Throughout the city, expect to pay a premium for cramped rooms a cozy 200 square feet is about the n

A high-density, vertical city with tourists and locals from everywhere on the planet, New York delivers no matter who you are or when you visit. But the holidays are a particularly nice time to head to the Big Apple, when the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, the holiday shops at Union Square, and the ice-skating rink in Central Park put the city in the holiday spirit. Lined with iconic museums, Central Park draws class field trips, jogging locals, and Hollywood film crews all year long. At Union Square, students airline travel price take to the streets on skateboards and New York s premier chefs seek out locally grown produce from the farmers market. Shoppers can splurge on Chanel, Prada, and Gucci along 5th Avenue, or venture deep into SoHo, the West Village, or the Lower East Side for insider boutiques, where one might glimpse New York s acting elite. Meanwhile, art lovers can bask in the grand museums of the Upper East Side or preview up-and-coming imagery at Chelsea galleries.
Throughout the city, expect to pay a premium for cramped rooms a cozy 200 square feet is about the norm. But remember that in New York, it's not so much about the room as the location, location, location, instead. For old-world grandeur, Midtown East and the Upper East Side are home to the  Waldorf-Astoria , the  Peninsula , and the  Pierre , an elegant, historic hotel across airline travel price the street from Central Park, which offers a taste of grand old New York to those staying in any of its 189 small but freshly renovated guest rooms. Hip downtown spots include such notables as the  Gramercy Park Hotel  and the  Soho Grand , where guests can find an authentic but accessible taste of the trendy downtown scene. And the hotel still attracts its fair share of celebrities. Of course, you ll also find outposts of every major hotel franchise from the  Four Seasons  and  Mandarin Oriental  up by Central Park to the more down-to-earth  Hilton , Westin , and  Marriott Marquis  in Times Square.