Hotels near The Oculus, New York

I have lived in NYC 20 years, and occasionally, we like to play tourist in our own city. My husband and I decided to stay a night at the Moxy LES in celebration of my 40th birthday. I even talked another couple who were celebrating with us into getting a room too. I chose this location as I saw the beautiful roof bar advertised and thought it’d be fun to start our night with a cocktail on the roof with a few friends before setting out to my main celebration elsewhere. Having stayed at several other similar hotels in town like Sixty LES, I never had an issue grabbing a cocktail at the rooftop bar. This was not the case here. I arrived with a group of 7 to head to the Highlight Room at around 7pm (wayyy before the nightlife rush!), and was told I had “priority” as a guest of the hotel, but first I had to commit to spending $350 for us to come up. Don’t advertise your bars as an amenity of the hotel if they are not freely accessible to guests. What if my friends just wanted a nice lemonade and to check out the view?? I guess they’re not welcome or that’s a lot of lemonade we’d have to buy! Just to note: Loosie’s, the club in the basement of the hotel with the “no-attitude dancefloor” — to quote the hotel website — is notoriously snooty at the door, and guests of the hotel are not prioritized for entry there either. We had other plans that night so didn’t even bother, but word to the wise. As for the room: Yes, they’re small. Expected in NYC, and was fine for us since we were only staying 1 night, but I would not want to stay here longer than a couple days. There is no real closet. Just a few hangers on a bar on the wall (some under the television!) so your clothes kind of have to hang flat against the wall. There are cubbies under the bed for storage. Not ideal in such a tight space. I stubbed my toe on them more than once. Maybe I’m clumsy or maybe it’s just a bad design! The light situation is super weird. I don’t know if our lighting was accidentally installed incorrectly, but in order to turn the bathroom light on, you had to have the main room light on. The main room light could be turned on separately. So basically, if you needed to go in the middle of the night, you either had to pee in the dark or turn on the lights of the whole room while your partner is sleeping! (Possible we didn’t see another light switch somewhere but I’m pretty sure the only switches were 2 by the door.) Toiletries: The shower had 2 pump bottles (sustainable. I respect that!) — but one was filled with a shampoo/body wash combo — and the other conditioner. I would expect something a bit more luxe even for a 4 star hotel — and certainly a separate shampoo and body wash! There was no lotion, which is usually standard in even the Holiday Inn. There was one small bar of soap for hand washing. No places to hang towels. I had to throw mine over the top of the shower door. Towels were pretty scratchy too. They do have a steamer and hair dryer. Bless! There was no fridge

It isn't easy to find a centrally located and relatively affordable hotel in Brooklyn, so I was a bit nervous about what to expect, but the Sheraton worked out really well. My room was bigger than I expected--not huge, but good-sized for New York--with a nice view of the water. It was clean, quiet, and modern, and the bed was comfortable. Outside the hotel, street life was bustling--diverse crowds enjoying the many take-out food options and the outlet stores on the Fulton Mall. I enjoyed feeling like I was surrounded by ”real New Yorkers.” There's a subway station close by (you're only two stops from Manhattan), and a decent cafe operating out of the lobby. The elevators can be a bit slow and crowded, so requesting a lower floor might reduce your wait times a bit. Over the course of my multi-day stay at this large hotel, I met other guests attending weddings, religious conferences, and sports tournaments. I found the staff helpful and pleasant, though perhaps the service is a little basic (if something is delivered to you at the front desk, you can expect to go get it yourself). I was glad to find this hotel and would stay there again.

City view, you can see the Manhattan downtown building, it's great across the sea. Three stars level. Good food. Breakfast is $50 and you can order whatever you want, no waste, enough for three people. The only drawback is that you have to take one stop to Manhattan, but the cost performance is super high. Manhattan is too expensive and the house is old. This place is very new. But the sound insulation of the house is too poor.

I just stayed at the Motto in Times Square for the weekend, and had a great experience. First, let me say that I was born and raised in NYC (I live about 30 miles north of NYC now), so I know the NYC area very well, and it was such a joy to experience the city as a ”tourist” for the weekend. The hotel is in a great location near Times Square, where access to public transportation is very easy, as well as to restaurants, and Broadway shows. The hotel is very efficient and modern. The rooms are cozy, and very comfortable. The service is excellent, and the breakfast menu is delicious. I very much enjoyed my stay at the Motto in Times Square.

The West Side YMCA is definitely a no frills place to stay, but the location is excellent. You're right next to Central Park and Columbus Circle. Times Square is an easy walk south. We stayed in 2 different rooms. The first had a bunk bed and was quite small, but the bed was comfy and the room was clean. It also had a small TV and fridge. We had a semi-private bathroom, which was down the hall. This meant we had to scan our key on one of the bathroom doors to get in, but once inside we had privacy while we got cleaned up. The bathrooms were kept clean and tidy. We were able to upgrade the second half of our stay to a room with a larger bed and an in room bathroom. Again, this hotel is no frills. It can be rough around the edges, but it's clean and comfortable at the end of a long day of sightseeing. We did not have time to take advantage of the gym, the pool, the sauna, and stuff like that, but they looked nice. I'd recommend the West Side YMCA. If you're visiting NYC, you should be out doing stuff, not sitting around the room. It was everything we needed it to be.

The hotel lobby is amazing, I was greeted by Chris at the front desk who handled all of my questions regarding my husbands birthday reservation. The suite was gorgeous. Special thanks to Elena at the restaurant. She really hooked us up w a nice table with a magnificent view of the water. Thanks to this wonderful establishment.

The room is a suite with one bedroom and one living room. Although the suites are not very large, they have all the facilities. It is worth mentioning that the sofa has a built-in folding bed, and the bedroom has a door, so that 3 to 4 people can stay without being disturbed; The hotel includes breakfast; the ferry is 100 meters away from the door, and it is very convenient to go to downtown Manhattan.

The location of the hotel is convenient for entry and exit. The front desk staff has a good attitude. The hotel environment is good and breakfast is included. Coffee is available 24 hours a day on the first floor. The room is not large and the sound insulation is average. In the middle of the night, the sound of water and sounds outside the corridor can be heard.

The Hilton Newark is always one of my favorite places to stay. Everyone from the front desk to the cleaning person is super friendly. Our room was very clean. My only issue would be that the rooms have no microwave. The only microwave is by the front desk.

The location of the hotel is in China town where Chinese restaurants, stores and grocery stores around it. Most of the customers were Chinese. It is close to the subway station, takes about 7 minutes to get there, but takes at least 30 minutes to get to Manhattan by train. We spent a lot of time on commute. If you want to visit Manhattan, I recommend staying in Manhattan. The highlight of the staying was breakfast which was perfect. However, I can’t believe that the hotel does not provide water, and we had to pay for water.