Where to Stay in New York City
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After three trips to New York City—each one a little bolder than the last—I’ve found my favorite places to stay that felt safe, stylish, and just the right kind of solo-adventure-friendly. If you’re planning your own NYC getaway, whether it’s your first time or your fifth, these hotel picks come from personal experience and are perfect for different kinds of trips. Some are cozy, some are splurge-worthy, but all gave me that wonderful, independent “I’ve got this” feeling. Let’s find your perfect NYC home base.
Pod 39 – great for solo travelers
Pod 39 accuratly calls itself chic and budget friendly. I stayed here on a 5 night solo trip and it was perfect for me! Clean, safe, great location, close to Grand Central Station. Perfect space for a solo traveller. If you’re nervous about navigating NYC solo, this hotel’s proximity to Grand Central will take a huge weight off.
Be aware that the rooms are small! I think with even one other person it would be pretty cramped. It felt a bit like a ship stateroom.
The hotel has a Rooftop Bar and Lounge which is open seasonally. There is also a tavern with some food offerings and a pool table called Allerton Club. Free coffee and for sale continental breakfast items are available in the morning.
There are a couple of other Pod Hotels which I imagine are similarly good. This one is on 39th Street near Grand Central Station, another one is 12 blocks uptown on 51st Street, and a third is near Times Square.
👉 Book Pod 39 here — safe, budget-friendly, and perfect for solo travelers!
Hyatt Centric Times Square – great for couples or families
Great location 1/2 a block away from Times Square. Good location for a first visit to NYC when you might want to want to see a bunch of tourist stuff in a short time. We stayed here on a visit when we saw the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade and it was a short walk 1 1/2 blocks east to reach the parade route.
This is a new-ish Hyatt ($$$) with tiny NYC sized hotel rooms. Still roomy enough if you get a two queen bed room for a family. There is a restaurant off the lobby as well as a billion restaurants in the general area.
Also, there’s a cool rooftop bar, Bar 54, with nice city views.
👉 Book the Hyatt Centric here for comfort and unbeatable location!
BlueGround – furnished apartment for rental of at least 30 days
This company has furnished apartments all over NYC to rent for a minimum of 30 days at a time. They also rent in many other cities. They have a good website with lots of photos and information about the apartments. You can filter the results in many different ways, including buildings with a doorman, apartments with a workspace, laundry facilities, etc.
I booked a one-bedroom apartment on W. 34th Street, where I stayed for 5 weeks and worked remotely from NYC! It was one of the most fun and exciting things I’ve ever done! Booking through an established company that handled everything made me feel very safe as a solo female traveler. I ended up in an apartment building with a doorman which really added to my ease of mind from a security perspective.
BlueGround has a mobile app that you can use to contact them at any time for assistance. I used the app a couple of times: once when my bathtub wouldn’t drain and another time when one of the blinds wouldn’t work correctly. Their response was quick, and the problems were resolved smoothly.
👉 Check BlueGround apartments here — ideal for 30+ day NYC stays.
Manhattan is such an amazing place to visit, and I think having a place to stay that makes you happy is part of that joy! I’ve stayed in each of these spots myself, and every one made me feel secure, welcome, and just a little bit fabulous. Whether you’re planning a weekend escape or a month-long solo adventure, I hope these suggestions help take the guesswork out of booking. Click any of the links above to book directly (yep, those are affiliate links—no extra cost to you, but they help keep this site going).
Please let me know if you have any lodging recommendations for me to try next time I visit. Thanks for reading!
Map of Mentioned Lodging
Be sure to check out all the posts about New York City
