Upper Manhattan
A hotel along Central Park is a particularly nice place for watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade or enjoying the trees in the spring. Yet this is Manhattan, and it's still convenient to all the sights.
Loews Regency
540 Park Avenue (at 61st Street)
5th Avenue-59th Street station (N, R, or W train)
1-800-233-2356
212-759-4100
One of the city's most exclusive hotels, the Regency is located on Park Avenue in Manhattan's posh Upper East Side. The luxurious hotel, which opened in 1963 and has been thoroughly renovated, is the flagship property of the Loews Hotel chain. Celebrities are often spotted in and around the hotel, which houses some 353 guest rooms, including eighty-six suites with custom-designed furnishings. The combination of traditional décor with contemporary styling creates an atmosphere that is warm and comfortable as well as practical and functional.
The Regency loves families — to the point of giving teenagers a VIT (very important teen) backpack filled with goodies and permission to raid a special hotel closet for DVDs, game systems, and other products to use during their stay. Younger kids get a Fisher-Price welcoming gift, supervised recreation programs, and lots more. Pets are also welcome.
Guest accommodations include an in-room safe, minibar, phone with caller ID, flat-screen TV, CD player, the “Ultimate Doeskin” bathrobe by Chadsworth & Haig, and (of course) televisions in every bathroom. Suites have two bathrooms — which means yet another television. Rooms that have a kitchenette with microwave and refrigerator are available.
Take your kids to your hotel's in-house fitness center or pool (if available) and work off some of that energy and good food. In fact, families with an active lifestyle make it a point to do just that. Note that some hotels have an age requirement for the use of their equipment.
The hotel has a twenty-four-hour concierge, overnight valet service, complimentary Evian water and towels for morning joggers, on-site twenty-four-hour limo service (at a cost), and the Nico Salon. There is also a fitness center with state-of-the-art machines.
Singer-songwriter Michael Feinstein oversees Feinstein's at the Regency, a great restaurant and cabaret with some big-name stars (
The Pierre
2 East 61st Street (between 5th and Madison avenues)
5th Avenue-59th Street station (N, R, or W train)
1-800-PIERREH (743-7734)
212-838-8000
The Pierre radiates Old World luxury. Even the fitness center on the third floor is decorated with hand-painted murals and Italian marble. The Pierre is a very family-friendly hotel with a long list of age-appropriate amenities, including specially enhanced rooms for families with young children. It even requests you provide your children's names and ages before you arrive so it may offer whatever you may need. Currently owned by the Taj chain, there are 202 rooms and suites. There's a wonderful afternoon tea here at The Rotunda (also a children's menu) and the on-site Café Pierre serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Trump International Hotel & Tower
1 Central Park West (between West 60th and West 61st streets)
West 59th Street-Columbus Circle (A, B, C, D, or 1 train)
1-888-44-TRUMP (448-7867)
212-299-1000
A latecomer in the world of luxury hotels in New York, the Trump has tried to become the last word in personal service and amenities. Upscale amenities include a cellular phone, personalized business cards and stationery, telescopes, and in-room computers. Child-care facilities are available for parents who want some alone time.
The hotel has 167 rooms and suites with views of the skyline or the park. Most rooms have a fully equipped Euro-style kitchen, marble baths and Jacuzzis, high-speed and wireless (fee charged) Internet access, entertainment center, safe, bathrobe and slippers, and lots more.
The Trump has a family special: one night for four in a two-room, park-view suite; admission to one of three children's museums; a kid's cabinet of books, DVDs, and games; a refrigerator of goodies; and milk and cookies at bedtime. It'll only set you back $2,500.
The restaurant, Jean-Georges, is top of the heap. The cuisine is fusion French, American, and Indochinese, and the kids will love the tableside chefs preparing your meal. Within the restaurant is the more casual La Nougatine.
