Our first visit to NY, and we wanted a place to stay out of the hustle and bustle. Upper West Side seemed ideal... but:
when we arrived, both elevators were out of use for repairs (why both at once?) so we had to use the service elevator, which was just dreadful, lined in hardboard. Great first impression! The room we were given, first floor, #114, smelt overpoweringly of solvent - apparently rubbing alcohol, used to clean the room. We couldn't open the lower part of the window, as it abutted the roof of the ground floor, and therefore was sealed for security reasons. We couldn't reach the upper part of the window, too high, the roller blind was jammed half shut, and the inner, venetian blind, was also jammed. The roof outside had on it a huge aircon unit, which was incredibly noisy, kept turning on and off all night, and there was litter all over the roof. The aircon unit in the window in our room had one knob missing, and a vent fell off onto the floor as soon as we turned it on to try to clear the smell. All the windows are single-glazed with aircon units in the lower halves, so rooms are dark and noisy.
The staff were very helpful and apologetic, however, and the next day we were offered a change of room and a 20% rebate on our sleepless night. A full rebate would have been nicer...
The room we got instead overlooked Broadway, on the 9th floor. We were offered a choice of a quieter alternative, but it faced a brick wall and the double bed was against the side wall, so only one side table and only oneside to get out of the bed - not great if you both need to get up in the night. So we opted for the Broadway view. Or, it would have been a view if the window hadn't been incredibly dirty. I tried to clean it with a tissue, just to be able to see out.
No food at all in the hotel, but there was a GREAT diner across the street, Manhattan Diner, on corner of 77th and Broadway, open 24 hours a day. We ate there a lot. They do deliver to your room without charge, but there was no table or chairs to eat at, so a little difficult. There was a fridge in the room, but no kettle or coffee maker. A food supermarket was just round the corner, so we bought in stuff for breakfasts, including our own plastic cutlery and bowls.
If this had been a cheap hotel, I wouldn't be complaining so much, but we paid about $860 (minus our $70 rebate) for 3 nights, which seemed extortionate for the quality provided. I certainly wouldn't recommend this hotel to anyone.
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