Riverside Tower Hotel

About Riverside Tower Hotel

Riverside Tower Hotel suits travelers who want the Upper West Side at a quieter pace, with the Hudson River at the end of the street and Central Park a short walk east. Couples, families and business travelers on a simple city trip fit here, and the location works well for anyone who prefers a residential block to the crowds around Midtown. Subway and bus service nearby puts the rest of Manhattan within easy reach. Confirm your room type and floor directly with the property before booking.

Riverside Tower Hotel is a 2-star hotel, so expect a straightforward, functional base rather than a full-service address. The booking supplier's guest score is 3.8 out of 5 from 695 reviews, which points to a steady, mid-range welcome rather than a luxury one. Travelers who treat the room as a place to sleep between days out tend to settle in well here. Rooms and rates vary, so check the total price with taxes and fees in the IMPT app before you commit.

Rooms and listed facilities

Riverside Tower Hotel lists a kitchen, air conditioning, free wifi and internet access, which suits couples who want a slow breakfast and families who need flexibility at mealtimes. The 24 hour front desk and luggage storage help late arrivals, while the business center and concierge support a working trip. Cots and family rooms are listed. Confirm kitchen equipment, bed configuration and accessibility needs with the property before arrival, because layouts differ from room to room. A fitness center, a terrace, a safe, laundry service, lifts and wheelchair accessible facilities complete the supplier's list.

Riverside Tower Hotel is a 2-star property, so the listed facilities matter more than polished extras: air conditioning, free wifi, a safe and a kitchen cover the basics for couples and small groups, and the fitness center and terrace add somewhere to sit or stretch after a day out. Business travelers get a business center and concierge, and late arrivals are covered by the 24 hour front desk. Ask the property about room size, kitchen equipment and lift access before booking.

The setting

Riverside Tower Hotel stands at 80 Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side, with Riverside Park and the Hudson River waterfront at the end of the street. The block is residential, with apartment buildings, trees and a quiet feel after dark; the museums, shops and side streets of the neighborhood lie inland. Central Park is about 0.9 miles (1.4 km) away in a straight line, Times Square about 1.9 miles (3.1 km), Grand Central Terminal about 2.3 miles (3.7 km), Penn Station about 2.5 miles (4 km) and JFK about 15 miles (23.5 km).

The immediate setting of Riverside Tower Hotel is a calm stretch of Riverside Drive, one of the Upper West Side's riverside streets, where the park and the water sit at the western end and Broadway's shops and subway stops are a few blocks inland. Central Park is about 0.9 miles (1.4 km) away in a straight line, observation decks about 2.3 miles (3.7 km), Times Square about 1.9 miles (3.1 km) and the 9/11 Memorial about 5.4 miles (8.7 km). LaGuardia is about 5.7 miles (9.1 km) in a straight line and Newark Liberty about 12 miles (19.4 km).

Location and neighborhood

Most of the working Upper West Side fits between 72nd Street and 96th Street, with Central Park on one side and Riverside Park on the other. The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 laid out the numbered streets east to west and the avenues north to south, which makes the area quick to learn on a first visit. Broadway cuts diagonally through it, subway stops sit along that line, and Midtown is a straightforward ride south. Riverside Tower Hotel sits inside this grid, with Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues carrying most of the everyday shops and lunch counters.

Working days here have a steady rhythm. The avenues are busiest early, when school runs and commuters overlap, then settle by mid-morning. Between meetings, Riverside Park and Central Park give you a green place to walk, and both are free to enter. Evening business dining clusters around Columbus Avenue and the side streets off Broadway, and tables tend to fill later than in Midtown. Riverside Tower Hotel works well for a short stay built around appointments, with the Theater District a simple ride south and the American Museum of Natural History at the eastern edge of the area.

Getting there and around

JFK and Newark Liberty are the long hauls, typically 45 to 75 minutes from Midtown depending on traffic and connections, and LaGuardia is the closest by road. For a short trip, tapping a contactless card or phone on the subway is the simplest way to pay; trains run around the clock and the system caps weekly spending after a set number of rides. Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station handle the regional trains. From Riverside Tower Hotel, the area center is around 1.9 miles (3.1 km), the nearest major station around 2.3 miles (3.7 km), and the airports around 15 miles (23.5 km).

Nearby sights and food

For a spare hour or a free afternoon, the American Museum of Natural History on Central Park West at 79th Street is the area's anchor sight, and it pays to book ahead on busy days. Central Park begins across the avenue: 843 acres, free to enter, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux and first opened in 1858. Riverside Park runs along the Hudson on the western edge. Museum Mile starts at 82nd Street on Fifth Avenue, with The Metropolitan Museum of Art at that corner. MoMA, the Theater District and the Intrepid Museum are all a short trip away.

Food in the area is mostly everyday rather than destination dining. Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues hold a run of casual places: bagels and deli counters in the morning, salad and sandwich shops at lunch, Italian, Japanese, Thai and Middle Eastern kitchens in the evening, plus a few steakhouses and wine bars. Weekend brunch brings waits. For a working lunch, the side streets west of Broadway tend to be quieter. Reservations help for groups and for anything after 7 pm, and opening days shift, so check before you set out.

A day from Riverside Tower Hotel

Start early with coffee on Columbus Avenue, then walk east into Central Park for a loop around the reservoir before the paths fill. If the calendar allows, take a morning slot at the American Museum of Natural History, where the halls quiet down again late in the afternoon. Lunch on Amsterdam Avenue, then work through the afternoon. In the evening, ride south to the Theater District for a Broadway curtain, typically 7 or 8 pm, so check the show; or stay local for dinner and a walk along Riverside Park at sunset. Return to Riverside Tower Hotel on foot.

Distances

Facilities listed by the supplier

As listed by the booking supplier; a facility not listed here may still exist. Confirm anything important with the property.

• 24 Hour Front Desk
• Air conditioning
• Balcony
• Bath
• Bathroom
• Business Center
• Cleaning
• Coffee
• Concierge
• Crib
• Dishwasher
• Express check in
• Family rooms
• First aid
• Fitness Center
• Free Wi-Fi
• Hairdryer
• Internet access
• Iron and board
• Kitchen
• Laundry Service
• Elevators
• Luggage storage
• Microwave
• Non smoking rooms
• Oven
• Pay per view
• Refrigerator
• Safe
• Shower
• Sink
• Smoke detector
• Sofa bed
• TV
• Terrace
• Toaster
• Towels
• WC
• Wheelchair accessible
• Wi-Fi