Hubby and I were visiting his parents in NYC so one night we stashed the kiddos with their grandparents and went downtown to explore the High Line and hang out in the Meat-Packing District. Thought it would be fun to stay at a hipster hotel so took advantage of Dream's grand-opening special rate of $295 (before taxes, which brought the total up to about $350) for a "Bronze Queen" room. Pretty good deal for downtown we thought. Included in the rate but not advertised were: (a) rude, condescending treatment from the fellows who guard the elevators to make sure that the beautiful people do not have to mingle with low-lifes like us, (b) extra dirt and litter on the carpets in the hallways, (c) a surplus room door propped up next to the entrance to our room, (d) dirty shower in the guest room, (e) dirty carpeting extending into the guest room. Yay, what a deal for us! Also, the finishes on the wallpaper and furniture in the public areas of the hotel (above the reception area) look bedraggled, not brand-new. It was actually quite odd, as if the hotel were not new but poorly refurbished. Not included: air conditioning in the hallway. Seriously. The walk from the elevator to our room was actually uncomfortable in the heat. Even more so given how long we had to wait for an elevator, since we were not allowed to board an empty VIP elevator that stopped in the lobby no less than four times. When a riff-raff elevator came down to the lobby and left without opening for the fourth or fifth time I politely appealed to the elevator guard, whose response was not "let me figure out how to help you" but rather "I'm sorry ma'am, you can't ride this one." No effort to find out why the regular elevators weren't opening, no concern for the fact that we (and another guest) had been waiting more than 5 minutes, just kept his eye on the prize of not letting us on the VIP elevator. I swear, we were both behaving nicely and while we can no longer pass for Beautiful Young People we do not look like hicks. (Not that looking like a hick warrants being treated rudely anyway.) We had already been escorted from a different elevator bank, which actually did not go to the guest rooms, but it was amazing that when we mistakenly stepped on THREE goons chased after us and very firmly lead us off. At least the goons were somewhat polite, albeit in a condescending way.
ANYWAY, I didn't like being treated like a rube, but it wasn't until I saw how dirty and unpolished the guest room was that I decided to bail out. I can stomach paying $350 for a postage-stamp sized room -- that's the market downtown Manhattan -- but not for a dirty one that is not that nicely appointed. So we took our things back downstairs, requested a refund, and away we went. Seeya, Dream Downtown. We still enjoyed walking the High Line -- don't miss it! -- and dining at Morimoto. Late that night we drove back to the outer boroughs where we apparently belong.
hotel reviews