Worst hotel experience in NYC. Marriott on W. 58th Street
 

We always stay in Marriott properties when we travel. So when I saw that they were opening a new Marriott at 538 W. 58th Street, I thought it would be a perfect place to stay in NYC. WRONG. This is a conversion. The rooms are the smallest I have ever seen in a hotel. Probably the size of your kids dorm room, if that. There was non stop street noise. The windows are not made of good sound proofing glass. There were only 2 slow elevators, and the cleaning staff needs to use them as well as guests. The forced air heater in the room blew very noisy air right across the beds. No way to direct it up or down. It sounded like a 747 taking off. The floor in our room was some sort of material made to look like wood, but it wasn't and it was very very cold to walk on. We were there in October, so I can't imagine what it would be like in the winter. The lobby area also was freezing cold. This is a very poor location, nowhere near any place you might like to visit, despite what they advertise (Central park area).
I must say the downstairs breakfast area was nice, the breakfast was standard hotel fare, but nicely presented. The staff is lovely. Check in people and valet also very very nice. But the hotel is a total loser and I can't imagine Marriott won't unload it in the near future.

One must be careful about new construction. Forced air heaters is unexceptable, but you could have been warned by Marriott's web site that the rooms are 225 sq. ft.

We ran into slow elevators at a Staybridge Suites in the 40s. Now we know.

Next time stay in a corner room at the Hilton Garden Inn on 8th Avenue at 49th Street. The rooms are big and access to amenities and transportation are great.

HTtY

We also often stay in Marriotts when we travel, so this is great info - thanks for the heads up. (I may as well mention here that the Courtyard in Long Beach CA is not a new spiffy Marriott Courtyard - it is a Marriott and it is a Courtyard, but it's an older franchisee-owned hotel. Nothing at all like the new Courtyards).

I hope you posted this review on the tripadvisor.com web site; that's where many people go for hotel reviews.

I only posted it here. I was unsuccessful posting it elsewhere. Please feel free to send it on to another site. It just never occurred to me to check their web page to see that the rooms were so tiny. I thought having renovated an older building, they would make the hotel up to their usual standards. Boy was I wrong.

Wow, sounds awful and yes the location seems a bit off as well. The floors are probably those elongated ceramic tiles that look like wood. Why? They are cheap now and don't have to be replaced as often as carpet. I'm not a fan. I've been drifting away from Marriotts lately after too many unpleasant surprises. I think they are more concerned with being the biggest hotel group rather than the best.

Thanks for the heads up.

Curious as to how much you had the pleasure of paying for this 225 sq ft charmer?

Are you referring to the Fairfield Inn & Suites on W 58th? Yes, that's a pretty inconvenient location. I have a hard time recommending any hotel west of 9th Avenue for the sake of convenience (except for those few hotels within walking distance of the new Hudson Yards stop on the 7 train).

However 225 square feet is not at all uncommon in NYC for a room with 1 bed because the , and it's clearly advertised on the web site. And of course they do have larger rooms if you need more space.

First of all, EVERY room in that hotel was the same size, according to the front desk. We had two beds in that room! We met tourists from France who were 2 couples to that size room. They, like us, didn't know NYC and that the hotel would be so inconvenient. It's advertised as Central Park area. NOT. Yes it's Fairfield Inn and Suites, a Marriott property. We used our Marriott points for the hotel, so believe me I was unhappy to have wasted them!

I would send a copy of your complaints to Marriott. Maybe I'm naive, but I think they'd want feedback, and might even do something to make you feel better about having spent those points.

<<<might even do something to make you feel better about having spent those points>>>

Years ago we stayed at the Times Square Residence Inn over Thanksgiving. We had a number of complaints, but the most significant of them was that the shower never worked, even after they told us they had fixed it. We figured they'd give us 500 points for our trouble. Instead, they refunded a night's stay (dollars, and being Thanksgiving weekend, it was a lot) and gave us 5,000 pts.

225 SF is intolerable? gads, that is huge by my terms for a bedroom, which is basically what a hotel room is. If that is the smallest hotel room you've ever seen in your life, I can't imagine where you have been staying if you go to Europe or even in NYC. I've had numerous hotel rooms in NYC smaller than that. Many "regular" price (ie not superior class) double rooms in Paris are only about 12-13 m2, for example, which is about half that size. My own bedroom at home is quite a bit smaller than 225 SF, and I consider it a decent size, not cramped (12x15 ft). The hotel I usually stay at in NYC is not nearly that size room.

I don't feel sorry for anyone who books two couples into one double room, yuck, and who can't even look at a map to see where their hotel is. If they were French, the size could hardly have been shocking.

heat issues may be legitimate or soundproofing, but that's about it IMO

"This is a very poor location, nowhere near any place you might like to visit, despite what they advertise (Central park area)."

This is why it pays to check hotel locations on google maps. I always check street view as well; it's great for giving you a good idea what you're getting into.

225 square feet is not at all unusual for a NYC hotel room. I know that can come as an unpleasant reality if you're not expecting it.

You know what? Fairfield Inn is the low end of Marriott properties. You started out saying it was a Marriott and then when someone challenged you to say I thought it was a Fairfield Inn , you admitted it was a Fairfield Inn. So I don't believe any of your other complaints.

I don't think it's fair to criticize the OP's complaints for inaccuracy. They are all pretty objective, and I suspect the facts are correct.

But that's not to say they were reasonable (nor is it fair to say this was the "worst hotel experience in NYC".

A basic cruise ship cabin is usually about 140 to 160 square feet, but even that leaves room for a small sofa and table and a decent sized closet. It's small but quite workable. Lots of NYC hotel rooms are about that size. If the OP thinks these Fairfield Inn rooms are small, I can't imagine the reaction to the smallest rooms in the Paramount, which have basically enough room to walk in and sleep but little else. They are move cruise-ship cabin sized.

All consumers need to do a little due diligence to make sure that the thing they are booking is the thing they want. If the OP had asked any of us on this forum, we could have said that 11th Avenue is pretty far from both Central Park and most tourist attractions. It would not be my first choice of a place to stay. Having said that, it's not the "worst" location in all of NYC. I can think of plenty of worse-located hotels.

Hmmm. I too must say I was totally misled by the OP. Sure Fairfield Inns are Marriotts, but then so are Ritz Carltons. I would not even begin to expect the same standards for the different levels within the Marriott organization. And anyone who collects Marriott points should surely know and understand that Fairfield is the "budget" line of Marriott.

And for what it's worth -- I suspect you could have gotten the Marriott Marquis for the same number of points? LOL That should be your first clue that it is not the same caliber hotel.

Fairfield Inns typically have pretty small rooms.

We once stayed in a room at the W Lexington Avenue - the room was 110 square feet. We knew in advance that we were getting (and paying for) the smallest room in the house. There was room for us and (barely) our bags. At 225 sf, I don't think the room at the Fairfield Inn is all that small.

And besides, the worst hotel in NYC is a certain hotel near Madison Square Garden that columnist Dave Barry once described as having rooms "made of compressed grime." ;-)

Is it still there? (I assume you are referring to the Hotel Pennsylvania)?