New York
I have been lucky enough to have made dozens of trips the Big Apple over the last 50 years and have seen so many changes. In the 60s you never walked in the city after dark - the doorman at the hotel always steered you into a taxi.Since 9/11 the city has become a safe and fun place to be with little or no crime in Manhattan - that's not to say that you can throw caution to the wind....
Having stayed in many hotels, my favourites are always mid town so you can walk to most of the sites - my favourite being Grand Hyatt Hotel which sits on top of Grand Central Station - a must to visit for it's glorious ceiling.
Shopping is my passion - Macy's on 34th and Broadway is 6 floors of goodies - I once spent all day there and had to buy an extra suitcase to cart all the goodies home.
There is a plethora of museums - particularly the Metropolitan which houses a great Egyptian exhibition but my favourite has to be the Frick Collection - a relatively small house filled with fabulous art and sculpture and far from being boring. The good thing is it is free to visit on a Sunday.
Whatever your taste in food NYC has 24,000 restaurants catering for everyone - do try a trip to either Chinatown or Little Italy.
Whenever in New York I try to take the Staten Island ferry, which is free, and it sails very close to the Statue of Liberty. For theatre buffs Broadway offers many shows - some have transferred from London - and on Times Square is a Tickets Booth which sells tickets for 1/2 price.
