Where to Stay in Brooklyn - 12 Best Romantic Getaways

Just a quick trip across the iconic Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, Brooklyn is Manhattan’s neighbor and a city with its own vibe and attractions. Hotels and bed and breakfast accommodations are generally cheaper than in Manhattan but no less comfortable or luxurious. What they all have in common is an appreciation for Brooklyn’s unique history and culture that strongly reflects its architecture and art. Certain attractions may be temporarily closed or require advance reservations. Hours/availability may have changed.

Where to Stay in Brooklyn - 12 Best Romantic Getaways

• 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, Photo: 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge
• Henry Norman Hotel, Photo: Henry Norman Hotel
• Franklin Guesthouse, Photo: Franklin Guesthouse
• The Williamsburg Hotel, Photo: The Williamsburg Hotel
• A&Faye Bed and Breakfast, Photo: A&Faye Bed and Breakfast
• McCarren Hotel & Pool, Photo: McCarren Hotel & Pool
• Lefferts Manor, Photo: Lefferts Manor
• The Box House Hotel, Photo: The Box House Hotel
• The William Vale, Photo: The William Vale
• The Brooklyn, Photo: The Brooklyn
• The Wythe Hotel, Photo: The Wythe Hotel
• The Avenue Plaza Hotel, Photo: The Avenue Plaza Hotel
• Sankofa Aban Bed & Breakfast, Photo: Sankofa Aban Bed & Breakfast
• Cover Photo: Courtesy of lightphoto2 - Fotolia.com

Attraction Spotlight: New York Aquarium

Located in Brooklyn, New York City, in the borough's Coney Island neighborhood, the New York Aquarium is America's oldest continually operating aquarium. The New York Aquarium originally opened in December of 1896 in Battery Park's historic Castle Garden fort, becoming part of the New York Zoological Society in 1902.

History

At its opening, the aquarium contained only 150 aquatic life specimens, but throughout the early 20th century, director Charles Haskins Townsend acquired substantial additions to the animal collections. The aquarium was controversially closed in October 1941 as part of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses' city revitalization plan, who feared that the construction of a traffic tunnel joining Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn would compromise the fort's foundational integrity. The aquarium's animals were relocated to the Bronx Zoo until a new facility was built on Coney Island, opening in 1957.

Permanent Exhibits and Attractions

Today, the aquarium is part of the city's Wildlife Conservation Society network, which also manages the Central Park Zoo, Bronx Zoo, Queens Zoo, and Prospect Park Zoo. The 14-acre facility is home to 266 aquatic species across a number of exhibits, as well as a 4D theater, which offers family-friendly double-feature films with built-in sensory effects.

The Aquatheater amphitheater showcases the aquarium's sea lion population in performances with trainers and audience participants. Inside Conservation Hall, guests can experience aquatic life from the perspective of a deep sea diver, viewing cownose rays and green moray eels at the Glover's Reef display. A Sharks, Rays and Turtles exhibit highlights sand tiger sharks, and a Sea Cliffs exhibit, reopening in 2018, is home to black-footed penguins, harbor seals, Pacific walruses, and sea otters.

Ongoing Programs and Education

Daily programming at the New York Aquarium includes penguin and sea otter feedings, with times varying depending on animal conditions. Aquarium Quests are led periodically by park employees throughout the facility, featuring family-friendly activities and educating visitors about the aquarium's aquatic life. Take the Plunge, a theatrical performance written by Avenue Q puppeteer and creator John Tartaglia, is featured throughout the day at the park, using colorful puppets to teach visitors about ocean conservation.

The aquarium offers a wide variety of educational programming for children and families. Themed activities are offered for the aquarium's youngest visitors, including a Breakfast with the Animals series that allows children ages 3-8 to experience the museum with their families. The Keeper For A Day program allows children ages 7-10 to take a look behind the scenes at the daily tasks of aquatic animal caregivers. Summer camp opportunities give students a chance to explore marine life on Coney Island's beaches, meet aquarium staff, and participate in a number of art projects, games, and science experiments. Guided tours are also available for students in grades K-12, along with self-guided tour options for groups and organizations.

