My family of five just returned form a weeks stay at the Affinia Gardens NYC. We had a one bedroom suite. I was a little concerned with five of us staying in one room but I shouldn't have been worried, the room was huge! It had a large bedroom area with 2 double beds and a Very large siiting room with a fold out bed, a nice, fully appointed kitchen and a nice size bathroom(the water pressure in the shower was great for NYC). The hotel offerd a complimentary tea bar in the lobby.They also provided a pillow menu . The location was great, just around the corner from a subway and you are off! There was a good little diner around the corner that served a good breakfast and Alices Tipsy Teapot, right across the street, is a must for all of you tea lovers. The BEST thing about the Affinia Gardens is the staff! Krys, Nicole Latoya, and Rhonda were wonderful! They were always ready to assist us in anything we needed from Yankees tickets to umbrellas when a storm blew up.I will definately stay at The Affinia Gardens the next time I'm in NYC. It was the best value I have ever experienced in the city. Thanks to everyone at the Affinia Gardens for making our trip one we will always remember:)

Traveling with a baby is always a challenge and traveling to New York City for a few days, baby in tow ,is particularly interesting. How do you find a place to stay where there will be sufficient room for all of you baby's paraphernalia; where there may be some privacy for Mom and Dad; where you do not have to skulk around in fear of other guests muttering and complaining about what you know is your baby's screaming or wailing?

We have the place for you. The Affinia Garden Hotel which is found in a quiet upper Eastside neighborhood (there is even a small park that comes with the place) and operates as an all-suite member of the Affinia chain. From all appearances, in one life, this place was an undistinuished apartment building. As an all suite hotel, it is hard to beat particularly if you are traveling with babies or kids. This is not all kid suite hotel either with hordes running up and down the corridors - the demographic is entirely diverse from families, to singles, American and international. We like that.

Don't get me wrong. Nothing comes cheap and you will wind ujp paying $450 per night (including taxes) to stay in a "deluxe" one bedroom unit. We had 1205 on the penultimate floor, in the north corner, overlooking the small park. Couldn't have been a better location. The place had a small but functional kitchen, dishes and silverware (a sign noted that you could ask for more and pots and pans as well) with low-end appliances that worked; a nice dining table for four; fold out sofa in the living area, TV, working desk, divan in the entrance area (divan?), separate bedroom, plenty of closet space and a very small, but well equippped, bathroom. The upkeep appeared pretty good other than some peeling paint on the sills and a weird HVAC system that mostly generated cold air but strained to do so in the living room area. Some earlier guest's lost and unfound shoe was also perched against one of the beds. By prearrangement, the staff had installed a workable crib and one call more produced a functioning high chair. There are only two elevators so you will see some delay during the day while the rooms are being serviced.

We were immediately impressed by the professionalism of the staff from the bellmen to all of the desk clerks and other support staff. Be sure to indulge in some of their cucumber water. Everone seemed enthusiastic and happy to have us there and nobody acted as though the presence of a baby would in any way impede or disrupt the operation. We wound up keeping the baby in the bedroom and that worked out fine. Feeding time was, as you might expect, somewhat messy and I would recommend to the Hotel that they lay in some 4x4 plastic mats that can be placed under the highchair - nobody want's to be rubbing and cleaning Jr. Pasta and Vegetables off the carpet.

If you are high flying, I would go for the Penthouse suites - they are larger, and have a balcony and larger bathroom to boot.

The Hotel offers take-out from thre local restaurants - Chinese, Italian and Diner, all of which are located within a block. We ate a lot of diner food from the Silver Star and it was good. There are all conveniences within a block or two - ATMs, dry cleaning, pharmacy, organic grocery stores, restaurants and more. It is a relatively quiet location. It also offers a lot of spa type facilities that we had no time to indulge in.

Our babysitting service was not affiliated with the Hotel and was typical - running about $100 per night with tips etc. cash only please.

We will probably stay at the Affinia the next time we are in NY even if the baby is not with us. It is a pretty good value for the buck.

I have read the other reviews and agree with the statements about convenience and the friendliness of the staff. However, I would trade a friendly staff for a very clean room. There was dried food on the kitchen counter, smudges, stained rug, and worst was some blood near the bathroom on the wall. There are a lot of people recouperating from surgery here as there is an ear, nose, and throat hospital directly across the street. My kids did not like seeing people with black eyes and bandages. I was bothered by the smell - a sort of sick hospital smell covered by a windex smell. The staff was so incredibly nice and tried their hardest to make everything acceptable. It was the nicest staff I have encountered in a long time. But it was not enough to make up for the unfresh feeling. It was slightly nauseating. We stayed because the beds seemed fresh and clean and that was the most important. Plus, we were rarely in our room. If you have a high standard of cleanliness and don't want to feel nauseous sometimes then pay the extra money and stay somewhere else. But it is very hard to find a hotel with this much space and a kitchen in a quiet location - these are things to consider. You could do what I did and buy a bottle of clorox cleaner and clean everything really well yourself. Then look the other way when going through the lobby so as to avoid the black eyes and bandages. This would not be a good place for a romantic getaway without the kids - if that's your purpose - look elsewhere.

We have just arrived back from a week in New York. We are a family traveling with a 41/2 year old and a 6 month old - so putting family friendliness of any hotel to the test! We had chosen the Affinia Gardens for it's family rating on trip advisor and were glad we did. We stayed in room 409 which was a suite with separate bedroom (with TV) with 2 double beds in it, sitting room area with TV and desk and a bathroom and kitchen.

Hotel location is great for the park and zoo as only a 15 minute walk. The food emporium supermarket/deli is very close by and provides everything you need to self cater while staying at the hotel. There are also many restaurants near by which are family friendly. One of our favourites was 'Alice's teacup' which serves great wholesome breakfasts, lunches and teas - and keeps most children occupied with it's Alice and Wonderland themed decoration and loo!

The hotel also has takeout menus in the rooms which deliver to your door and we tried most of them and they were good (just very large portions!)

The kitchen was well equipped with a full size cooker, coffee machine, dishwasher (although I don't know why as there was not enough china/pots to fill it!) large fridge freezer and sink. Only complaint was that microwave was very small and our microwave steriliser would not fit in it (had a trip out to Toys R us to buy an electric one!) Hotel provided us with a hob kettle when we requested one (not standard)

There was no restaurant in the hotel, which was not an issue for us, as we were quite happy to eat breakfast out or make it our selves.

Rooms were cleaned well everyday and I have never seen so many towels provided! Which again is ideal with kids.

Room had no DVD which was shame as I think it would have been good on the odd evening. They did have films on request though.

Internet connection was good (a bit pricey for the week)

There is a carpark opposite and bin men/trucks which tended to cause extra noise through the night/early morning, but for NY this was quite tame.

If we stayed in NY with the kids again we would no doubt stay here again.