WHERE TO STAY IN NEW YORK CITY: LIBRARY HOTEL

We’ve been in New York City in a magical time of the year, between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The city was beautiful, filled with elaborate decorations and events, like the extravagant Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree or the many ice-skating spots. This is a magical time, when the best New York attractions transform into the most festive winter wonderlands. During the holiday season, you’ll find Christmas lights and trees in every borough.

We arrived in NYC in December 31st, 2018, and we spent the New Year’s there. We also spent the first week of January. The end and the beginning of the year in New York is always high season and very cold. The city is filled with tourists from all over the world and it is beautifully adorned with Christmas decorations. The price of the hotels and attractions may be higher than usual and it can be very difficult to book a hotel in New York City, specially if you are looking for a good one with an accessible price. Hotel in NYC usually has a higher price when comparing to other american cities and in high season it is even worse. So the first tip is: make your hotel reservation as soon as you can. Don’t leave it to the last minute! One of the most common mistakes people make, is to leave things until the last minute.

VISIT AND FOLLOW OUR INSTAGRAM @travellers_experience

The second tip to book a hotel in New York City, besides doing it as soon as possible, is to take a look at the reviews and photos on websites like TripAdvisor or Booking.com, so you can have a good idea on how your stay would be. And the hotels there are at the top of the list are the ones from The Library Hotel Collection, a luxury hotel brand very famous in NYC. The Library Hotel Collection features high standard and unique hotels in New York City, Toronto, Budapest and Prague. Guest reviews are an amazingly useful tool and offer the opportunity to really know what you’re getting into before you even arrive! We only consider properties with either 8/10 or 4/5 stars from customer ratings. We feel like anything lower than this can be too risky.

In NYC there are 4 hotels by The Library Hotel Collection, the #1 Rated Luxury Hotel Brand two years running on the Luxury Brand Report. And here they are: Casablanca Hotel, Hotel Giraffe, Library Hotel and Hotel Elysée. They are all among the best evaluations on TripAdvisor, made by travellers like us and they are all wonderful and very well located in Midtown Manhattan (Hotel Giraffe stays in NoMad – Madison Square North). In New York we had the amazing opportunity to stay in 2 of them (Library Hotel and Hotel Elysée), and we could notice how wonderful they are. They really invest in comfort, luxury and quality of everything. It is really worthy to stay there! We wanted to meet them all, but unfortunately Casablanca and Giraffe were overbooked already.

SEE ALSO THE POST WHERE TO STAY IN NYC: HOTEL ELYSÉE

In another post we already described how was our experience in Hotel Elysée. It’s worth to take a look at it as well. In this article we are gonna write about our stay at Library Hotel.

: Exterior of Library Hotel

: Entrance of Library Hotel

Besides Hotel Elysée, another hotel we got in love with it in New York City was the Library Hotel. Also part of the The Library Hotel Collection, Library Hotel is a 4-stars luxury hotel in New York. With a perfect localization in Midtown Manhattan, next to the main attractions and of easy access to public transportation, we fell completely in love with Library Hotel. It enchants you in every detail. Each room is decorated individually with a book collection. It is really a paradise for book lovers.

: Lobby – Library Hotel

: Lobby – Library Hotel

Just like its name suggests, the hotel has a variety of books, newspapers and eBooks available to its guests. It also has some DVDs.

Although we almost don’t stay too much time in the hotel room during a vacation trip, choosing a hotel may be the most important decision during your trip planning. A bad choice can easily ruin your entire trip, specially in New York City. So the first step in choosing the right hotel is to figure out what is the most important thing to you, whether location or budget for example. And this will certainly depend on what sort of trip you’ll be taking, if it’s a family vacation or a business trip. But for travellers like us, location is one of the top considerations when choosing the right hotel. And the Library Hotel in New York City is perfect. It stays in the heart of Midtown Manhattan and it includes everything you may need during your trip, all included already in the price.

