My teenage son and I stayed here for three nights last week. We are very low maintenance and no frills folks; we just needed a decent place to come back to after a busy NYC day. The problems started with check-in. We arrived early in the morning. The hotel clerk at the front desk would not even look up at us to check us in, and while nobody else was being served, he shuffled papers around and mumbled for 10 minutes while we stood patiently waiting for him to acknowledge us. Once he started to check us in, he advised us that our room was not ready. This was understandable given the time, but he would not advise when it would be ready. It could be 10 a.m., it could be noon, it could be 2 p.m. We asked if the hotel could call us on my cell phone to advise us when the room was ready, as we'd been up since 4 a.m.. He refused, and just kept repeating the same thing over and over. We tried to be good humoured about it, and just left our bags with the concierge and went out to explore the city until 2 p.m. Once we checked in the room was fine - fairly clean, and not as small as we'd feared. The clock didn't seem to work, and the T.V. kept cutting out, but it really didn't bother us. That night, the doors slammed constantly and it was quite noisy. Again, it was all tolerable. The cleaning staff noisily begins it's rounds sometime after 7 a.m. Doors slam, there are loud conversations in the hallways, and equipment seems to be banging around. We ignored it. We knew this was not the Plaza. However, the penny dropped the night before we left to go home. We came back after a Broadway play and asked if we could book a taxi for 4 a.m. the next morning. No, said the desk clerk, this is the concierge's job and he's gone for the night. Ok, can you book us a taxi. No. Can the person working the front desk at 4 a.m. book us or find us a taxi? No. I explained that I did not want to wander the streets of New York at 4 a.m. with my luggage looking for a taxi with my teenage son. The desk clerk responded that the neighbourhood was very safe, and I could find my own taxi easily. This really wasn't the point. Ok, fine. Can I check out? No, I could check out at 4 a.m. before I left. I can't check out now and just leave? No, I can check out when "the day turns over". I have no idea what this means - at midnight? No, maybe 3 a.m. What??????? It is the 21st century and apparently The Pod has not figured out a way to let guests check out automatically, the night before, or before a 4 a.m. departure time. Excellent. That night, there was a big party on our floor. Screaming, running and yelling down the halls, doors slamming, and general chaos. I called downstairs and while the call was acknowledged, nothing was done. All of this to say, for a family with very low hotel expectations, The Pod managed to undercut our lowest standards. Rude, poorly run, overpriced, and exhausting.
Congratulations!
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