PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

Okay, so you're not in Times Square or in trendy SoHo, but when you're at the Hotel Beacon, you're on the Upper West Side, and for families, you won't find a better location -- or value. Close to Central Park and Riverside Park, the Museum of Natural History and Lincoln Center, and major subway lines, it's not like the Beacon is in a desolate spot. Rooms here are generously sized and feature a kitchenette, a roomy closet, and a new marble bathroom. Virtually all standard rooms feature two double beds, and they're plenty big enough to sleep a family on a budget. The large one- and two-bedroom suites are some of the best bargains in the city; each has two closets and a pullout sofa in the well-furnished living room. The two-bedrooms have a second bathroom, making them well outfitted enough to house a small army -- including my own. And the view from our room and many in the hotel is a true New York vista: the magnificent, turn-of-the-20th-century Ansonia building, ballet dancers limbering up at a dance studio, and fresh fruit and vegetables being replenished at Fairway market across the street. There's no room service, but a wealth of good budget dining options that deliver, along with excellent markets like the aforementioned Fairway, make the Beacon even more of a home away from home.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New York City 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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