Profile

It’s three miles from the airport—in the other direction—but the Sheraton LaGuardia East almost feels like an attraction itself, filled as it is with beautiful relics culled from a former manager's travels through Asia. A statue of Guan Yin (the bodhisattva of compassion) greets visitors in the columned lobby, and the 173 individually decorated rooms are spruced up by antiques—intricate Chinese window screens and camphor-wood trunks—that never feel musty thanks to amenities like plush top-feather beds with allergen-free down comforters. Rooms on the higher floors deliver fascinating views of bustling Flushing, where historic church steeples compete with construction sites in the shadow of the Whitestone Bridge. The Manhattan skyline is visible, too, and you’re only one block away from the subway stop that gets you there. — Candace Taylor

Easy access to stellar dim sum and a free airport shuttle.

Cons
Distance from Manhattan; traffic issues that might turn your fifteen-minute shuttle into something more time consuming