A simpler and cheaper hotel that doesn’t include anything at all, like breakfast or Internet Access, may be costing you more than a hotel that gives you everything complimentary, like the ones from the group The Library Hotel Collection. Hotel Elysée and Library Hotel include everything you can imagine, they are amazing! We loved them, they are more than perfect!

Library Hotel

Library Hotel - Reading Room

Library Hotel - Reading Room

RESTAURANT MADISON & VINE

LOCATION

Library Hotel is a luxury boutique hotel with an excellent location in NYC. Its entrance is on 41st Street, just a few steps from New York Public Library, Bryant Park and Grand Central Terminal. Its location couldn’t be more perfect. Staying at Library Hotel you’ll be just a few minutes walking from many other attractions like 5th Avenue Mall, Broadway Theater District & Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building and much more. Besides that, just one block away guests have access to the B-D-F-V-M-4-5-6-7 Subway lines. Central Park stays in about 20 minutes walking distance.

Therefore, Library Hotel is centrally located in Midtown Manhattan, within walking distance to many of New York City’s top attractions and around the corner from all forms of public transportation.

Library Hotel’s Address:

299 Madison Ave, at E.41st Street

New York, NY 10017

reservations@libraryhotel.com

ACCOMMODATIONS

Library Hotel has 60 rooms individually adorned with rich wood furnishings in a contemporary design. And each room features a collection of art and books relevant to one distinctive topic within the Dewey Decimal Classification, an international classification system originally described by Melvil Dewey and still used to locate a book on the shelves of a library, based on its subject.

Another curious thing about Library Hotel is that the numeration of the rooms refers to books on the shelves of a library, like 200.001 and 700.005. Thus, each guestroom has a distinctive topic and many books that pertain to that topic. Each floor of Library Hotel is dedicated to one category of the Dewey Decimal Classification. Subjects like Social Sciences, Languages, Math, Technology Astronomy, Philosophy, Mythology, Religion and General Knowledge are just a few examples of topics used to adorn the rooms with arts objects and books. If you have a passion for a certain floor or room theme, just let the Concierge team know. To see the Library Hotel Room Menu, click here.

Numeration of the rooms

New York City is an amazing place, but after a day in the city center, I’m sure you will need a good hotel room to recharge your energy for the next day. And the suites of Library Hotel have a modern decoration with items for book lovers, like pillows and shelves filled with inspiring books, that will enchant you in every way. The soft and beautiful “Book Lovers” pillow, which stays on the bed of each room, is available to purchase and it is perfect to lay down on or snuggle up with a good book. While reading a book, you can have a relaxing time, enjoy yourself and recharge your energy for the next day. If you are interested in the pillow, you just need to contact the concierge.

Besides that, the rooms feature rich wood furnishings and fabrics in a sleek, contemporary design and they are extremely comfortable. They use the best Egyptian linen sheets to ensure guests have a luxurious night’s sleep. Room is spacious and the bed is really good, we had an amazing night there. You will need to rest and sleep well to recharge your energy for the next day, that’s the function of your bedroom. And the beds of Library Hotel are so comfortable that we slept better than ever before. Hotel staff is also so friendly and nice. They were always helpful. Everything was really nice. The bathroom is well equipped and large as well.

All suites are equipped with mini fridge, in-room safe, bathrobe and personalized slippers, Gilchrest & Soames bath amenities (one of the most renowned and respected brands in the world), Hair Dryer, Cable TV, DVD player and Free Wi-Fi. It’s really a luxury room.

Library Hotel has 60 suites divided into 7 categories: Petite Room, Deluxe Queen Room (with One Queen Bed), Deluxe King Room (with One King Size Bed), Deluxe Queen Accessible with Roll In Shower (with One Queen Bed and wheelchair accessible amenities), Junior Suite, The Mythology Room and The Love Room.

Petite Room is ideal for a single person (1 adult). Despite being the smallest room of the Hotel, with 19 m² (200 sq ft), it is also the coziest room type and still offers all the same amenities. Besides, it has the best value. For a short visit the room may accommodate a couple, but it was projected for a single traveler. All Petite Rooms are located near the elevators.

