Affinia 50 or Eastgate Tower Suite?

My wife and I, along with our 2 kids, will be traveling to NYC in August. We have narrowed down our choices to the Affinia 50 and the Eastgate Tower Suite hotels. The Eastgate Tower is a bit cheaper than the Affinia and seems to have larger rooms as well as kitchenette. The rate we are looking at for the Affinia is for a Guest Room without kitchenette.

Is it really worth it to go for the slightly more expensive Affinia 50, without Kitchenette, over the Eastgate Tower Suite that has the larger space and kitchenette but, from what we understand, is a little old?

Any other advantages / disadvantages that we should be considering between these two?

Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Affinia 50 or Eastgate Tower Suite?

I%26#39;d opt for the Eastgate Tower: it will give you more space [even the smallest Eastgate unit is 100 sq. feet larger than the smallest Affinia 50 unit] and the more complete kitchen facilities are an especially nice plus when traveling with kids.

Although the Eastgate would benefit from updating and its decor is not going to be featured in any glossy magazine spread, the furnishings are comfortable, there%26#39;s good space for stowing belongings, the units are clean. And it%26#39;s on a side street that%26#39;s more residential, with somewhat less street traffic (therefore a bit more quiet) than the particular block the Affinia 50 is on.

It%26#39;s a shorter walk to Rockefeller Center from the Affinia 50, but the Eastgate is closer to the heart of Times Square. And it%26#39;s an easy walk from the Eastgate to Grand Central Terminal where you can pick up a number of different subway lines and the subway shuttle to Times Square if you don%26#39;t feel up to hoofing it westward 5-6 more blocks.

The Affinia 50 is certainly not a bad choice (although the San Carlos is my favorite on that block), but I myself don%26#39;t think it%26#39;s worth paying more money for it.

Not to add to your dilemma, but what kinds of prices are you seeing for the Shelburne Murray Hill? That%26#39;s another Affinia property (near the Eastgate) but the rooms were recently refurbished.

Affinia 50 or Eastgate Tower Suite?

Thanks ###########. You mention that the Eastgate units are clean, even though the furnishings are old? I guess that would be our main concern, cleanliness.

The rates we are getting:

Eastgate: $147

Affinia 50: $159

Shelburne: $194

The Shelburne that you mention is higher than the others as you can see. For our whole stay, we would be saving a total of $60 by staying at the Eastgate and not at the Affinia 50.

How about the walks to the subway? Are both more or less the same or is one closer?

Thanks!

The Affinia 50 is quite close to the 51st St. station for #6 subway, a local train that basically runs up the east side of Manhattan.

You%26#39;ll walk a bit further from the Eastgate to Grand Central Terminal (the closest subway station to the Eastgate), but you have a much wider choice of trains there.

Have you taken a look at the maps on the Affinia website? That will help you get your bearings. E.g.,

www.affinia.com/New-York-City-Hotel.aspx鈥?/a>

The Eastgate furnishings are by no means decrepit; I%26#39;d describe the decor as passe. I myself would be fine with spending less money to get more space and the kitchenette. But, take a look at the pics on the Eastgate web site and the candid Traveler%26#39;s Photos here on TA: if the decor bugs you, then book the Affinia 50.

Thank you again. I have checked out the maps as you suggested and also checked the maps on the NYC government website which show subway entrances. I can see that the Affinia is about 2 blocks from the subway and the Eastgate is about 6. The question is, how big are these blocks? I am not sure if having to walk those 6 blocks after a full day will be too much for the kids.

As for the Eastgate, I just realized from looking at their website that the rate I am looking at is for a Studio Suite (the smallest of their rooms) with two Double beds. Still, I know it has the kitchenette (which the Affinia 50 doesn%26#39;t) and could be a nice money-saving feature, but the Affinia 50 offers Queen size beds... and is a closer walk to the subway... hmmm... what a dilema!

Are you certain that the basic room at the Affinia 50 has 2 queen beds? Its own web site is silent on that %26amp; I%26#39;m seeing conflicting info elsewhere; since it%26#39;s a factor in your consideration, give them a call to confirm that%26#39;s the case.

FWIW, it seems to me that we hear about more free upgrades at the Eastgate than at the Affinia 50.

You are right, the Affinia 50 site is not clear on the bed types for this Guestroom. I got the information from Expedia:

expedia.com/pub/鈥otel-room-rates

Still, as you suggest, I will try to contact the hotel directly to make sure of this so that we can then outweigh all the pros and cons of each option.

Thank you very much for your help. Greatly appreciated!

Let us know what you find out, OK? That would be useful info for future forum reference: different booking sites and even reviews here at TA have conflicting descriptions.

Hi

Meant to respond to you yesterday but got called away.

I%26#39;ve stayed at the Eastgate as a family and agree with all Cocklecove says. True the furnishings are a bit dated but it is very clean and we had no problems getting around or the kids being too tired to walk back from wherever. The apt was very spacious too.

This next comment is a personal thing but given the choice of having a kitchen/kitchenette over not having one I%26#39;d go for the accommodation with one! Especially if the kids are with me. That said I don%26#39;t know how long you will be in NYC.

I just wanted add that if you look to book via the Affinia site it will show all the options for available rooms/apts for your dates and the bed configurations for each. I know this for a fact as I have been looking to book myself this past week.

apartments2book.com also use Affinia properties and have bettered Affinia%26#39;s rates in the past. Can%26#39;t comment on your August dates.

No.1 on the map is the Affinia 50 and No.8 is the Eastgate.

HTH%26#39;s

ebabe

Thank you for your comment ebabe69. Very helpful as well.

I have contacted the Affinia 50 and they have confirmed that the 2 beds in a Guestroom are both Queen sized. So, this is a plus for the A50 and with this full information we will now proceed to decide which to book.

Thanks again!

Eight of us (12 yrs to 76 yrs) stayed at the Eastgate Towers and loved it. I found the hallways more in need of updating than the rooms but everything was clean. Having the kitchen was a big plus. They were very nice to us. It was easy to get around town from there and cabs went by constantly.