Citadines Connect Fifth Avenue New York

The Holiday Inn Express New York City looks and feels like the basic, lower-middle-range chain hotel that it is. The lobby is bright and orderly, but purely utilitarian, with a small, faux-wood check-in desk on one side and a breakfast area with rows of white tables and black chairs on the other (the chairs' shiny green cushions are the lobby's lone nod to aesthetics). The breakfast room -- specifically, its free continental breakfast spread -- is the hotel's biggest feature. 

Surrounded by a few shops, delis, and office buildings, the Holiday Inn Express is located on West 45th Street (not Fifth Avenue), just a short walk from some of New York's most famous sights, like Grand Central Terminal, Bryant Park, the New York Public Library, and Rockefeller Center.

Beyond the dazzling marquees of Times Square, Midtown West still offers plenty of other kinds of thrills, from hip restaurants and gay bars in Hell's Kitchen on its west side to tourist must-sees like Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, and Fifth Avenue department stores on its east. At the northern boundary, marking the start of Central Park, there's Columbus Circle -- home to the luxe Time Warner Center and its acclaimed five-star restaurants.

• Four blocks from the A, C, E subway lines; five blocks from the 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, S subway lines; six blocks from the B, D, F, M subway lines
• 15-minute walk to Central Park
• Five-minute walk to Times Square
• 15-minute walk to the Empire State Building
• 30-minute subway ride to the ferry terminal to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• Five-minute walk to Rockefeller Center
• 20-minute subway ride to the American Museum of Natural History
• 30-minute subway ride to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met") and 10-minute walk to the Museum of Modern Art (the "MoMA")

Standard King rooms are small, but it's rare for a hotel in this price range offer king-sized beds -- often, they're queens or smaller. (Some guests, though, have questioned whether the king-sized beds are true kings.) Standard Doubles -- with two double-size beds -- are even more cramped.

However, rooms have flat-screen TVs, Keurig coffeemakers (with three free coffee pods), and free Wi-Fi. All rooms have "hard", "medium", and "soft" down pillow options. Bath & Body Works bath products, wall-mounted travel hairdryers, and rainfall showerheads are in the bathrooms.

The hotel features free Wi-Fi and a lower-lobby business center with two PC computers and a printer/fax machine. The free morning buffet provides basic breakfast items -- eggs, toast, cereals, instant oatmeal, waffles, and individual yogurts, plus coffee. 

Pets are allowed with a nonrefundable nightly fee.