2023.01 New York City and Caribbean Cruise (Part 2)
There is no shortage of hotel options in Manhattan, unfortunately that’s before you apply any budget filter. My selection was influenced by the fact that I had achieved status with Hilton. Location carries a premium, and at the time of booking somehow the Millennium Hilton New York at One UN Plaza was one of the more affordable options.
Location
As the name states, this hotel is right across the street from the UN General Assembly building on 1st Avenue at 44th street. The entrance to the hotel is off of 44th street, not the Avenue. Given its location, don’t be surprised to see this unique security feature:
The security dog was cute, and Little Miss had to be reminded that he’s not a therapy dog! On the way to the bank of elevators for the east tower was this lobby area:
Check-in was without issue and our room was in the east tower. The hotel has a separate set of elevators for each tower (east & west). The rooms are located above office space and starts at floor 30 (if recall correctly). The decor in the hallway was a little dark, and the biggest thing I noticed was how low the ceiling felt.
Here are pictures of the room, it was spacious as there was a walk-in closet, and the room was in great shape:
With our luggage in the room, we immediately headed out to dinner on the first night. The view from our room was excellent, as we could see the Chrysler, Empire State buildings, and had an excellent view looking south down 1st Avenue towards downtown.
Hilton hotels in the US changed from offering Gold and Platinum loyalty level members a complimentary buffet breakfast, to a daily credit. We used the credit for their quick-serve café on the main floor. Most mornings we grabbed bagels, and tea to-go. The staff were well versed in the credit who helped to make sure we used our credit. We didn’t check out the main restaurant for the breakfast buffet.
We did go to the main restaurant during happy hour one night where there was also a discount on appetizers.
Both the plates of wings and cheese were excellent.
The place was quiet when we visited and enjoyed our appetizers.
Although we didn’t use it, there is a gym in the east tower that provides excellent views to the east and north along the east river. The most interesting part of the elevator was that tennis courts were advertised in the elevator, but I didn’t have the courage to go to the floor and see for myself.
Entrance to Gym
View from gym, complete with finger in the frame.
Transportation
There is a taxi stand immediately outside of the entrance. This came in handy for us as we didn’t have to bother loading up Uber to find a vehicle. Public transit options are plentiful, being a short walk to 42nd street where the MTA runs a crosstown bus. It runs frequently and we didn’t have to wait for long, and the bus was never overly crowded. The bus was excellent to get us to Times Square, and the Intrepid Museum, that is docked between 45th and 46th streets.
Even though the bus passes Grand Central Terminal, we walked to the station to access the subway, as once you walk up to 2nd Avenue, it’s a gentle downhill slope to the station.
Now, being close to the UN, one day we walked by a protest that was using a nearby park across from the UN:
Overall it was a good hotel. On the morning of check-out it was effortlessly for us to leave, hop in a taxi, and almost instantly the taxi was on FDR Dr. headed to the Holland tunnel, towards Cape Liberty Cruise Port.
Explore other parts of this trip:
Part 1 – Air Canada Flight Toronto to New York City, LaGuardia
Part 2 – Millennium Hotel New York, One UN Plaza (this post!)
Part 3 – Things to do in New York City
Part 4 – Caribbean Cruise Introduction
Part 5 – Things to do while Cruising
Part 6 – Cuisine onboard
Part 7 – Port, Puerto Rico
Part 8 – Port, St. Maarten
Part 9 – Port, Antigua and Barbuda
Part 10 – Port, St. Lucia
Part 11 – Port, St. Kitts and Nevis
Part 12 – Maple Leaf Lounge LaGuardia, flight New York to Toronto