Our family of four visit NYC once a year and for the most recent trip at the end of August we chose Affinia Dumont over several other hotels based on the nice room pictures on the hotel website (spacious and bright..). After the booking a one-bedroom suite (we like the extra space) on the affinia website, we received emails asking us to select "amenities" prior to arrival. Convinced that I had made a good hotel selection, I requested a room with a view, a room not near the elevator, and a yoga kit. Unfortunately our flight from the Bay area didn't arrive JFK until after mid-night (which I did note a late check-in on the comment portion of my booking). By the time we checked in, the front-desk lady (who said she was just called over to help out and she normally doesn't work at Affinia - is that a normal hotel practice?) gave us a room on the 10th floor. Upon reaching the room, I realized that the room was not only very close to the elevator, it was right next to a service closet and there was a service cart parked right outside of it. Getting inside the room, there was absolutely no view of the city and all furnishing looked dark and dated. I went down immediately to ask the nice lady if we could switch the room to one that was not located next to an elevator and was told that's the last room and they were sold out. She tole me I should try again tomorrow since there will be people checking out the next day. To make a long story short, we tried again to switch the room the next day but it was futile (was told that nothing was available that was not next to the elevator). So each night between 1:30 am - 2:30 am, we (light sleepers due to having young children in the household) endured the noise of someone opening the service closet and stuff being banged around.
In all fairness, the hotel wasn't that bad, it was just that we had more expectations after paying $400 night (don't know how some folks could get the great deal they claimed they got). We should have, could have, would have stayed at the Benjamin, Bryant Park Hotel... but we chose Affinia and the room we had looked nothing like the ones pictured on the website! So for what we paid, it was not a good value. Based on other reviews, many travelers found better deals and therefore they found the hotel a good value. I wish it was the case for us.
Lastly, I didn't receive the yoga kit and no one bothered to tell me how to get it.
I took some pictures showing various parts of bathroom that can use some work (broken towel rack, gash in the wall next to bath tub, cigarette stain on vanity mirror, etc.). I rather not post them publicly, but would share with management should they care to see them.
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