Unique Sleeps: The James, New York

Unique Sleeps: Amazing hotels hand picked by Expedia Experts. The James New York.

As Shakespeare once famously said, ‘Do your research before booking a hotel in NYC.’ Clever Bill. He was dead right.

Happily, we’re slightly more researched than many, having spent multiple months in Manhattan over the past few years. We know precisely the areas we like, and exactly where we like to eat and drink, and have an extensive list we hit when we arrive. You know, like everyone else.

But that was all pre-baby… Speakeasies til 3am and breakfast at 1pm type fare. Now we have a small, adorable companion who insists on regular food and naps and a 6pm bath-boob-bed ritual. This inspires a new style of travel, obviously, but mostly it means we need space. Space for cots, and prams and big, puffy jackets, luggage and the 10 pairs of Nikes I’ll be buying because I have issues.

New York, however, is not the best at space. Brooklyn – wide open, quiet Brooklyn – was floated for about four seconds, before I remembered how much shopping I wanted to do, and where most of that was located. (Not Brooklyn.)

We knew we wanted to stay downtown, (we generally stay around the West Village/Soho), but the last time we were in NYC we spent a fair smack of time on the LES and in Tribeca, so we thought we’d try someplace closer to that.

Cue The James, right on the border of Soho and Tribeca and to be honest, the perfect position for a couple of kids with a pram and a penchant for good coffee (and the crostini at Locanda Verde.)

Our room was incredible. SO MUCH SPACE. It was a corner room, with floor to ceiling views right round of Soho, the LES and the Financial District, and uptown. Mind-blowing on a sunny day, and great fun to watch at night.