Williamsburg

Things to know

• Lilia releases reservations 30 days ahead at 10am by phone, with any remainder going online at midnight. That is the single most useful booking fact in this neighbourhood — and its bar and outdoor tables take walk-ins, with waits of up to about two hours.
• The L train from Manhattan gets you to Bedford Avenue in one stop from 14th Street, which is why Williamsburg feels closer to the East Village than to most of Brooklyn.
• The waterfront gives you the Manhattan skyline from further north than DUMBO does, which means midtown rather than downtown in the frame — a different photograph and usually a less crowded one.
• Kellogg's Diner is open 24 hours, which makes it the answer to most late-night problems here.
• Several of the best rooms are small and walk-in-hostile. If you have one night in Williamsburg, book something before you arrive.
• Oasis on Bedford has been there since 2003 and is the rare line-free, genuinely cheap option on that street — a useful fact given everything around it.