Last year, our then twin-thirteen-year-olds went on their first ever away trip with school to Washington DC and New York and being a little bit overprotective and because it was still kind of during the new covid times my husband and I flew out to meet them. We booked the Conrad Midtown Manhattan with our American Express and somehow ended up with the most exquisite and spacious room. So when we had a few days back in New York recently we thought we’d try the other NYC Conrad, the Conrad New York downtown to get a different home base.
So what is it like when you check into the Conrad New York downtown?
The lobby in this Conrad reminded me a lot of the one we stayed at in Washington DC. The ceilings were high and there was an intriguing drapey art piece hanging from the very top. Check-in was especially easy because my husband arrived the night before we did (he was meeting us from another work event) and had already checked in. We had booked a great deal with Expedia but because of that we couldn’t use our membership benefits which was sad but understandable. I flew the red-eye with my teenagers (Alaska has a direct flight) and took a taxi from JFK. We’ve had a few borderline-scary Uber and Lyft rides lately so we’ve been taking taxis when it doesn’t make a lot of difference in price. It was a bit spendy, about 90 dollars before tip for a 40 minute ride, but we were tired from our overnight flight and didn’t have the bandwidth to figure out the train and ultimately I think it was faster than taking the train too.
Our room was spacious and comfortable-it was almost like a one bedroom suite with a bed on one side, a toilet room and shower room in the middle with two sliding partitions that could make the whole bathroom enclosed with a couch/living room on the other side. We had a view of the Irish Hunger Memorial Park. We tried to visit early one morning but found out this park has specific hours and we were outside the visiting window. Next time we’ll have to come back and check it out because we visited Ireland for the first time last year and also because it looked like a really interesting park.
Is there anything you might want to know about the room before you visit?
We really loved the room and how it was laid out, but the bathroom is very strange because it is made of frosted glass. If the rest of the lights in the room are off and you go to the bathroom at night everyone outside the bathroom can see shadows of you in the bathroom. So if you are traveling in a group that is not related or have kids that are sensitive to light when they sleep this might not be the best choice of rooms. This room was fine for us and even gave us a few laughs. Having the shower outside of the toilet area was a really great feature for a family with teenagers especially trying to both rush them and give them space for their morning routines.
The room also had a really cool filtered water system. We drink a lot of water and it’s so nice not to drink bottled water while traveling. We were given two metal reusable bottles at check-in and they were very handy on this trip. The room was spacious enough that we ate in one night because we were in a little rush to go see Once Upon a One More Time on Broadway and we all found places to sit.
The kids found the pull-out couch in the living room to be very comfortable compared to other pull-out couches in hotels and we all enjoyed our stay.
Are there good places to eat nearby the Conrad New York downtown?
There is no shortage of places to eat in NYC and while we also ventured far away from our hotel we found a lot in our neighborhood too. We were very close and walkable to Eataly Downtown where one night one of the guys ordered a cacio e pepe dish and it rolled to our table on a cart with a giant cheese wheel. We enjoyed the pizza we ate in our hotel room from Harry’s Italian Murray Street that was in the basement of the hotel. We picked up snacks from an Amazon GO like this one at the mall nearby they hotel too. There were a few outdoor cafes at the Brookside Mall for the summer and they are there until late October and the mall had a really intriguing food court. One morning the hubby and I rode bikes to get bagels from Bagel Market and they were definitely worth the bike ride. The Westfield World Trade Center is less than a 10 minute walk. For coffee we just went to Blue Bottle Coffee and I was excited to find a Maman within walkable distance as well.
So which Conrad New York hotel would we choose if we stayed again?
We ultimately liked both hotels. We are definitely motivated by price so whichever one is better priced when we visit New York City next is the hotel we’d probably choose. Both are in areas where there is lots to see and both had good coffee and food nearby. We enjoyed our room at the Conrad Midtown Manhattan because it was a once-in-a-lifetime upgrade but the likelihood of getting that same room again for the price we paid is slim. We do have Hilton status and would usually book directly but looking at places like Amex and Expedia to book also worked to our benefit for sale prices at both of these hotels.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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