Just like London and Paris, trying to find a reasonably priced hotel in New York City which isn’t the size of a shoebox is not an easy task. The price of the luxury brands can be twice their usual rates and some of the popular tourist hotels around midtown Manhattan can be rather grim.
If it’s your first time to New York then we still recommend staying in Manhattan however if you’re a returning visitor then it may be worth staying in one of the other boroughs.
So, for our recent trip to New York, we decided to stay at the relatively new Hotel Indigo Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Originally founded as a Dutch settlement, Brooklyn has always been a melting pot of cultures but in recent years it has become gentrified and is now New York’s ‘hipster central’. It can be hard to work out if the person walking past you on the street is homeless or the owner of a craft brewery.
The Location In Williamsburg
The Hotel Indigo Williamsburg Brooklyn is on the junction with Keap Street and Metropolitan Avenue, next to the Metropolitan subway station. It’s only a 10-minute walk to the über ‘cool’ shopping, coffee shops and restaurants of Williamsburg’s Bedford Street.
If it’s a nice day you can walk to Lower Manhattan across the Williamsburg Bridge, it takes about 45 minutes from the hotel. Another option is to take the NYC ferry across the East River, you can either go south to Dumbo and across to the Wall Street or north to Midtown and East 34th Street.
Arrival And Check-In
We checked-in around 4 pm and it was quick and easy process, we were offered help with the bags but declined. The lobby of the hotel is open plan and contains a lounge area, central bar, restaurant and a long workstation style desk with power points.
Although open plan, it was warm and welcoming despite the outside temperature being just above freezing.
In the lobby you could also find newspapers, water dispenser and a PC and printer. We stayed from Thursday to Sunday and the hotel didn’t seem that busy, especially at breakfast.
The Room And Facilities
Our room was on the fourth floor and had partial views of the city. Unless you are on the top floor we don’t think any of the views would be amazing although the windows are big and let in plenty of light.
In keeping with the hotel, the room had a contemporary yet simple design but more importantly for a city hotel, actually had some space with a good size bed as well. Despite being close to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, the traffic noise wasn’t noticeable either.
You could tell it was a new hotel by the bathroom, again it had a simple matt black and white design with a fair-sized walk-in shower but no bath, which is fine with us. For those of you with a toiletry fascination, the shower gel, shampoo and conditioner were supplied by Gilchrist & Soames.
The Food And Drink
With all the amazing food options in New York and around Brooklyn, we didn’t opt to have dinner in the hotel although we did grab lunch there and of course, we did try a drink or two at the hotel bar. Both were very good along with the service.
We also tried the breakfast which had a great choice of fruit and healthy options as well the classic ‘salty’ options. Americans love their eggs in the morning. They were willing to let you order alternatives off the menu as well.
We nearly forgot to mention that the hotel does have an outdoor pool deck and bar which would be great in the summer months. As it was barely above freezing when we were there, the pool area was still closed for the winter.
Would We Stay There Again?
Yes, we would definitely stay there again, especially to try out the pool area if we were visiting during the summer. As mentioned, if it’s your first visit to New York then you may want to stay in the heart of Manhattan but if you are a returning visitor, then we definitely recommend the Hotel Indigo Williamsburg Brooklyn.
This was a personal trip and we paid for the accommodation and all other costs ourselves.
