Travel Tip: 11 Howard, Soho New York City Hotel

As much as I love the excitement of exploring and getting to know a new city, there is something extra special about returning to a place. Discovering without doing the typical touristy things, finding favorite corners, neighborhoods, coffee spots and parks for a morning run. When it comes to New York City, our relationship has definitely surpassed the flirty beginnings and developed into a full-grown love. After my 5th time in the city, I can now find my way round without checking the map every 2 seconds. I am starting to recognize street names, I have favorite restaurants and know where to book a hotel in order to be in walking distance of 90% of the things on my “to-do” list. The latter being Soho, for sure.

Last year, we stayed at the stunning Four Seasons Hote New York located on 57th. It was perfect for a morning stroll in Central Park or shopping spree at Harry Winston (I wish!), but other than that, we spent a lot of time (and money) in the backseat of an uber. Most of the places I love in NYC are located in Soho, the Lower East Side, Greenwich Village and Meatpacking. All of which can easily be reached by foot from Lower Manhattan in under 30 minutes, but are quite the walk (1hr+) from Midtown.

After having had a perfect breakfast at Le Coucou in April 2017, I feel head over heels for the area surrounding the 11 Howard Hotel in Soho. The Glossier Showroom is across the street, Reformation is next door, SoulCycle Soho is a 5 minute walk away and ChaCha Matcha in Nolita only 7 minutes by foot. That’s why we knew we wanted to end our girls trip in NYC at the 11 Howard.

11 Howard: Soho New York City Hotel

We booked 2 nights in a Howard Double. The rates are not cheap and the room not large, but then again, none of the hotels in New York tend to be spacious or affordable. The Howard Double is perfect if you are traveling with a friend since it comes with 2 queen beds. However, with the two beds in the room there is not much space left for luggage. The mini bar is fully stocked with all kinds of non-basic goodies (healthy snacks) and a few classics (hello M&Ms and Pringles), the bathroom has fancy Grown Alchemist products and the view from our 12th story room was just what you would wish for in NYC. The staff was super helpful and friendly, but in that casual, easy-going and very personable way, and of course, the breakfast at Le Coucou (not included in the room rate) was bomb dot com. Great coffee and le Californien are all it takes to make my breakfast heart happy.

The “Library” (lounge) on the second floor offers free coffee from 7-9am (our go-to before heading to Rumble Boxing) and if the cocktails are half as good as the bar looks, then pre-dinner drinks at the hotel are probably a good idea. All in all, I would book the 11 Howard in Soho again in a heart beat. The location is hard to beat for me personally, breakfast at Le Coucou is a must (even when you are not staying at the hotel) and the beds were heavenly.

Looking for more NYC travel tips? Then don’t miss these posts:

• Our New York City food guide on The Daily Dose, or some of my favorites here.
• A girls night out.
• Manhattan Bridge & Brooklyn.
• 72 hours in NYC.
• Kathi’s visual diary from our time in New York City.
• A weekend escape to the Hamptons & Montauk.
• NYC beauty haul (video).
• The best Airbnbs in New York City (plus our horror story).