I stayed at the YMCA to give it a try. The weekend I was there, other hotels were way too expensive, and I found this one great value for money!
It's located at the Upper West Side very close to Central Park. In fact, only a 1 minute walk to the park.
The hotel room is cleaned daily and I had no problem with its hygeine. The room was a little small, but if you want a big room, I suppose you need a big wallet! Since I don't tend to spend hardly any time in a hotel on my travels, this was perfect for New York.