Chelsea Star Hotel

The centrally located Chelsea Star Hotel is an interesting beast, with hostel dormitories, cheap artist-shaped rooms with shared-facilities, and deluxe rooms with massive amounts of space. Its aesthetic is spunky and very bright: brushed metal doors, bright walls, chrome floors.

Quick read...

Pros: Right next to Penn Station. Friendly management. Interesting decor. Cheap rates.

Cons: Rooms can be small. Noise from street and sometimes other rooms.

Rooms

The 18 artist-decorated rooms with shared facilities gladdened our Cheapo hearts with their low nightly rates and decorative whimsy. The Esther Williams room, for example, a loose tribute to the retired competitive swimmer and actor, is a dreamy if compact space with pale blue walls and outline drawings of waves and swimming figures. Its bed is situated on a platform inset with swimming pool-esque tiles.

The very bright pink Pop Art room also grabbed our affection. Tiny as can be, it is simple and very bright.

The larger, non-theme rooms are much more anonymous, though they sport strikingly bright walls and dizzyingly patterned wall-to-wall carpets. Some rooms have televisions; some do not. All rooms are equipped with air conditioning and Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel.

By far, though, at $27 per person per night, the Chelsea Star’s five dorm rooms are one of the best deals in New York for solo travelers willing to share a bedroom with strangers. These rooms are often mixed gender, and offer bunks and a shared bath.

Hotel services

The hotel does not provide breakfast, although coffee and tea are offered for free in the morning downstairs in the lobby. The Chelsea Star is located within a quick walk of countless cheap breakfast spots.

Location

The Chelsea Star’s location, at the corner of West 30th Street and 8th Avenue, is indisputably convenient, especially for those coming and going to Pennsylvania Station or attending an event at Madison Square Garden. Times Square is about a 10-15 minute walk north, while Chelsea (with its restaurants, gay bars and art galleries) is less than 10 minutes by foot south.

At the same time, the immediate area is fairly dirty, a bit anonymous and kind of gritty. Turns out there’s nothing really romantic about being in the shadow of Penn Station.

Guest reviews in brief

The Chelsea Star is pretty popular with its budget-minded guests, who consistently rate it pretty high. Most guests found its location to be very convenient, the rates reasonable and the shared facilities clean.

We’ve read several complaints about the size of the smaller rooms with shared bath (although this is not a big surprise, given the room rates). Many guests noted that street noise made things a bit loud at night (and some recommended packing earplugs).

The hotel seems especially popular with foreign tourists, who may be more used to sharing facilities and smaller rooms.

* These reviews were provided by verified guests who booked through EuroCheapo's reservation partners. Click on the links below to read reviews in detail.

Transportation

Subways: The Chelsea Star is ideally situated for easy access to multiple subway lines. Three blocks away at 33rd and 8th Avenue (Penn Station) you’ll find the A/C/E, while the 1/2/3 stops at 7th Avenue.

JFK: To reach the hotel from JFK, take the Air Train to the Howard Beach Station, then take the A train toward Manhattan to Pennsylvania Station and walk three block to the hotel. It’s that easy.

LaGuardia: From LaGuardia, we’d recommend either taking the New York Airport Service bus to Penn Station or simply taking a taxi to the hotel.

Newark: From Newark Airport, take the Air Train to the NJ Transit station, and then any NJ Transit train into Penn Station. From there, it’s only a five-minute walk to the hotel.

Read more about airport transportation in New York.