As part of the Wildlife Conservation Society's New York Seascape program, the aquarium strives to preserve the waters of the New York area's rivers, harbor, and neighboring Atlantic Ocean and raise awareness about threats to aquatic life. Efforts are undertaken to help restore healthy marine species populations in New York's waterways, preserving the area's natural, economic, and cultural vibrancy. The Community Conservation Connections educational outreach program follows this philosophy, bringing aquarium animals directly into classrooms to educate students on marine biology and conservation. A student art campaign also helped the aquarium secure the Deep Sea Coral Amendment, which ensured the protection of 38,000 square miles of aquatic habitat in the mid-Atlantic region.

Construction and Renovations

Along with much of the Coney Island area, the New York City Aquarium sustained significant damage in 2002's Hurricane Sandy, including severe flooding and power outages, although staff members were able to rescue 90% of the aquarium's animals. The disaster delayed major expansion and renovation plans already in place, which also closed several of the park's exhibits. While many exhibits are still open to the public during construction, the fully renovated and repaired aquarium is scheduled to open in 2018.

A new 57,000-square-foot facility will house the Ocean Wonders: Sharks! exhibit, featuring whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks, and Port Jackson sharks. The Shipwreck! exhibit will focus on more than 60 shipwrecks located in New York waters, which now serve as hubs for marine life. Other exhibits will highlight species native to the New York Bight, a 16,000-square-mile waterway stretching from Montauk to Cape May. The aquarium aims to educate visitors on the diverse and dense aquatic life in the New York area's waters, including threats posed by industrial development and climate change.

602 Surf Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224, Phone: 718-265-3474

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Attraction Spotlight: Brooklyn Children’s Museum

Located in Brooklyn, New York City, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum is the world’s first museum that caters to children and how they can learn and explore history, culture, and the overall world around them. Open Tuesday to Sunday, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum is something that you definitely don’t want to miss while visiting New York with your children.

The Brooklyn Children’s Museum has had the same mission ever since it was founded in 1899 in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn, New York City. The main goal of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum is to provide children with fun, entertaining, and educational experiences. The museum hopes that children, from the young age of infancy to young adults, will leave the Brooklyn Children’s Museum with new insight of how they can respect and interact with people from all around the world.

Although the Brooklyn Children’s Museum has an innovative design and mission, it has the fundamental basics of any other renowned museum. Thus, it has a variety of permanent attractions and special attractions.

Totally Tots was designed with children age zero to five in mind. This innovative exhibit has various play areas, which focus on engaging different senses. Water, sand, and music are just a few things that children have the option of playing with and exploring while they interact with the nine different areas.

Collections Central showcases the Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s collection of 29,000 pieces of art. The abundant art collection is displayed on rotating shelving, which makes it easy for children to have the chance to interact with and explore the entire collection. Throughout this exhibit, visitors will be able to see a clear theme of how the artwork is displayed. Instead of only being able to view the artwork, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum allows, and even encourages, visitors to engage with the artwork by using their senses.

Neighborhood Nature allows children to learn about various ecosystems. Most of the species on display are animals, flora, or fauna that can be found within Brooklyn. There is even a live animal section, which allows children to view animals in a personal setting.

World Brooklyn was designed to teach children about the diverse communities within Brooklyn. This attraction includes store designs, where children are encouraged to play in. Guest speakers, who used to live or currently live in Brooklyn, can typically be seen within this attraction. The guest speakers interact with visitors by showing them cultural objects from their life in Brooklyn or by telling stories.

Since one of the fundamental ideas in the Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s mission is to educate children, it shouldn’t be surprising that the museum has many educational opportunities. The Brooklyn Children’s Museum ensures that every school aged child can visit the museum with their free admission programs: Target Free School and Con Edison STEM Day Out.

Aside from educational visiting options, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum provides people with the option to participate in daily educational activities, after school programs, or summer camp. Daily educational activities change every month. So, it’s important that you check which activities will be going on all month long at the beginning of every month. As for after school programs, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum offers free admission to all children. The after-school program for elementary children runs from 3pm to 6pm every weekday, and takes participants on an adventure around the museum. The program focuses on a new section of the museum, as well as new learning objectives, each week, so participants will never get bored.

