TRYP by Wyndham: A Giant Room in Crowded Manhattan, Wow!

I found my hotel last night after a long walk across town, and the friendly people in the lobby gave me a positive feeling. There is lots of wood here at TRYP by Wyndham, and screens in the lobby directing you to all sorts of information about the hotel and about what’s going on outside. But the real hotel room test comes when you open the door.

My premium room was a surprise. First a big living area–bigger than the apartment where I visited my friend Bruce in lower Manhattan. A wide expanse of space, then a hallway with a nice wooden bureau, a second bathroom and way on the far end, a metal screen and a kingsized bed. I’m typing now on the marble countertop next to a Keurig that I couldn’t get to work. Oh well.

I just returned from the hotel’s Gastropub, on the first floor, where a large hot breakfast is served, including scrambled eggs, Greek yogurt, oatmeal, and served on china plates, not the throw-away kind of paper you see at cheap hotels. $17 for the full buffet, including a cup of coffee to go in a china cup. During the day they serve tapas and other Mediterranean fare like hummus and grape leaves. Everything looked fresh and well prepared, hardly a hallmark of hotel buffets.

Outside of the room, even on the third floor, it was quiet, and there are lots of elevators so no long waits. There’s a business center that even lends out laptops! Meeting facilities include video conferencing, and there’s a large terrace here too. They also loan out devices to create white noise and Wii game units for the kids.

The location surprised me. Located on a somewhat dark corner of West 35th St., there is just a small blue sign, no big drive up lobby and an army of doormen. Like so many hotels, TRYP relies on giving guests only what they need, and no one really needs those guys wearing the big puffy uniforms and hats to hail cabs and hustle tips for touching your bags.  The people who work at TRYP are friendly and helpful, you don’t always see that in a New York City hotel full of people speaking different languages and asking all sorts of questions.

Nearby is Penn Station and Port Authority, so it was easy to get to my business meetings in midtown.

This room that could easily sleep two couples (with the fold-out couch) and they could each have their own bathrooms for the $449 rate plus tax, which comes out to $518. Not cheap—but if you do the math, and team up with a few others this is a great alternative in NYC for your next visit. Find out more at their website.