citizenM New York Bowery, TWA Hotel and The William Vale. citizenM New York Bowery has the lowest rate of our ten and adds no nightly fee. TWA Hotel is the only hotel inside JFK, made for a first or last night. Every room at The William Vale has a private balcony, with a rooftop bar above.
3 of our ten · Hand-pickedHotels cannot pay to be hereLast checked: October 2026
Value in New York starts with the bill, not the headline rate. Room taxes come to 14.75% plus $3.50 a night at every hotel in the city, and five of our ten add a nightly fee of their own, so weigh each rate with both added. Dates matter more than weather here: January and February are the cheapest months and September the dearest, while the marathon, Thanksgiving week and Christmas to New Year fill the city on fixed dates.
Then decide what you are paying for. Entry rooms here are often small, so the step up is where much of the value lies, and a hotel away from Midtown can give you more for less: a rooftop bar downtown, a balcony in Brooklyn, an evening in a 1962 terminal. Our three each win on a different line: the lowest rate and no fee at citizenM New York Bowery, the first or last night at TWA Hotel, and space with a view at The William Vale.
citizenM New York Bowery is typically from about $180 a night in January, and the only thing added is tax: there is no destination or facility fee, in a city where five of our ten charge one. The saving comes out of the bedroom. All 300 rooms follow one plan of about 14 square metres, with an XL king bed under a window that fills the outer wall, a rain shower in a glass pod and an iPad for the lights, blinds and temperature.
The money goes into the rest of the building instead. cloudM, the bar across the top floor, looks out over downtown to Midtown and stays open until 12:30am. canteenM serves food and drink at any hour, and the gym is free and open around the clock. Bowery station, on the J and Z, is a minute from the door, the New Museum three minutes on foot and Little Italy seven.
The room to book
Guest room, 1 King, Premium view
150 sq ft (14 m²)$195 a night
With every room the same size, the modest extra goes on the one thing that does change: a middle to high floor and a panorama over Manhattan, sold only with this category.
TWA Hotel is an airport hotel, and that is the case for it. No other hotel stands inside JFK: Saarinen's flight tubes lead from Terminal 5 to the check-in desk, and from any other terminal the AirTrain's Terminal 5 stop is four minutes' walk from the door. After a late landing you sleep here and cross the city in daylight: the AirTrain and the E train reach Midtown in about 50 minutes for $11.75.
It is typically from about $225 a night in January, plus a $19.83 nightly facility fee plus tax, covering Wi-Fi, calls, the gym and luggage storage, and a 3% Port Authority concession surcharge on the room rate. The evening is the value: cocktails in the Sunken Lounge or aboard Connie, a 1958 Constellation, and from November to April the heated rooftop pool facing the runway, free to guests. Book it for one night at either end of the trip, not as a base.
The room to book
Deluxe King With Historic TWA View
$241 a night
It is the plain Deluxe King turned to face Saarinen's terminal, for little or nothing more, and the building is the reason to spend the night here.
The William Vale is typically from about $260 a night in January, plus a $45 nightly destination fee plus tax, and the hotel adds a 1% community impact fee on the room rate. What that buys is space you can step out into. Every one of the 183 rooms has a private furnished balcony, and the entry King with Balcony is 24 square metres inside with 7 more outside. The fee covers the Lavazza coffee in the room, bottled water, calls, faster Wi-Fi and a $10 credit at Leuca, and housekeeping comes twice a day.
The tower does the rest. Westlight, the rooftop bar on the 22nd floor, takes in Manhattan and the East River, and in summer guests can reserve the 60-foot pool on the fourth-floor terrace at no extra charge. The trade is the river: Bedford Avenue station is ten minutes on foot, and the L reaches Union Square in six.
The room to book
Manhattan View Queen with Balcony
240 sq ft (22 m²) plus a 72 sq ft (7 m²) balcony$331 a night
The first category whose balcony faces Midtown rather than the neighbourhood: 22 square metres inside, 7 outside, and the skyline the hotel is known for right beyond the glass.
Hotel Chelsea adds no nightly fee to its rate, and January and February are its cheap months. One step above the entry room, the category called The Chelsea adds a king bed, a sitting area and at least half as much floor again, two minutes from the 1 train.
From about $510 a night
Questions people ask
Good questions about New York City
How much is hotel tax in New York City?
14.75% of the room rate plus $3.50 a room a night, at every hotel in the city: 8.875% sales tax, the city's 5.875% occupancy tax plus $2, and a $1.50 state unit fee. A $400 room costs $462.50. Then comes any nightly fee the hotel charges. Of our three, citizenM New York Bowery charges none. TWA Hotel adds a $19.83 facility fee plus tax and a 3% Port Authority concession surcharge on the room rate, and The William Vale a $45 destination fee plus tax and a 1% community impact fee on the room rate.
What is the cheapest month to stay in New York?
January and February, by a wide margin, with September the dearest and October and December close behind. The trade is the cold: January averages 4.2C by day. In January, citizenM New York Bowery is typically from about $180 a night with no fee on top, TWA Hotel from about $225 plus its $19.83 facility fee, and The William Vale from about $260 plus its $45 destination fee, each plus tax. If price matters, also avoid the marathon on 1 November 2026, Thanksgiving week and Christmas to New Year.
Is it worth staying at JFK on your first night?
If you land late, yes. TWA Hotel is the only hotel inside the airport: the old flight tubes join it to Terminal 5, and from any other terminal the AirTrain's Terminal 5 stop is four minutes' walk away, so you are in bed without crossing the city in the dark. Next morning the AirTrain and the E train reach Midtown in about 50 minutes for $11.75, or about 30 with the Long Island Rail Road. Check-in is 4pm and check-out 11am, so ask ahead for any early or late time. For the nights in between, stay in the city.
How big are New York hotel rooms?
Often small at the entry level. Every room at citizenM New York Bowery is about 14 square metres, the Petite Chelsea at Hotel Chelsea about 19, and Nine Orchard's Studio Queen 21, with a cheaper Nook below it. The William Vale's entry King with Balcony is 24 square metres, plus a 7 square metre balcony of its own. At citizenM New York Bowery every room has a single XL king bed for two adults and takes no extra bed or cot, so a family of four needs two rooms there.
How do you get from JFK to each of these hotels?
Every route starts on the AirTrain, free between terminals and $8.75 to Jamaica. TWA Hotel is four minutes' walk from the AirTrain's Terminal 5 stop, so the ride there costs nothing. For citizenM New York Bowery, the J runs from Sutphin Boulevard, where the AirTrain arrives at Jamaica, to Bowery, a minute from the door. For The William Vale in Brooklyn, a yellow cab on the meter is the easy way, and if you drive, valet parking at the hotel is $50 for 24 hours.
How did you choose these hotels?
Independently, through extensive research, trusted sources and first-hand visits. Hotels cannot pay to be included, and every one of the ten has to exist for a different reason.
The smart money
