Today, we flew from DFW to New York LaGuardia on American Airlines. We are traveling with only carry-on luggage for this four-night cruise.

The flight from DFW to LGA was uneventful and on-time, which is what you always hope for. The flight was completely full and a little bumpy, but otherwise, it was fine. We scored some excellent Main Cabin Extra seats in exit row 16 so we had plenty of legroom.

As our flight was on final approach to LaGuardia, the city comes into view and I had forgotten just how massive New York City really is.

After landing and entering Terminal B at LaGuardia, we noticed that the airport has undergone quite a bit of renovation since our last visit, which has been at least ten years ago. We did not need to wait for luggage since we are traveling with only carry-on, so we followed the signs to ground transportation. By the way, the signage at LaGuardia is excellent.

We ordered an Uber to take us to our hotel and, by the time we arrived at the Uber pick-up station, our car was waiting for us. We ordered Uber X, which was the least expensive option and the cost to midtown Manhattan was $65. We had a 20% discount coupon from Uber, so our net cost was about $54. Of course, with tip, that brought the price back up to around $65.

The drive from LaGuardia to Hotel Elysée only took about 20 minutes. Traffic was not that bad until we got into Manhattan.

The facade of Hotel Elysée is undergoing some renovation, so the beautiful image above is somewhat encumbered by construction scaffolding, a common sight on many buildings in NYC.

Once inside the hotel it really does have the feel of an intimate French country inn. Hotel Elysée was opened in 1926, nearly 100 years ago! During that time, the hotel has undergone some renovations, but has retained the classic elegance of that period.

When we checked in, we were shocked to learn that we had been upgraded to one of the Presidential Suites! We were also informed that the computer system that programs the room keys was malfunctioning, so we would have to be escorted to our room by Jesse, a staff member, who could unlock the door for us with a master key. Jesse told us that he has been working at Hotel Elysée since he was 17 years old and that it is the only job he has ever had.

Jesse unlocked our door, revealing one of the most elegant suites we have ever experienced.

The suite has a huge living room with a fireplace, bookcases stocked with books, a sofa and casual seating for up to eight as well as a dining table that can seat six guests. A small desk at one end of the room is positioned across from a baby grand piano! I don’t think we have ever stayed in a suite with a piano.

Our suite even has a very nice-sized kitchen with full refrigerator, stove and microwave. There were no dishes or cutlery provided, but I assume that needs to be arranged in advance.

The bedroom is equally impressive with a king-sized bed, elegant seating, beautiful furnishings and a huge free-standing closet complete with mirrored doors. The bathroom is large and equally elegant with a full-sized bathtub and large walk-in shower.

As far as the hotel’s location, it is on E 54th Street between Madison Ave and Park Ave, within walking distance of Central Park. This is an upscale boutique hotel that should be considered by any cruise traveler embarking or disembarking a ship at Manhattan Cruise Terminal. For more information, check out the hotel’s website at https://libraryhotelcollection.com/en/hotel-elysee.html.

After unpacking and spending some relaxing time in our suite, we decided to venture out into the city for dinner. We have reservations, or so we thought, at The Blue Mezze Bar and Mediterranean Restaurant. We pondered having an Uber take us from the hotel to the restaurant, but the weather was nice and, on the map, it did not look that far away, so we decided to walk.

As it turns out, we should have done Uber. It was a very long walk! The Blue Mezze is located at 2nd Ave and E 77th Street. It took us more than 35 minutes to walk there from the hotel, but we probably needed the exercise. We felt like this part of NYC is pretty easy to walk and it felt relatively safe.

We arrived at Blue Mezze at 6:35pm, just missing the Happy Hour prices on drinks and mezze which ends at 6:30pm. We decided to sit indoors, hoping for air conditioning, but it was not as cool as we were hoping. We ordered a Mezze Sampler and three glasses of wine (I had a second). Our final tab with tip was $122. Seems a little steep for nothing besides appetizers, but this is NYC. The service was good, the food was also good, but far from the best mezze we have had. The place was packed and very noisy, perhaps the noisiest restaurant we have ever visited.

After dinner, we ordered an Uber to take us back to the hotel where we retired to our Presidential Suite for night’s rest. Tomorrow morning, we will embark Carnival Venezia!

Carnival Venezia

Carnival Venezia Pre-Cruise in New York City and Hotel Elysée

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