New York State of Mind.

Set of 5 mounted greeting cards - NYC street scenes
by Googla

I'm starting to plan our trip to New York in early June. It's our niece's Bat Mitzvah and they live in upstate. I've never been to the city before so I've convinced Mike to stay a few nights in Manhattan before we come home. I'm really confused by all the choices of places to stay in the city. I really want to stay in a neighborhood and not in a chain hotel with millions of tourists.

All that I really know about New York is from the movies of course. I really like the looks of this Guest House in Chelsea called Dupay's Landing. It says that it is "Located on a quiet, tree-lined, residential street in busy Manhattan, this is the historic New York experience that you have always wanted, but thought was an impossible dream." There are 3 rooms in a cute little brownstone and the room I'm looking at even overlooks the private garden. It's $160 which includes all the taxes per night. This is more than we generally spend but it sounds pretty reasonable for Manhattan.

There are other "b&b's" that are basically in someones apartment that are cheaper but Mike really doesn't like the idea of that. There are tons of them listed on Airbnb. It could be awkward to basically be invading someones apartment but if they are used to hosting guests I'm sure it would be fine. Mike isn't the most social traveler though.

I really need to get this thing booked before everything good gets booked up. If anyone has any suggestions about cool places to stay in New York or neighborhoods you would recommend looking into I would really appreciate it.