I am a member of the hotel group and booked The Holiday Inn requesting the usual: a quiet room not near lifts/youngsters on a high floor with good views. I had the misfortune to meet as I checked in a very unprofessional and aggressive young manageress who actually said that 'we do not care if you are a member or not' and 'we treat all our clients alike'. She further gave me a room on the 7th floor Tower B (where everyone could look in my room), no views at all, between a guy that snored most of the night and a guy that coughed all the night and when not, was busy smoking. All the doors could close only with a bang and across the hallway were 2 young girls that came from clubbing talking loudly at 2.30am!!!!!!!. You could hear the elevators, this contributed to a bad very first impression on NY and the hotel. The next day however was a very kind older manageress that said that members should be treated differently and moved me to the 16th floor Tower A with excellent southern views, no noisy neighbours apart from the one above me that played his ball in his room and huge bangs from closing the doors.
Conclusions:
- the hotel desperately needs a renovation, hallways look old, door are terrible
- some hotel staff/managers are very professional, some not
- probably weekends are busier and you might have my experience
- rooms are large but basic with a coffee machine and child size baths
- the hotel is some 15min walk from the downtown's attractions
- there are lots of supermarkets/cheap restaurants nearby
Tips on NY:
- get a NY pass with access to lots of attractions (front of the queue pass in some cases and access to UN where you can send your postal cards with your pic on the stamps!!!!!!!!!!!!)
- probably some 75% of the taxi drivers are very rude and they expect a tip or they just take it themselves
- for original shoe shops and clothes and not the Designer stuff go to Broadway in Soho or $10 fake designer sun glasses (that come even with security bar code) in Canal St
- underground staff is also very rude but New Yorkers are very kind and will go to extreme length to help you
If you go to sleep and wake up with an excellent view and then experience only good things, trust me is very easy to fall in love with New York.
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