Uptown Adventures (And An Amazing Deal to Boot)

There has been so much chatter about the uber-sleek hotels opening in New York City, including the much-buzzed about Aloft Harlem. 

I wanted to find a very different alternative and trekked up to Harlem to visit The Sugar Hill Inn.  I had heard that Europeans loved this bed & breakfast near City College, nestled among rows of brick townhouses.

With no outside indication that the townhouse was an inn, it lent an immediate sense of home away from home.  That sense of home continued when I walked in and was greeted by charmer owner Jeremy Archer cooking bacon and eggs, and a gaggle of jovial European and Australian guests.  The breakfast spread is impressive (just $5 for all you can eat and drink), with fresh fruit, cereals, scones, homemade bread & granola, breakfast quesadillas, eggs, coffee cake and anything else Jeremy feels like cooking that morning.The inn features modern and rock 'n roll touches, like Jimi Hendrix paintings, an edgy complement to its classic design and architecture.  Most of the rooms are named for stars of music, including Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Josephine Baker, and Ella Fitzgerald.  The rooms are comfortable and well-equipped, with a fridge and microwave in each room and kitchens in some of the suites. Sugar Hill is earth-friendly, with a pesticide-free garden and solar panels installed on the roof.  Archer, a former fashion retail exec, takes the B&B's eco-friendly angle to heart: he bikes to work from the Upper West Side daily, even at the height of NYC's slush and snow-filled winter.I'd recommend this hideaway to family & friends, especially with room rates starting at an amazing-for-NYC $145.  I wouldn't recommend the inn to someone looking for a full-service hotel, 24-7 lively lobby and bar, or something close to the tourist's New York (though it's just 20 minutes to midtown on the A train).  There are still some areas of Harlem that I'd prefer to have a buddy nearby but this wasn't one of them.  I felt like I had stepped back to a bygone Harlem Renaissance era, where jazz music played in the streets.