esm wrote:they are usually 4-5-star hotels that I'd feel too casual walking into anyway.
The majority of hotels in NYC don't generally care how you dress as long as it's not indecent and you don't look/smell homeless. I've walked into plenty of hotels in midtown with my usual ratty weekend getup and not gotten a second glance. Most tourists wear sneakers and t-shirts with jeans, shorts or khakis. This city gets a lot of actor/performer/superwealthy/VIP types who don't want to particularly stand out or dress up, not to mention the wall street crowd who get paid millions but often like to dress down, and so it's risky to assume someone is poor just on the basis of their casual attire. Although, to be sure, there are other cultural indicators that people rely on with varying degrees of accuracy. I don't really know squat about fashion but my guess is that if you have a good haircut, dress in dark colors and don't carry a rachet-looking handbag, you'll fit in anywhere. Loudly speaking a Northern or Western European language while looking slightly impatient should convince the hotel staff you are of comfortable means, and as a plus they will give you a pass for being a lousy tipper. </badadvice>
