The Manhattan Club

Rooms and decor

Picture bringing the family to New York and staying in a room that feels more like your own small apartment than a cramped hotel box — that's the appeal of The Manhattan Club. This is a condo-hotel where every room is designed as a suite, not a bare bedroom. Walk in and you'll find a living area with a sofa bed and a TV clearly set apart from the sleeping area, giving you noticeably more room to move than a standard Manhattan room. The part families love most is the in-room kitchenette, with a fridge, a microwave and small cookware for warming milk, boiling water or making an easy meal. And the detail that fits a family with two kids especially well: some rooms have two bathrooms, so when everyone is rushing to get out the door in the morning, nobody is waiting their turn. The decor is a warm, simple classic style built for real use rather than flash, and free cribs are available on request. Plenty of reviews agree the rooms here are roomy and genuinely usable, which makes a family trip a lot more comfortable.

Food and amenities

The selling point of The Manhattan Club isn't a grand lobby or a fancy restaurant — it's the convenience of being able to fend for yourself, which suits a multi-night family stay. Having a small kitchen in the room changes the rhythm of the trip. Instead of taking the kids out for every meal in a city where eating out adds up, you stop by a nearby supermarket for milk, cereal, fruit and snacks, stash it in the fridge, and put together an easy breakfast in the room before heading out. A late-night snack for a hungry kid is just a quick trip to the microwave, which saves a good chunk of the budget over the whole trip. The separate living area also means that once the kids are settled in the sleeping area, parents can still watch TV or plan the next day without disturbing them. The building has a fitness center for anyone who likes to work out, plus Wi-Fi. On the whole this is a place built for living while you travel rather than for in-house luxury service.

Location and getting there

Location is the other ace that makes families choose this place. The hotel sits on W 56th St in the middle of Midtown, a spot that makes getting anywhere easy. What the kids will love most: Central Park is about a 4-minute walk away — step out in the morning and a few steps later you're at a big green space to run around, ride bikes or have a picnic away from the city's bustle. A little farther, roughly 7 minutes on foot, is Times Square, with its giant screens, Broadway theaters and legendary buzz. Nearby you'll also find Carnegie Hall, the famous concert venue, and the Fifth Avenue shopping street to wander until your feet give out. Getting to farther-flung sights is easy too, since several subway lines sit about a 3 to 6 minute walk away — heading down to Lower Manhattan to see the Statue of Liberty or crossing into another neighborhood is a simple hop on the metro. In short, if you want a family trip based in the center of the city, with a park close by to burn off the kids' energy and easy train connections everywhere, this address is hard to beat.

Things to know before booking

To help you decide, here's the straight talk. The first thing reviews bring up often is that The Manhattan Club runs as a condo-hotel / timeshare, so at check-in a staff member may invite you to a membership or long-term package presentation. If you're not interested, a polite no is fine — don't feel obliged. The second point: this is not a full-service hotel. There is no main restaurant or hotel-style room service, so breakfast means finding something outside or making it in the kitchenette, and at times a resort or amenity fee may be added on top of the room rate. Check the details carefully when you book so the budget doesn't balloon. The last point is that the building is an older one in the middle of Manhattan, so elevators can mean a bit of a wait at peak times, some rooms lean more classic than modern, and street-facing rooms can pick up some neighborhood noise. If you're a light sleeper, ask for a higher floor or a room away from the main street.

Our take

After reading through plenty of real guest reviews, The Manhattan Club is a stay that sells usable space, an in-room kitchen and a location near Central Park in a way that lands especially well with families. If your mental picture of the trip is bringing the kids to New York for several days, wanting a suite that gives the kids a place to sleep while the parents have a sitting area, a small kitchen for warming milk and making your own breakfast, a two-bathroom room to make life easier for a family of four, and a few minutes' walk to both Central Park and Times Square, this checks nearly every box at a price that's good value for a family stay. But if you're after a full-service hotel with a restaurant and room service on hand, or a sleek, modern 5-star feel, this may not be the answer — its real strength is the comfort of being able to fend for yourself and the value for families, not grandeur. Overall we give it 8.3/10, best for families with kids and groups of friends who want space, a kitchen of their own and a central Midtown address you can explore on foot in every direction.