[MRM]

My family and I have done several long weekends and short weeks in the City over the past couple of years. We did all the touristy stuff and got to know the city as tourists pretty well. It was our experience that staying as close to the center of Mid Town was the best option. Hotel prices can be pretty comparable if you look carefully and you save a lot in time and hassle. If you're in the City for a vacation you really want to maximize your time. We've stayed in Queens, which was an easy subway ride direct to downtown, but even that was a hassle compared to being in Manhattan.

If you join one of the major hotel chain loyalty programs you get as good of rates as you can get and if you get one of their credit cards you'll get enough points for a couple of free nights.

My favorite location is the New York Hilton Midtown because it is within walking distance of almost everything. It's just south of Central Park and almost half way between Times Square and Rockefeller Plaza. It's an easy walk as far north as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and you can walk all the way down Broadway to the theater district without breaking a sweat. The Midtown Hilton gets mixed reviews because it's so big, but we found it to be excellent. We're Hilton Gold status through the Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card so we got free breakfast. Other than being very busy, the food was great. I'd strongly recommend staying in the City somewhere like that.