Ameritania at Times Square

The Ameritania Hotel is a favorite for budget-minded travelers looking for a three-star hotel near Times Square. While rooms here are rarely "cheap," rates are almost always quite reasonable, given their quality and services, and the hotel's Midtown location near Times Square, the Theater District and Central Park.

The Ameritania's 223 guest rooms are an average size for New York, and they're decorated to the nines, with a mostly black-and-white color scheme, metallic details, and houndstooth carpeting. The overall effect is sassy and modern. We’re talking oversized mirrors, funky clocks and splashy modern artwork hanging above the padded headboards.

Each room is equipped with air-conditioning, a telephone, safe, flat-screen TV and minibar. Guests can also request a mini-fridge for an additional charge. Rooms facing Broadway also offer some pretty cool views (request ahead).

The private bathrooms are small, streamlined and chic, with slate gray accent walls, glassed-in showers and back-lit mirrors. Designer toiletries and a hairdryer are provided.

Hotel

From the cool “floating” light fixtures in the lobby to the modern art and funky mirrors everywhere, the Ameritania is hyper-stylized—with a nice effect.

The expansive lobby is bright and welcoming with a far-out lounge and bar that feels like an appropriate rendering of Judy Jetson’s living room: a mixture of space-age benches, red velvet couches, artistic lamps and animal-print pillows. Even the breakfast room sports bright red chairs, funky lighting and an enormous clock. There’s also an on-site fitness center.

The hotel’s continental breakfast is sometimes included (check when booking). Wi-Fi is free, and guests can access the internet for free on an iPad in the lobby (ask at reception).

Location

The Ameritania Hotel has the pleasant distinction of being close enough to Times Square and the Broadway theaters without being in the center of the fray. The hotel is just four blocks south of Central Park and offers easy accessibility to a number of other Midtown attractions, including the MoMA, Rockefeller Center, Carnegie Hall and Fifth Avenue shopping. It also shares a block with the Ed Sullivan Theater, home to the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" (get tickets in advance!).

Transportation

Subway: The Ameritania Hotel provides easy access to a number of subway lines. The 57th Street/7th Avenue stop (serviced by the N/Q/R lines) has an entrance just a block away on 55th Street, while the B/D and E lines pick up a block south on 7th Avenue and 53rd Street. The C/E (50th Street-8th Avenue) and 1 (50th Street-Broadway) are nearby as well.

JFK: To get to the Ameritania from JFK, take the AirTrain to the Sutphin/Jamaica Station, and transfer to a Downtown/World Trade Center-bound E train. Get off at 7th Avenue and walk to the hotel.

LaGuardia: From LaGuardia, we'd recommend taking the New York Airport Service bus to Port Authority Bus Terminal, and then taking an Uptown E train to 7th Avenue.

Newark: From Newark, take the AirTrain to the NJ Transit station, and then any NJ Transit train into Pennsylvania Station. From there, take the Uptown E train to 7th Avenue.