West 57th Street by Hilton Club

New York City is an amazing place to visit. This was my 3^rd Hilton resort on this trip to New York City and the 6^th day in the City itself.

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Day One Arrival at West 57th Street by Hilton Club

Today I was moving back up from the Residences at Hilton Club to a location just across the street from the Quin, where I started my vacation 6 days ago now.

Essentially, the move was just transferring from one location to another. I love doing this when I can extend my stay by visiting other resorts in the area I am in. With New York, this just means I get to see more of the city and enjoy more of the Hilton brand locations which are incredible resort-level hotels, and accommodations.

Here the rooms that are available as suites are much the same as the other resorts in the area, with large 1 bedroom suites being the most popular choices here just as my stay in the Residences, and the Quin were.

I enjoyed the Penthouse King so much at the Residences that I upgraded to that room here as well, with much the same wonderful result in room quality, view, and amenities.

At West 57th Street by Hilton Club, the amenities are impressive.

Villa Amenities

Then the resort itself offers all of these options.

Resort Amenities

Here are some local reviews of this amazing resort location.

Best hotel! The location is really good; the staff is really good; the room is really good. There’s not a view from most rooms, but that’s alright. One thing is that the sofa should be able to convert into a bed because families of 4 and above will find it difficult to sleep as there is only one king bed and a sofa. The lobby was nice; the terrace was cool as well, kind of scary as it was wet, and the doors were unlocked to the lobby, but other than that, I enjoyed my stay and will definitely be coming back!

Nice place to stay in the upper part of the Theatre District. Surprisingly, quiet street and area, which is a good find for Manhattan. Excellent staff. Accommodations are some of the best we have experienced here.

This is my go-to place in this part of NYC. I come here to work to avoid distractions and close to client offices. Modern (updated) clean rooms and awesome staff. Convenient to the subway and to the theatre district. Endless options for great…

This is my second time staying at this Hilton Club. I will keep coming back. The location is close to the trains and Central Park. I can’t say enough about how clean the room was, and the bed was very comfortable. The Staff was amazing and check-in and check-out were seamless.

Fabulous place to stay when visiting NYC, especially at XMASS time. Was able to walk over to Rockefeller Center to see the tree as well as wander around Central Park. Rooms are very large in New York and have a nice mini-fridge. The staff is super friendly. The workout room is top-notch. Truly no complaints except that it would be nice to be able to buy some wine to have up in the room at the property since not much nearby.

Before checking in I had road the subway and toured the Guggenheim today.

Guggenheim

The museum is open most days from 11 AM until 6 PM EST, but you should check the website for updated hours. It is an impressive museum. This museum welcomes over 1.1 million visitors in an average year.

Frank Lloyd Wright-designed the building and his powerful vision can be felt as you travel through the museum.

After a full half day in the museum, I was hungry and in the mood to try another Italian food restaurant. I picked Mangia, which was within walking distance of the club.

The meal here was amazing, and I went with meatballs and pasta and for dessert, I had the bread pudding. I do not often order the bread pudding but they said theirs was special, and they were right.

Day Two Wall Street

About a 30-minute trip on the subway when you add in the few blocks of walk on either end. Visiting Wall Street is something to consider.

I was able to pull some minor strings and get access to the floor via a broker. The NY Stock Exchange still has between 500-1,000 workers actively on the floor on a trading day. The public does not have access to the trading floor anymore. Since 9/11, you need to be a guest of a broker, or the exchange itself, which is often limited to company access or media access. With security now, it may be almost as difficult to access as the public parts of the White House.

There are some great walking tours that you can take to learn about the financial crisis, and then visit the Federal Reserve.

Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve allows access and also has a museum available. Like many things in New York, now you want to make a reservation and determine the details of your visit in advance to gain access.

When available, you can gain access not only to the museum and a full tour but also tours of the gold vault, which is an amazing thing to do. The gold vault was not available on my trip this week, but I have toured it once before in the past. Check the website to see what tours are available during your New York stay. If it is open, this is a worthwhile museum to visit.

The basic tour here is free and lasts about 1 hour but you need to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled tour to clear security which is airport-level in its checks.

Trinity Church

When visiting Wall Street, make sure to save time for a visit to Trinity Church. Founded in 1697, the parish is one of the oldest in our nation.

Amazon Go

After the church, I walked a few blocks and stuck my head into the Amazon Go location near there just to see what it was like as a Prime Member. It is essentially a checkout-free automated store that is controlled by the app on your smartphone. It was an odd experience but one that gave you a glimpse into what is possible in the future with automation and technology.

It also provided me with a drink and a snack.

Day Three Broadway

Broadway is still working on recovering from Covid at the time of this writing. But shows are starting again and the talented performers are still hard at work entertaining the masses.

*Note my vacation was before COVID time so I do not address the entry or safety details. You should look into those before you visit and even visit New York now in early 2022. Some things are still difficult to navigate.

I have tickets to the Book of Mormon which was written by the team responsible for South Park, so it should be funny, I hope. It was funny at times, but I found it harder to laugh and enjoy it in musical form. That is likely a sign of my own limits.

I have really enjoyed other shows both on and off Broadway. So it could just be that I did not enjoy this Tony Award-winning show as much as I thought I might.

After the show, I went to the Playwright Tavern for dinner and drinks. The food, drinks, and atmosphere here were outstanding. I may have temporarily fallen in love with my waitress. By my 3^rd black and tan, I think I was about ready to buy her a beach house somewhere. She was just funny, very pretty, and kind. I ended up staying at my little table for entirely too long, but I made up for my presence at the table with a tip that took into consideration my time holding up her 4 top for little old me. Well, that and how good she was at her job. No one appreciates a waiter or waitress as much unless they at one point did that job.

I worked during my college years at Bennigan’s and then a few other restaurants before changing my career focus. I even bartended for a short time and really enjoyed those years. While I did not make a killing in tips in my little town, it does leave me with a respect for how hard people in most restaurants work.

In my hours at the restaurant where I had French Onion Soup, Bangers and Mash, and later even fish and chips.

Times Square

I wanted to end my vacation in New York with a trip to times square. Part of the reason might be the sense of energy I had after my long mealtime and drinks after my Broadway show. Or my unwillingness to call it a night too early.

Times Square is a bit of an experience by itself, but there is also a lot to do and see around the square itself. I went to 1 Time Square tower and also visited the Time Square Ball on display that is used in the New Year’s Celebration.

I was going to head to Madame Tussauds New York, but I was running out of steam and I had just been to the Vegas location a few months earlier. If you love selfies, or the kids do, then you may well want to add it to your list of places to visit on your vacation to New York.

This ends my experience in New York but it has been an amazing 8 days and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

If you want to stay at this amazing location for less, book through TZort.