A spacious, comfortable, well-appointed home base!
We often stay in Manhattan for our time at the UN so we were surprised how well it worked to stay in Astoria. The subway was a welcome brisk morning/evening walk. The ride into Manhattan & back was a nice transition to the opening & closing of each day. Driving into NY & parking our car--on the next block! (we arrived on a Sunday which made that easier)--lent itself in so many ways--eg. we were able to pack in some simple groceries etc to take advantage of Michelle's full kitchen.
Most of all, we loved the exhale we felt arriving back to Astoria each evening with its quieter streets & more residential feel and yet, there seemed to be all the amenities we might need--from restaurants to cafe's, pharmacies, bars, shopping & even a grocery store right near the subway stop with an extensive selection of natural & organic items.
Though I'd never been to Astoria before, somehow we felt right at home--safe & welcome. People went out of their way to be helpful. We loved that we had our own gated entrance to our rental, and although it was a basement apartment, it felt spacious & light-filled (note: slippers would come in handy if, like me, your feet run cold & you don't like to wear shoes inside.) We felt at ease in the place right away (which isn't always the case in NYC), and as a result, we all slept better than we usually do in NY. Our son said that the pull out couch was really comfortable too.
Most appreciated is how clean & thoughtfully prepared "our" apartment was.