We stayed at The Americana Inn for one night, went to Washington for 3 days then returned to Americana Inn for 6 nights. I must admit to some trepidation before our trip as I'd made my selection of Hotel entirely on TripAdvisor reviews! As far as I could work out after extensive research, The Americana Inn seemed to be the only cheap and cheerful hotel with mostly good reviews in NYC! I was worried that our reservation would not be in place as this seemed to be the most common problem. I booked through the Hotel's website and we paid around $100 per night for a twin room including tax. I needn't have worried as when we arrived everything was order and our reservation for the following week was also in place.
The buzzer to let you in the lobby was manned constantly so we never had to wait to get in. The lift was quite small and slow but to be honest we only used it when checking in and out anyway. You can fit two people and two suitcases in - any more than that is a bit cosy! The hotel is only 5 floors anyway so walking up isn't exactly a hardship.
Our room was set back from 6th Avenue on 38th Street so the full force of the traffic noise (quite amazing - bring earplugs and don't bother opening the window as you won't be able to hear yourself think!) was not revealed until we returned the following week and had a room overlooking 6th Avenue.
Ok, so the room was very small but there was a large wardrobe which was plenty big enough to store suitcases and a large chest of drawers. And to repeat everyone else on this site, you're only using the room to sleep in anyway! The room was spotlessly cleaned everyday, with a small basket left including clean towels, soap, paper cups and a spare loo roll. And the obligatory tip envelope... The bathrooms (of which there was 1 for every 4 or 5 rooms) were cleaned twice a day and there was always hot water. We never had to wait for a bathroom and having a private bathroom (as opposed to the gym showers you get in Youth Hostels) was pleasant!The showers were pretty good and I'd recommend taking one of the towels in with you to use as a bathmat to avoid flooding situations when you step out of the shower. Use the bathroom next to the lift on each floor if you can as they're the ones with windows so don't get as hot.
All the cleaning staff we came across were very friendly and never failed to smile. This was mostly true of the staff on reception too (which is manned all the time - quite reassuring).
And now for the however... After we'd been to Washington we returned to The Americana Inn and to our delight got a larger room overlooking 6th Avenue. Unfortunately the traffic noise was horrendous and we couldn't close the windows (being feeble females) but housekeeping sorted that out for us after we asked at reception). We could at least then sleep! Unfortunately after a couple of days the weather turned a bit parky and the heating came on which was ok while awake but absolutely excrutiatingly hot whilst trying to sleep. At 4am I eventually couldn't stand it anymore and went and asked reception how to turn it off. The gentleman behind reception explained he couldn't switch it off as it was centrally controlled and the people who lived in the building complained to 'The City' if it was too cold and The Americana Inn would get fined. Arrgh!! He suggested I open the windows and wasn't really very helpful to my pleas that the traffic would put paid to any chance of sleep. Never mind, after two nights the weather got a bit better, the heating got switched off and I could get some sleep. Red Bull's a wonderful thing...
And then, 2 nights before we left my friend saw a mouse run under my bed. We spoke to Reception (who didn't apologise and looked blankly at me) and demanded to be moved rooms. We were moved to a room away from 6th Avenue (hurrah!) and on check-out I eventually got money taken off the bill although the gentleman didn't seem to understand why having a mouse running around was a problem. He even tried to be suprised about it although surely somewhere that has mouse traps everywhere (humane ones, don't worry!) must be aware of a mouse problem! He rang the manager of the Hotel when I stood my ground and we had a night's charge taken off the bill. I felt this was very generous as I was only really looking for an apology and a token gesture of a small discount! I didn't get an apology but oh well, at least it took a bit of shopping pressure off the Visa bill!
Would I stay here again? The location was brilliant: walking distance to Times Square, Macy's and Empire State Building but I think the traffic noise did my head in sufficiently enough to fork out to stay somewhere with air conditioning I can control myself, at least 30 floors between myself and the street, and triple glazing. And having a mouse running around does kind of turn my stomach a tad!
By the way, I'd recommend the following to tourists in NYC:
Don't bother with Empire State Building - it's really busy all the time so you have to wait to get near the view. Go up Top of The Rock at Rockefellar Centre instead. It's not quite as high but the views are much better as you can see the Park properly and also the Empire State Building! Top of The Rock has only just re-opened after twenty years and not many people know about it yet. We went up to see the sunset and the lights come on across the city and it was absolutely beautiful. Hardly anyone else was up there and the difference in the way we were treated was remarkable. You were just left to enjoy the view rather than be treated like tourists with too much money to spend. At Empire State you are constantly bombarded with people trying to get you to part with your hard-earned cash (on souvenir photographs of yourselves in front of a picture of the building, on audio tours, on skyrides etc). You even have to walk through a giftshop to get to and from the lifts at the top. Top of the Rock is much more understated and you don't have to go in the shop if you don't want to!
I would also highly recommend going on the Greenwich Village food tour - it was a fascinating insight into the culture and history of the area, as well as taking you round some of the local eateries.
Finally, if you do decide to stay at The Americana Inn, go to Guy & Gallard across 6th avenue for breakfast. They're so friendly in there and serve about ten different types of coffee!
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