Chelsea Pines Inn – New York

Chelsea Pines Inn

We are describing Chelsea Pines Inn – New York Over the summer I made plans to spend four fall days in New York City. True to my hopes the weather was absolutely perfect this October weekend. Booking a flight was the easy part. Finding a place to stay was not. I have a few friends in NYC, but like many New Yorkers, their places are small and or shared. I didn’t want to impose and preferred to be independent without the worry of disturbing people when returning from jaunts around town or coming in late at night. This is Chelsea Pines Inn – New York.

Recommended budget hotels like the Pod were all fully booked. I checked out a few sites, such as New York 50 – a site dedicated to hotels and rentals for about $50 a night. Needless to say, the reviews were horrendous. I found several lists of top-rated budget hotels, including this collection from About.com, but they were also fully booked.

I checked a condo rental site with attractive rates but declined when I heard they wanted a 50% deposit via bank transfer. Yes, correct. Take a credit card already – This is not 1950. For a month I occasionally read reviews and prices. Holiday Inns, Hampton Inns, and the other chains run north of $300 a night in Manhattan. The nicer hostels were fully booked.

New York place.

Tripadvisor’s budget hotel reviews were actually entertaining to read, if not terrifying. Finding a place for under $140 would pull out the Tripadvisor review and read horrific stories of bugs, mold, surly staff, and even beetles crawling over people while they were sleeping. I wish I had bookmarked some of the reviews as they are hilarious. I am far from high maintenance but I need my room bug-free.

Chelsea Pines Inn

Someone on Lonely Planet mentioned the Chelsea Pines Inn to another poster looking for accommodation. It was the neighborhood I wanted to be, at a very good price, and they had availability. Tired of searching and comparing I immediately booked it.

Chelsea Pines is located on 14th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. Typical of the area, it is a narrow five-story building, with about four to five guest rooms per floor. The rooms have a distinct style and character and are all dedicated to a former actor or actress from the golden years of Hollywood. Even though I always travel with earplugs in case I end up upstairs on a noisy street, the noises downstairs on 14th Street didn’t wake me up at all. It was pretty quiet at night, and central air conditioning helps too. Chelsea Pines Inn – New York

New York

However, something else makes this place special: the variety and diversity in their rooms and rates. My room wasn’t as modern as the updated one. But I was okay with that as the rate was below average for a place with its overall excellent quality.

When I come back I may choose fancier accommodations but this time my needs were simple. There are plenty of economy rooms in the city. But it’s rare to find an economy room that is also in a well-hosted and well-maintained building. I appreciate owner Jay and staff for offering a variety of economic options to their guests. Which also results in a nice mix of guests.Chelsea Pines Inn

Although there were a few faces on reception that I didn’t meet, I did chat with the owner Jay a few times and met a small group from Scotland. Chelsea Pines is clean, comfortable. And more than spacious enough for me traveling alone. And I would recommend it as a “home away from home” to anyone staying in the city.