Great find.
We just checked out this morning after a one week stay in NYC--- our very first time in the city. The Avalon was fantastic. The location is perfect--- just off 5th Avenue with all the shopping and many tourist spots nearby (Grand Central Terminal, NYC Public Library, Empire State Building), and short walks to many subway lines. The hotel is very clean and well organized with very courteous staff. We had a junior suite and it was very large, one of the largest rooms we have ever had anywhere, with a very large bathroom with double sinks and separate tub and shower, double hall closet, large comfortable bed, large sitting area, two flat screen televisions, two dressers with lots of drawer space, and an extra empty mini fridge. The floor was very quiet and the rooms were very clean and well maintained. There really wasn't anything lacking about this hotel. The only negative was the fan in the room was extremely noisy and woke us up a lot during the night every time the fan kicked which was often. We definitely recommend the Avalon and if we ever get back to NYC we hope it is still there and still running a high quality establishment.