4 Affinia Hotels, Which is Nicer?
 

I have found good rates at the Affinia Dumont, Manhattan, Shelburne and 50 for an upcoming 3 night stay. Any of the locations are fine for us, and the room size I am comparing is about equal at each so that is not a factor, but I wanted to know which of those 4 properties is the "nicest" - any opinions?

Well Manhattan is right near Penn Station - so definitely not the most pleasant area. Dumont is E 334th /st - so not so far from a residential area with some restaurants and stores nearby. I wold go for 50 - in a busy area but only a block from a residential area with a ton of restaurants and also close to the subway.

Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it. As I said, location really isn't a concern; we don't plan on hanging around outside the hotel and can easily get to where ever we want to go for restaurants, shopping etc. Maybe I should have clarified as to "which ones have the nicest rooms?" I have heard that the Shelburne has been recently renovated, but the 50 has small balconies for some of the rooms. Hmmmmmmmm

I think eliminate the Manhattan and choose among the other 3. Each of them have benefits. The Dumont has some great views of the ESB. I think the Shelburne being newly renovated and having a rooftop bar with nice views is a benefit for this summer. Just be aware that only those suites with the term "deluxe" in the description have kitchens.

There was a great deal on travel-ticker.com for it but it's gone. I don't know that you can be guaranteed a room with balcony at the Affinia 50 so not sure there's a big bonus on that one if the location isn't an issue. You haven't mentioned the Affinia Gardens and that's also very nice and on sale here
http://hotels.travelzoo.com/new-york-hotels/601230

You should also doublecheck prices on quikbook.com and hotels.com Sometimes they have better prices than the Affinia site or more flexible not requiring prepayment.

I stayed at the Affinia 50 a few months ago. I think that the rooms with the balconies are the one bedroom suites. I received an upgrade to the one bedroom when I stayed - the room was fabulous, huge (bigger than my apartment) and clean, and the balcony was quite large and had a small table and two chairs.

I've stayed at the Affinia Dumont twice. It's a nice hotel with large rooms and a great staff. This was also very clean.

I guess I would recommend the 50. Plus, Ess-a-bagel is basically across the street -- really great for breakfast.

I stayed at the Affinia Dumont in early December 08. It was a Junior Suite, room 3005 and it had a spectacular view of the Upper Manhattan Skyline (Chrysler Building, Metlife etc..) It is the Murray Hill area E 34th and Lexington and the rooms are nice and very large. I am going back to NYC this December again. There is nothing like NYC during the Holiday Season. This time I am staying at the Affinia 50. The only rooms at the Affinia 50 that have balconies are the 1 bedroom deluxe suites. Here are 3 links to tripadvisor.com that have reviews and pictures of the Hotels that you are inquiring about. The Affinia Dumont, Affinia 50 and Affinia Shelburne.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

Check out the travelers photos and videos on each webpage. I hope this help.

Have just returned from five days in NYC staying at Affinia Shelburne - have mixed feelings about this hotel. Firstly, we got an excellent price (40% discount) through Hotels.com. I emailed hotel twice to give them a chance to price match - no response. In the end I called from UK, but they wouldn't do this, so booked through Hotels.com.

The hotel is very nice indeed, although a different part of the public area appears to be being dug up each day! Also, the housekeeping trolleys were kept in the corridors all the time, which spoiled the look, and made it difficult to navigate past with all the luggage.

The room we had was the quietest we have ever had in NYC and was very comfortable indeed. However, to call it a Studio Suite is a misnomer - it is an ordinary hotel bedroom with only one chair and a bed and most definitely not a suite.

The hotel offered a hot buffet breakfast for $12 for the first three mornings which was excellent, but on the fourth morning it changed to a la carte where a slice of french toast and a coffee would have cost more than this and the 18% gratuity was added automatically to the bill - even though half of the dining room was being (very noisily) dug up at the time we wanted breakfast. The charges for wi-fi and computer access were, I thought, steep, particularly as I have usually had free internet access in New York previously. The staff (with the exception of a couple of the doormen) were uninterested to the point of rudeness and the front desk didn't adjust our bill as they promised to.

In addition, when I asked if they had bathrobes as pictured on their website, I was told that the website room photographs were not real room settings, just made up ones! They did however then provide me with robes.

When asking about the rooftop bar, we were told it was on the 14th floor by one member of staff, the 15th floor by another, and finally correctly the 16th floor by the third. When we visited it we were short changed by $10 by the barman and offered no apology - only told that it was our fault because we didn't get a check.

Would I stay there again - no probably not, and definitely not at the full prices. The overall feeling given by the staff at this hotel was that they were interested in getting every last dollar out of us. If money is no object, then fine, but this is not a 4 star hotel, and the service is certainly not 4 star. I have stayed in the Affinia Manhattan where it is much more noisy, but the room was huge and the staff were very gracious.

Thanks to all who have replied, I really appreciate it. tessa_day I hope that if you will leave a review on Tripadvisor.com if you haven't done so already. I had booked the Shelburne over the weekend - great rate so no issues there but I was disappointed to here that the staff was so disinterested in the guests; not that I need people falling all over us, but it's nice to think that they might take care of the details that make a hotel stay nice. The 50 is having a large group stay with them the week that we will be there so I was hesitant about getting the room we wanted and the noise level. I will keep our reservation but will continue to look at all the usual suspects for other deals that might work for us at a different property.

Thanks again

I'm sorry to hear about Tessa's experience at the Shelburne and won't excuse any of the service issues she had, but I do want to set the record straight on the use of the word "suite" at the Affinia hotels. All their hotels have studio and/or jr. "suites" which are just 1 room that includes bed(s) and <i>perhaps</i> some seating. I think at all EXCEPT the Shelburne, those studio/jr. suites have a separate kitchen. At the Shelburne, only those suites with the word "deluxe" in the description have a kitchen. This is shown on the floor plan on their website but I agree, without that knowledge can be misleading. http://affinia.com/New-York-City-Hot...t-Room-Details
It sounds like the management needs to be alerted to the lacking service. I hope you will add your report on tripadvisor.

I'll add I had occasion to stay in both a studio and a 1 bedroom suite at the Affinia Gardens and found the staff extremely helpful and accommodating, but it is less of a full service hotel (ie no bar or restaurant).

Affinia studio and junior suites are usually just a microwave and mini-fridge with (usually) a sink with running water right in the room, not separate. That's definitely the way they're set up at the 50 and Dumont, which I've seen on hotel inspections. Only 1-bedroom suites and larger have separate kitchens.

Just wanted to report that we had a fabulous stay at the Shelburne. The deluxe one-bedroom suite we booked did not have 2 separate beds and sofa bed that we needed but the desk staff quickly made the change for us. Renovations seem to be complete. Our room was huge with a modern decor, we really had more space than we needed, it was spotlessly clean and we had 2 full bathrooms (also very clean). A coffee maker in the room or even in the lobby would have been a nice addition. The staff could not have been nicer; I would stay there again without hesitation. We booked through Quikbook.com and enjoyed a nice discount.