village may be an affluent neighbourhood today but this area below 14th Street has a bohemian past which is still preserved. The Village Vanguard offers fantastic jazz music in the nights while the street musicians on the Washington Square offers a feast of music of its kind. You can find hip clubs and restaurants in Meatpacking District and head to The East Village for a Rock & Roll atmosphere.

For hotels in these central New York Districts, take a look at New York Chelsea hotels and Greenwich Village hotels pages.

SoHo and the Lower East Side

You can find the art and fashion center SoHo just to the south of Greenwich Village. Nice restaurants, boutique fashion shops and shopping experience is waiting for you in Broadway and its side lanes. You will find "Little Italy" in Mulberry and Mott Streets while infamous New York Chinatown is just below these two. Canal Street offers electronics, fresh fruit / vegetable and Chinese craft shopping. The Lower East side is very famous with its boutique New York hotels, trendy restaurants and bars. 

Take a look at New York SoHo hotels and Lower East Side hotels pages for details.

Where to stay in Seattle?

Seattle is the most important city of the North West of United States and home to largest firms in the world, like Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon.com and Costco. Seattle has developed thanks to Boeing in the past and later on Microsoft, and has a large university like the University of Washington.

A very rough and gloomy weather reigns in Seattle between November till March but it’s pleasant and soft in summer. Inside the city, there’s a well-run bus network compatible with Google Maps Trip Planner, called Metro Transit. There’s one thing though, you have to pay when you’re getting on the bus, and drivers don’t have any change so you have to have your change ready.

Seattle is one of the most solid museum cities of the United States. You have to see museums like Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, and The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. Aside from these, the historical buildings confined to the city center and its several small and large parks are worth seeing. Pike Palace Market, a tourist attraction by itself in Downtown, is a must see in terms of both eating-drinking and sightseeing, if you ever visit Seattle.
The city is usually safe but the southern neighborhoods in particular (Around Rainier Beach is where it’s worst) are not really safe places, especially at nights. Try not to roam alone even when you’re in the city center. Although they are mostly harmless, the homeless of Seattle are gathered around in Seattle city center, so be careful.

Now let’s move on to the question of where to stay in Seattle. Before answering the question of where to stay, let’s give some important information. It’s hard to find a room in Seattle hotels during summer months. Especially in the mid-class and upper mid-class hotels, even if you can find somewhere to stay, prices are over 200$ for one night. If you’re planning to stay in Seattle during summer months, try to book your hotel online, way in advance. During summer months, Seattle is filled with tourists not just from land, but also tens of thousands of people getting off from the cruise ships.

If you’re thinking of staying in Seattle, Downtown, Belltown and South Lake Union are your first alternatives. The city center of Seattle (known as Downtown) is pretty small and can be travelled on foot. The city has three hotel districts. Almost all of the main hotels of the city are in the area that’s been confined between 8th Avenue, and from Pine to James Street. The big names like Westin, Sheraton, Grand Hyatt, Homewood Suites, Paramount, Olive 8 by Hyatt, Red Lion, Hilton and Crown Plaza are all here. This place is also the main shopping and sightseeing area.

South Lake Union is another newer area where hotels are located. This place is right outside of Downtown and it’s connected to Downtown/Westlake Center with Seattle Streetcar. And most of the hotels here also have minibuses to the city center. Hotels here are cheaper compared to Downtown. Marriot Courtyard, Marriott Residence Inn, Silver Cloud Inn and Pan Pacific are located here.

Around Space Needle and Seattle Center, is the third area in the city high in hotel concentration. Here, you can find hotels that are both for family and budget-friendly. Travelling to Downtown from this area is also easy. Hampton Inn, Comfort Suites and Best Western Executive Inn are some of the hotels you can find here.

If you’re looking for cheap hotels in Seattle, keep on reading. The most popular cheap hotels of Seattle are Travelodge by Space Needle, Best Western Loyal Inn and Moore Hotel. But if you’re looking for even cheaper options, you can look at the hotels around the airport, 16 miles away from the city. This area is 40 minutes away from the city center via light-rail system.

Let’s answer the important question of where to not stay in Seattle. Seattle is usually a safe place but stay away from Aurora neighborhood. (Don’t go and don’t stay there).