: Petite Room

: Petite Room

Deluxe Queen Room with One Queen Size Bed has 24 m² (250 sq ft), while Deluxe King Room (with One King Size Bed) is a little bit bigger, with almost 26m² (275 sq ft). They are both spacious and extremely comfortable and well equipped. We stayed in a Deluxe Suite with one Queen Size Bed and we loved it. The room is wonderful and our stay was perfect. Deluxe Rooms with One King Bed has views of Madison Avenue and 41st Street. Rooms ending in -005 are Deluxe Rooms with One King Bed and they can be combined with Junior Suites to make a big Family Suite. Deluxe Queen Accessible with Roll in Shower is available with Wheelchair Accessible features and amenities.

: Deluxe Queen Room

: Deluxe King Room

The largest kind of room in the hotel belongs to Junior Suite, with 33 m² (350 sq ft). It has One King Size Bed and a sofa bed, which can convert into a full-size bed (68 inches long or 1,72 m). The room is ideal for 2 adults and 1 child under the age of 12 years old. It has views of the New York Public Library and Madison Avenue.

: Junior Suite

: Junior Suite

The Mythology Room has a King Size Bed and a large desk, perfect for a long stay. But what really characterizes this suite is the fact that it’s located on the Religion Floor, the highest floor of the hotel, where you can enjoy the views of the New York Public Library and Madison Avenue. Also, you can read books based on mythology and ancient religions.

The Mithology Room

All suites of Library Hotel are spacious, comfortable and luxury. But the perfect room for you to celebrate a special occasion is The Love Room (Suite 1106). It has 28 m² (300 sq ft), one King-Size bed and a private terrace with a perfect view of the city’s skyline. The room faces Madison Avenue and the New York Public Library. But what really makes this room so unique and special is its artwork and books based on the Philosophy of Love. Not mentioning the collection of books selected by the famous Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a German-American author, sex therapist and media personality.

: Love Room (King Size Bed)

: Love Room

: View from the Private Terrace of The Love Room

Library Hotel also has daily room service and evening turndown service with bottled water and Belgian chocolates. Check out below some more photos of Deluxe Queen Suite from our stay there. We loved everything about it.

Deluxe Queen Room

Deluxe Queen Room

Deluxe Queen Room

Deluxe Queen Room

AMENITIES AND SERVICES

Besides being beautiful, luxurious, well equipped, comfortable and in an exceptional location, Library Hotel still offers to its guests amazing amenities and services without additional costs, like: Continental Breakfast, High-Speed Wireless Internet Access, Turndown with Bottled Water & Belgian chocolates, Access to the Reading Room, daily Happy Hours with wine and cheese, and much more.

The Reading Room was our preferred place in the hotel. It’s the facility we loved the most. There you can relax, read a book, eat or drink something with quality and even appreciate a good music. During all day and night Library Hotel offers coffee, cappuccino, teas, water, cookies and fruits in the Reading Room. Access to the Reading Room is 24 hours a day. This place is amazing!

: Reading Room – Library Hotel

: Reading Room – Library Hotel

One of the greatest qualities of the hotels members of The Library Hotel Collection Group is to welcome their guests every evening with a 3-Hour Wine & Cheese Reception. Guests are invited to enjoy a selection of Prosecco, fine wines, imported and domestic cheeses, fresh bread, crackers, and crudités from 17h until 20h in the Reading Room. Everything complimentary.

: Wine & Cheese Reception

: Wine & Cheese Reception

: Wine & Cheese Reception

Even if you have already checked out of the hotel, the Reading Room is available to any guest at any time and you still can enjoy the Happy Hour. We were going to the airport only late in the night, so we checked out in the morning. When we were back to the hotel to get our luggage, they welcomed us willingly in the Reading Room with cookies, cheese and Coca-Cola, since we don’t drink alcohol. So we could eat and drink something before getting to the airport. And everything with quality and care. It was wonderful!

Check out below some more photos of the Reading Room, this amazing and cozy place at Library Hotel.

Library Hotel - Reading Room