The short version
SoHo if you're here to shop and eat out and want it all outside your door. The Financial District if you want more space for the money, quieter nights, and easier trains. We're biased, obviously, we live down here. But the honest answer is that these two neighborhoods are 25 minutes apart on foot, so the choice is about what your block feels like at 10 PM, not about what you can reach.
What each one is actually like
SoHo is a shopping district that happens to be beautiful. Cast-iron buildings, Broadway and Prince and Spring lined with flagship stores, cobblestones on the side streets, and a lot of people. That energy is the reason to stay there. It's also the reason some people don't: the sidewalks on Broadway between Houston and Canal are genuinely crowded most of the day, and prices for a room tend to follow the retail rents.
The Financial District is the opposite trade. Monday to Friday it's an office neighborhood with a lunch rush and a 5 PM exodus. Then the weekend comes and it empties out, which most visitors find surprising and then like. Our streets are old and narrow, the buildings are tall, and there's water on three sides of you. Space costs less down here than it does 20 blocks north, which is why apartment-style suites work in this part of town.
Getting around
The Financial District wins transit, not by a little. Fulton Center alone puts the A, C, J, Z, 2, 3, 4 and 5 under one roof, and it's a four-minute walk from John Street. Wall Street stations add more of the same, the 1 runs down to WTC Cortlandt, the PATH to New Jersey leaves from the World Trade Center, and the ferries go from Pier 11 and Whitehall. If your days involve crossing the city or getting to an airport, you'll feel the difference.
SoHo has the C and E at Spring Street, the N, R and W at Prince, the 6 at Spring, and the B, D, F and M at Broadway-Lafayette. That's plenty, and Broadway-Lafayette is a genuinely useful transfer. But you're changing trains more often to get downtown or out to the boroughs.
Eating and evenings
SoHo has more restaurants per block, no argument. What you may not expect is how well FiDi eats now. Stone Street is a cobblestone block of restaurants with tables outside in the warm months, the Seaport has a cluster of good rooms by the water, and Tribeca, which is a 10-minute walk north of us, has some of the best restaurants in the city.
The real difference is after dinner. SoHo stays awake. Our block goes quiet. If you're travelling with kids or you want to sleep with the window open, quiet is worth more than it sounds.
Space for your money
This is where downtown-vs-downtown gets decided. SoHo buildings are old lofts and small hotels, and rooms tend to be compact and expensive because the neighborhood is. The Financial District has more square footage per dollar, and more of it in apartment-style layouts with a kitchen and a washer, which matters if you're staying longer than three nights, travelling with family, or actually planning to cook rather than eat out twice a day.
Who should pick which
Pick SoHo if it's a short trip built around shopping, gallery-hopping, and dinner reservations, and you'll pay for the location.
Pick the Financial District if you want more room, a quiet night, transit that goes everywhere, and easy walks to the Brooklyn Bridge, Battery Park, the Seaport and the 9/11 Memorial. Then take the 6 up to Spring Street when you want SoHo, which takes about eight minutes and costs a swipe.