I traveled to NYC in November 2010 to attend the Notre Dame-Army game, and booked my room at the Waldorf months in advance. (My wife and I had been there before and enjoyed our stays.) Upon booking online, I was offered space-available-upon-arrival upgrades, at discounted rates. Nice.
Upon registering, I was greeted as a returning guest. The desk clerk then began an extremely lengthy review of available rooms. Naturally, I thought she was looking for a nice available upgrade.
Wrong again. Room 632. A low floor, but just high enough to overlook the cooling towers and miscellaneous machinery on an adjacent roof. (See accompanying photo.) Naturally, the roof machinery works all night, but this noise was a nice accompaniment to the traffic entering and exiting the service elevator directly across the hall from my door.
Why not complain and ask to be moved? My flight to NYC was delayed, and I was extremely short of time to meet friends for a long-scheduled dinner. After unpacking, it just didn't seem worth the effort.
I did enjoy my $7.29 latte at the Starbucks downstairs the next morning, though.
BTW, what is the purpose of providing a flat-screen TV without HD? I suppose one could just use his computer, at a low, low rate of only $15/day.
Here's a useful tip: if booking transportation to/from an airport through the hotel, balk at the price (shouldn't be an effort) - this should result in an immediate offer for a sizable discount (bringing the price down to merely "outrageous," from "exorbitant").
OK, end of rant. The bed was delightful, and the car service (Capricorn) couldn't have been better.
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