The Marmara Manhattan

Located in the Upper East Side on 2nd Avenue, a high-trafficed Manhattan artery with a number of low-key bars and restaurants, the Marmara Manhattan is about 30 blocks outside the more conventional "tourist zone" in Midtown East and Midtown West (where the great majority of New York's hotels are located) as well as the Upper East Side's famous designer boutiques. But the location does has some meaningful advantages -- a 10-minute walk to Central Park; a 15-minute walk to the Guggenheim museum, among others; close proximity to some of the best hospitals in the world.- Four blocks from the 6 subway line; 10 blocks from the 4 and 5 express lines (all along the same eastside track)

• 10-minute walk to Central Park
• 35-minute subway ride (one transfer) to Times Square
• 30-minute subway ride to the Empire State Building
• 40-minute subway ride or $20 taxi to the ferry terminal to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• 30-minute subway ride to Rockefeller Center
• 45-minute subway ride (one transfer), 30-minute walk (through Central Park), or $7 taxi to the American Museum of Natural History
• 20-minute walk to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met") and 30-minute subway ride to the Museum of Modern Art (the "MoMA")

• Standard guest rooms (Studio Suites) have a queen-size bed and start at a generous (for New York, at least) 350 square feet.
• One-bedroom suites come as either a Standard (one bathroom), Superior (1.5 baths), or Deluxe (1.5 baths, on a higher floor) -- all have a queen bed and a pull-out sofa bed; two- and three-bedroom units also available.
• Full kitchen, with a dishwasher, microwave, and a stove and oven in each room
• Flat-screen TV with cable channels
• DVD players
• Electronic safes large enough of a laptop
• Some rooms have balconies
• iPod docks and alarm clock
• Free Wi-Fi
• Washer and dryer in some rooms; otherwise, you can use the coin laundry in the basement.
• The Penthouse also includes, among other things, a wraparound deck, a deep tub overlooking the skyline, and a private sauna.

New York has three nearby airports: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Getting to town from JFK or LaGuardia is usually more convenient than getting there from Newark, but travel times are heavily dependent on the time of day and traffic conditions. From JFK, a taxi to anywhere in Manhattan costs a flat rate of $45 and takes around an hour in average conditions. From LaGuardia, a metered cab ride to midtown Manhattan costs about $40 and can take 30 minutes if traffic is light, three times that if it's bad. Rides from Newark cost at least $50 (plus tolls) and can take more than 90 minutes. It's customary to tip your driver 15 to 25 percent.Those looking to save some cash can use the privately run shuttle buses that are available at all three airports for about $15 per person. For more information on the shuttles, go to Super Shuttle or New York Airport Service. Public transit is also available for as little as $7.50 per person, but travel can take up to two hours and involve a lot of lugging bags up and down stairways.For mass-transit directions right to the hotel, check out HopStop.com.