I first stayed at the Beekman 32 years ago, at a time when corporations had many of the apartments on long-term lease and rented them by the week when they weren't being used. For a 22 year old on his first trip to New York, this was a great deal, and what I liked about the Beekman at the time was that the apartment was spacious and comfortable - like staying in a home rather than a hotel room.

I have stayed in the Beekman twice since then, most recently this past weekend, and I still have that feeling. Comfort is built into the place. The Beekman differs from most hotels is that it was constructed for people to live in rather than stay overnight. As architectural historian Chrisopher Gray says in his recent New York Times article about the Beekman, it was originally designed, back in the late 1920s, as apartments for young professional women: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/realestate/streetscapes-a-residence-for-educated-women.html

The apartment that I stayed in this weekend reflects that. It was what they call a Superior Queen. I opened the door to an entryway, a kitchen large enough for proper cooking, a large living/dining area (15' x 18'), a bedroom (10' x 10') with a comfortable Queen Size bed, a bathroom with dressing area, and two clothes closets. The kitchen had plenty of counter and cupboard space, and older but quite decent GE appliances (fridge/freezer, gas stove with four burners and an oven, microwave and dishwasher, as well as a coffee maker and toaster). The living/dining area had a sofa for four with two side tables, a coffee table, two armchairs, a writing desk, and dining room table with four chairs. There were two televisions, one in the living room and one in the bedroom. There was also an iron and full size ironing board in one of the closets. I don't really care about safes, but there was one of those too.

My accommodation was spotless and the housekeeping staff were efficient and courteous. The bed appeared to be fairly new. The furniture was older, and the carpets, while clean, really ought to be replaced. The televisions are out of date, but work fine. As the Beekman itself acknowledges, the furnishings could use some renovation. Unfortunately, the current owners purchased it at the height of the real estate market and the cost of renovations was underestimated. If you want the details, do a Google search on Beekman, Timothy Haskins (the promoter behind the purchase) and Allied Irish Bank (now taken over by the Irish Government).

Given the comfort of the accommodation, the price that I paid, and the fact that the apartment was spotless, I had no problem with the fact that the television sets are old and some of the furniture and the carpets have seen better days.

As for location, the Beekman is a block from the UN in one of New York's wealthier areas. Irving Berlin's townhouse, now the Luxembourg Mission to the UN, is about 1 1/2 blocks away. So is Katherine Hepburn's home at 244 East 49th St., which you can apparently rent for $25,000/month. But realize that this is not the city's most exciting neighbourhood. See it as a base from which to do some exploring.

That said, there are some very good shops and restaurants in the area. That first trip to New York 32 years ago led to living in the city for some time, including recently, so here are a few examples just north of the Beekman… between 51st and 52nd Streets on 1st Ave, you will find Ideal Cheese and Pisacane Midtown. Ideal is widely regarded as one of New York's two best cheese shops, the other being Murray's in Greenwich Village. Pisacane is a superb fishmonger, in case you get a hankering to bring a couple dozen oysters back to the Beekman. And if you're into flowers, especially orchids, Zezé, one of New York's better florists, is right beside Pisacane. This block is not unique. There are lots of good shops in the area; you just have to do a little hunting or tap some local knowledge.

Finally, I should add that the front desk, bellman and housekeeping staff were a pleasure to deal with. Really nice people all around.

The suite where I and family members stayed in October 2011 showed its age, particularly in the carpeting and upholstery. However, the place was clean and very pleasant. The restaurant at the top floor was excellent. The meals and service were great! Altogether, a good value. Although a bit far from the nearest subway station, we would definitely stay there again.

Al, Pittsfield, MA

The Ward family stayed for a week 29.12.11-4.01.12 After reading some of the comments on trip advisor i was a little nervous about our stay. What a fabulous surprise we had. The hotel arranged our transfers from JFK and after a long flight it was lovely to see Maurillo (from the limo & town car company) in arrivals with our name board and a huge smile and shook all our hands and put all our bags in the car. We were greeted by John at the hotel (actually on the pavment as we pulled up) he whisked our bags onto a trolley and the girls checked us in on the desk all very efficient and polite and couldn't do enough to assist. We quickly got settled and unpacked in our 1 bedroom suite, quite dated, very spacious, may need a slight improvment in the coming months on the furnishings and carpets, quite obviously being done a little at a time. It was very clean and beautiful crisp white sheets and fluffy towels. You have to remember that this hotel was built in the 1920's!! so a little art deco is nice to see. A must is the breakfast in the top of the tower restaurant, we were the only ones up there the morning after we arrived and had the whole place to ourselves, the view is fantastic and if like us you have a cold crisp day the photos from the restaurant walkway were a real 'wow we are in New York' moment. The hotel is in an incredibly safe area, and we walked in to the main areas every day of the week we were there, we used the subway a couple of times. Got the train across to New Jersey (Hoboken) Carlos Bakery (Cake Boss) was well worth it. 2$ each way and fab cakes!! Go early to avoid the lines. Go at 9am no later to catch the Liberty boats across to the statue and ellis Island, we were lucky some people had to wait 3 hours and they had city passes!! Empire state best to do 10.30pm on wards again fab views and no lines. Back to the Beekman a very big thank you to the house keeping staff who made the double bed up each day beautifully for our 2 teenage boys, and for being so attentive. The deli across the road is expensice but the fresh cut fruit & bagels are very good. The nations cafe across the road to a brilliant all american breakfast for the hungrier appetite. Thank you to all the staff for making our stay so welcoming in such a large city it felt good to come 'home' each evening.

Three of us stayed at the Beekman during a quick theatre weekend in NYC. It is not easy to find a reasonably priced triple room that is actually comfortable. It is also challenging to find hotels in NYC that will allow you to check in on Saturday for a two-night stay, and they were obliging. Our suite was a lot larger than most moderately priced NYC hotel rooms, and very clean. The only issue I had was with very small bathroom with almost no counter space, and the bottom of the tub was slick as glass; two of us almost slipped. We ate breakfast one morning at the hotel--not impressed, there are many better options in the area for food. If you don't mind a 7 to 8 block walk to the theatre district, this hotel offers good value for the money. Taxis are readily available since the hotel is right by the United Nations. Staff was very good, we arrived before noon and they let us check in our room. Whenever we called for extra towels, they were delivered almost immediately. There was a full kitchen, which we didn't need, but would be great for someone who needs extended stay facilities. I think the Beekman was at one time an "all single ladies" hotel, hence the rooms are more like apartments. Furnishings need updating--had big box TVs in living area and bedroom. Overall, very pleased with our stay and would stay here again.