The high school after school programs work a little bit differently than the elementary school programs. High school students have the option of choosing from one of the following after school programs; art workshops, college readiness seminars, or internships. Art workshops are only available on Wednesdays from 4pm to 6pm. The college readiness seminars are available on Thursdays from 4pm to 5:30pm. Finally, the internship program is held on Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm to 5pm. Students who participate in the internship program will receive a $150 payment at the end of the month. Since each after school program is available on different days, students could manage to participate in every after-school program.

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145 Brooklyn Ave, Brooklyn, NY, Phone: 718-735-4400

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Attraction Spotlight: DeKalb Market Hall

The DeKalb Market Hall is ushering in a new area for culture and cuisine in the heart of Brooklyn. The borough has always had a strong reputation in the food and culture worlds for its lively nature and rich variety of foods and drinks, and the DeKalb Market Hall aims to celebrate that heritage and take it to a whole new level by bringing together some of the area's finest food vendors from all walks of life under one roof.

The DeKalb Market Hall features no less than 40 individual vendors, each carefully chosen to reflect the amazing diversity of Brooklyn and the intense, rich, incredible quality of its cuisine. DeKalb is a place where you can experience new tastes, sensations, and savors with your friends and family, meeting new people along the way and opening the doors to a world of culinary experiences.

Not only that, but the DeKalb Market Hall is also a cultural and entertainment space, offering live shows, special events, a full cocktail bar, and so much more to ensure there's always something new to see, taste, and experience. In short, it's the ultimate hang-out spot in Brooklyn and is definitely one of the top spots to go if you're looking to have a fun time and taste some great food in New York City.

Food Vendors at DeKalb Market Hall

The DeKalb Market Hall is a place where you can truly see and sample the vast range of cuisines and culinary styles that make Brooklyn such an amazing place. You can find almost everything imaginable here, from simple smoothies at juice blends at a place like Brooklyn Juicer to delicious BBQ meats at Fletcher's BBQ or stunning seafood at Fulton Landing Seafood.

Asian food lovers can stop off at locations like the Jian Bing Company or Hana Noodles, while those who prefer Italian flavors can check out Forcella or those who prefer Spanish cuisine can take a look at the Paella Shack. Sandwiches, burgers, tacos, kebabs, desserts, shakes, and so much more can all be found here, with this Brooklyn food hall offering an array of flavors you’ll never get tired of trying.

Important Information for Visitors to DeKalb Market Hall

The DeKalb Market Hall is one of the hottest spots in all of Brooklyn and an amazing place to spend some time. So where exactly is it and how do you get there? The DeKalb Market Hall is located at 445 Albee Square West, Brooklyn, NY 11201. If you'd like to get in touch with the DeKalb Market Hall for any reason, you can contact them via the following telephone number: 929 359 6555.

The hall is open every single day of the week, opening its doors at 7 in the mornings and closing up at 10 in the evenings. These hours are fixed and identical every single day, even on Sundays, but the vendors will have their own opening and closing times, with some opening up bright and early at 7am while others open up a little later. The DeKalb Market Hall is fully wheelchair accessible and welcomes guests of all ages, but cannot accept pets except service dogs.

Special Events in Brooklyn at the DeKalb Market Hall

Looking for a fun way to spend a weekend in Brooklyn? Maybe you've got a date lined up and want to take them somewhere special? Perhaps you're just searching for a new experience at one of the most exciting, up-and-coming locations in the whole of New York City. If so, the Dekalb Stage at the Dekalb Market Hall is the place for you. This is where various special events are held at the hall on a regular basis, with examples including live musical entertainment, trivia quizzes, bingo nights, and more.

The DeKalb Stage at the DeKalb Market Hall is a 7,500 square foot events center that can cater to all kinds of events from public art shows and live entertainment to private gatherings and parties. The calendar of events at this hot Brooklyn culture center is always changing and evolving, so keep up with the latest news and start planning your trip to DeKalb today.

You can book Brooklyn events at this location and attend various public events too, with some examples including the regular 'Balls to the Hall Bingo Nights' which involve drinking, prizes, and fun dance competitions for all and the 'Geeks who Drink' trivia nights which run on a weekly basis and let you, and a team of your family, friends, or colleagues work together against other teams to test your brainpower on a host of challenging trivia questions while also enjoying some delicious beverages and tasty snacks from around the DeKalb Market Hall.

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