Entrance to Wingate by Wyndham New York Midtown South.
New York hotel prices can be difficult to justify, particularly when all you need is a comfortable room in a convenient location. During our Sep 2026 visit, the Wingate by Wyndham New York Midtown South was asking $591.14 for a single night, including taxes and fees. The hotel is on West 37th Street, just off Fifth Avenue and a short walk from the Empire State Building.
A cash rate approaching $600 was far more than I would have been prepared to pay for this particular hotel. Fortunately, Wyndham Rewards offered another option: 30000 points for the same night.
I had purchased those points in August 2025 at 0.86 cents each, putting my acquisition cost for the stay at $258. At the time of our visit, Wyndham points could also be purchased for as little as 0.68 cents each during a promotion, potentially reducing the cost of the same redemption to $204.
The hotel itself was nothing remarkable. But at $258 rather than $591, it didn’t need to be. We needed a comfortable room in Manhattan for one night, and the Wingate provided one.
Arriving from the Renaissance
We checked in on Sep 17th, having spent the previous night at the Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel, just a few blocks away.
Marriott Platinum status had given us a 4 p.m. late checkout at the Renaissance, so there was no particular urgency to move. We were out shopping during the afternoon and I stopped by the Wingate at around 1:50 p.m. to see whether our room might be available.
Wyndham had encouraged us to complete the check-in formalities through its app before arrival. There was also an option to pay for guaranteed early check-in, with different charges depending on whether we wanted access at noon or 2 p.m. The standard check-in time was 4 p.m.
I hadn’t paid for early access. The front desk suggested returning in about half an hour, when a room should be ready. That gave us an opportunity to visit Reichenbach Hall, a German beer hall next door. We ordered a chicken schnitzel sandwich with German slaw and a lager. The schnitzel was excellent, and I’d happily order it again.
Back at the Wingate around 2:30 p.m., we were handed our room key, with no additional early check-in charge.
Reception at Wingate by Wyndham New York Midtown South.
There was one small complication. When we opened the door, the housekeeper was still finishing up. The front desk had apparently released the room a little prematurely. It wasn’t a significant inconvenience. We left our shopping bags inside the door, let her finish and returned to the Renaissance to collect our luggage.
The two hotels were only about two and a half blocks apart. With two suitcases and several smaller bags, I checked Uber out of curiosity. The quoted UberX fare was over $50. Naturally we walked.
The room: Small but adequate
Our room was on the second floor, facing the street. It was small, even by the standards of Manhattan hotel rooms, but the available space had been used reasonably efficiently.
A compact guest room at Wingate by Wyndham New York Midtown South, with the washbasin positioned outside the bathroom.
The bed was comfortable, and the furnishings were in reasonable condition. It was an ordinary budget hotel room, with little to distinguish it from dozens of others.
The room included a desk area, television, coffee-making facilities, a safe and an iron. The latter was particularly useful because I had a charity event to attend that evening, and I needed to iron a white shirt.
The room included a refrigerator, safe, coffee machine and open storage beneath the washbasin.
One interesting feature was the bathroom arrangement. Rather than placing everything behind a bathroom door, the sink was incorporated into the main room. We’d encountered a similar approach at citizenM in Amsterdam a few weeks earlier. It’s an effective way to use limited space, although it does mean the washbasin is part of the bedroom rather than a separate bathroom.
The bathroom arrangement reflects the room’s limited floor space.
The shower and toilet occupied their own enclosed area. Despite the compact room, the shower was reasonably spacious, and we had no complaints about the water pressure or temperature.
The shower was reasonably spacious despite the compact room.
For one night, the room was perfectly adequate. Everything worked, and we slept comfortably.
Breakfast and an early departure
Our plans required an early departure the following morning. We were heading to Penn Station shortly after 6 a.m. to continue to Newark for our flight home.
Breakfast at the Wingate started at 6 a.m., which was convenient. We were the first guests there and had a look at the breakfast offering before leaving. It was a fairly standard selection of yogurt, bagels, whole fruit, juices and coffee.
The breakfast selection was available from 6 a.m.
We didn’t have time for a leisurely breakfast. As is often the case when we’re traveling early, we grabbed coffee and continued on our way. The early start time was useful, even if we didn’t make much use of the food.
The redemption: Where the Wingate made sense
The most interesting part of this stay was the difference between the cash price and the cost of using Wyndham Rewards points. Wyndham had introduced a new 45000-point redemption tier just two days before our stay, with some New York hotels moving into that higher category. The Wingate remained at 30000 points.
Booking comparison | Amount |
|---|---|
Cash rate, including taxes and fees | $591.14 |
Wyndham Rewards points required | 30000 |
Redemption value | 1.97¢ per point |
My points acquisition cost | 0.86¢ per point |
Cost of points used | $258.00 |
Cost at a 0.68¢ promotional purchase price | $204.00 |
On paper, redeeming 30000 points against a $591.14 cash rate produced a value of 1.97 cents per point. That’s an excellent return relative to what I paid for the points. But the comparison needs some qualification. I would not have paid $591 for this room. The Wingate was a modest, functional hotel, and its cash price reflected the unusually expensive Manhattan hotel market during our visit rather than anything exceptional about the property.
So the difference between $591.14 and $258 isn’t necessarily a measure of cash saved. Had Wyndham points not been available, I would have kept looking for a cheaper, perhaps less advantageously located, hotel. The more useful question is whether $258 was a reasonable cost for a centrally located Manhattan room that met our requirements on that particular night. I think it was.
And for someone who had purchased Wyndham points at the more recent promotional price of 0.68 cents each, the same redemption would have cost just $204. That is an attractive option when cash rates across the city are elevated.
Buying Wyndham points for expensive hotel nights
This stay also illustrates why I continue to find Wyndham Rewards useful despite changes to the program.
I had purchased my points in August 2025, and the subsequent opportunity to buy them at a lower price meant my existing balance wasn’t necessarily acquired at the cheapest possible cost. Even so, I was happy with the outcome.
Buying Wyndham points gives me another way to price a hotel stay. But I still compare the effective cost against other hotels I’d actually be willing to book. A favorable redemption rate alone isn’t enough. In this case, both conditions were met. We’d seen the same principle at work two nights earlier at the Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District. That stay also cost 30000 Wyndham points, against a cash rate of $378.72. The hotel itself was disappointing, but the location and redemption economics justified the booking.
The Wingate NY Midtown South was a different proposition: a better redemption against the published cash price, and a hotel that delivered what we needed without any significant problems.
Would I stay again?
Yes, under similar circumstances. There was nothing special about the Wingate by Wyndham New York Midtown South. The room was small, the facilities were basic and the overall experience was unremarkable. But the location was convenient, the bed was comfortable, the shower worked well and breakfast was available early enough for our departure.
The minor check-in confusion didn’t materially affect our stay. At $591.14, I wouldn’t have considered it good value. At an effective cost of $258 using points I already held, it was a perfectly reasonable choice. At $204 using points purchased during a stronger promotion, it would have been more attractive still.
The Wingate wasn’t a particularly good hotel at $591. It was a perfectly adequate hotel at $258.
Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel: An 85K Certificate Against a $1264 Room
Our previous night in Manhattan, where an 85K Marriott certificate and 5000 points replaced a $1264 cash rate at a substantially more impressive hotel.
Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District: Great Location & Price, Not-Great Hotel
Another 30000-point Wyndham redemption during the same trip, this time against a $378.72 cash rate. An excellent location, but a disappointing hotel.