Hi. going to nyc in february.thinking of staying at hayden hotel. 117 west 79th street
anyone stayed there? they have a web site, but i want to know if they have a safe deposit box, so me and my friend dont have to have our pasport etc with us when we are going out.

I will be staying yhere on New Yews Eve and will report back. A friend of mine stayed there and said the rooms were small buy fine otherwise.

Call or drop them an e-mail on the safe deposit question:
http://haydenhotel.com/index.htm

If I were you, I would look elsewhere for accomodations. I had reservations there this past June and when I saw the room to which we had been assigned, we walked out and found another hotel. The lobby is nice enough, but the room was old and dirty. The halls were dirty as well and we saw bugs crawling around. The pictures that are on their web site look nothing like the rooms we saw. I think this hotel is more like a transient lodging place, than actual hotel.

Crusty & Jan-erik: You might not be able to get another place for New Year's, but the February reservation could be made elsewhere. If you know what you are doing, try Priceline.com (you should be able to get a well-located, 4* hotel for under $100) or try quickbook.com, or check out Habitat Hotel or the DaVinci.

There is a reason New York is cheap in February... It is freakin cold and dreary. It has been freakin cold for four months and it is going to be freakin cold for anount couple of months.

hi
thanks for all help and info.

hi crusty
i know its cold i nyc in february, but you try to live in norway, that is cold, colder then you can dream of.

jan-erik,

In that cast... visit us in Florida in February.

P.S. Tell us more about Norway

hi crusty
i have been to florida 2 times, nice place.. but nyc is nyc.. norway is a fine destination for travelers, safe, but the prices are not great, but the landscape is great, if you need info about norway, no problem, just tell me what you want to know, and i will try to help you.

jan-erik

Habitat Hotel is a good suggestion. It is located at 57th near Lexington Ave and will put you near Bloomingdale's, Madison & 5th Ave shopping/strolling, the Plaza Hotel, Central park and right on the East Side subway line for easy access to museums.

The rooms run as cheap as $110 or so a night if you're willing to have a shared bath. It's pretty new, European-style hotel (which I think means small rooms and not a lot of frills). Website is www.habitatny.com

Another choice a little further East is the Pickwick Arms. A little older, but my parents stayed there for my wedding and said it was fine. They even have single rooms. Not sure if there's a website -- do a Google.com search.

Good luck and enjoy NYC!

Well-my husband and myself were going to stay there..but - when we got there the man on the desk (who was very hard to understand) said that they had a leek in the pipes and that we would have to have a room w/shared bath...not only that - after looking up our reservation - he found that it had been cancelled. We were in a fog. We had made our reservations thru Hotel Reservations Network and we had a confirmation number and they are very reliable. So, he said that we would have to find another hotel or share a bath. We were very mad... so we had to go out on the street and find another hotel and this was during NYC Marathon weekend! We did find a room at a hotel called On the Ave. for double what we were going to pay at the Hayden. I called HRN and they said that we certainly did have a reservation there - and after calling the Hayden - she said they were sorry and would credit our charge card....what a mess...they were not nice at the Hayden/it was looking dirty to me/and I would never again try to stay there. The only thing it has going for it is location..and that's all...rant...

Dot-your experience at Hayden Hall sounds like a nightmare. While I didn't have reservation problems (they didn't even try to make me pay the $25 cancellation fee when we walked out),we were disgusted with how dirty it was. We also had to hit the streets to find accomodations and also ended up at On The Ave. It was more expensive, but I was glad to be out of that rathole.

We Stayed 2 nights at the Hayden Hall Hotel from 12/30-12/31. While other hotels in NYC were charging premiums (up to double for New Years Eve) I paid $196 total for 2 nights(including tax).

An old building but not dirty, it was a bit musty. We had heat but I don't know whether it has A/C. The hotel caters to students and others trying to save a buck (like myself). Not noisy but kid were pleasant. The smallest bathroom (20" wide!)I had ever seen. The bed was comfortable (I've had poor beds and/or pillows and paid plenty).

The hotel is an excellent part of town across the street from the Hyden Museum. A short stroll to Central Park. It was the first time I had seen Strawberry Fields and the Belvedere Castle in Central Park. Great restaurants.

With the money saved on hotel we went to the Met for a New Years Eve Gala performance (Die Flautermous). Awesome! Afterwards we trucked on down to Time Square to celebrate with the big crowd.

If you feel comfortable with it, I would follow Fred's suggestion. In February you can get a much better hotel for under a hundred dollars a night.

If you're not familiar with priceline.com, you might want to go to biddingfortravel.com to see what hotels others are getting (and the prices) for New York City hotels in February.

If you are doing a lot of sightseeing be sure to get one of the subway passes that suits the length of your stay.

hi crusty
thanks for your info.. i have seen some other hotels on the net, but the price is ok for hayden hotel, so i think i will stay at hayden. thanks again for your help.