HotelTonight – Astoria Queens Hotels Near Me
As much as New York continues to grow and change, it also in many ways remains the same at its foundation. You can't change something's roots, and at its foundation New York is a city of immigrants. People from all over the world have come here over many generations to call the Big Apple home, and I for one have always enjoyed traveling to New York to see what I consider a human masterpiece. It's not seamless by any stretch to have people from so many different backgrounds all live together in relative harmony, but that's what's happening there. One of the more overlooked parts of New York – at least up to this point – has been the borough of Queens. Manhattan is saturated with people and countless have flocked to Brooklyn, but Queens remains relatively similar to what it was a couple of generations ago, with immigrant families hailing from nearly every point on the map. I recently found myself with 24 hours to myself in New York, so I decided to visit a well-known neighborhood in Queens known as Astoria. I'd find an Astoria Queens hotel near me by way of HotelTonight when I was ready to crash.
The Mix of People
When you walk down the streets of Astoria, you'll see flags and other signs of countries of origin for the people who live there now. I saw flags and colors from Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico and many other places from all over the world. You can walk down the street in Astoria and hear several different languages within a block or two. I love that type of diversity, as it creates an interesting place no matter where it exists. I found myself talking to people from all walks of life during the day.
The Park
As I walked around a bit more, I found the ultimate public gathering place: Astoria Park. The park is not exactly enormous, as I read somewhere that it's smaller than 60 acres. However, it is wide-open space in a part of town where that is rare. It also sits along the East River, so you can get spectacular views of the water and the Manhattan skyline. I found a lot of people out playing with their dogs, and others out chasing their kids around, as they all enjoyed the warm and sunny day.
The Cuisine
Given the enormous number of ethnicities present in Astoria, I expected to have a lot of choices for dinner, and that's exactly what I encountered. After talking to a few people, I decided to head to a Greek place that is considered iconic there. I waited out the line and sat down for a plate of gyros that were out of this world. The meat came directly from the spit and the pita was made fresh and perfectly warm. I could not have possibly eaten more if I had tried.
HotelTonight – Astoria Queens HotelTonight
After such a full meal, I was ready for some rest. I opened my HotelTonight app and booked an Astoria Queens hotel room in a matter of seconds. I made my way to my room, fully aware that I was soon going to be fast asleep in a comfortable bed. It had been a great day.
