Worst hotel experience in NYC. Marriott on W. 58th Street
Nov 22nd, 2016, 12:28 PM
#21
It's all relative. 225 square feet would be totally unacceptable to me on a beach trip or a trip to, say, Las Vegas. But when you are traveling to major cities you have to expect that if you have a reasonable budget. We were in NYC over Memorial Day weekend and stayed at the Four Points Sheraton, which is the lower end hotel of the Sheraton chain. We chose it because of location and price (it was about $240 per night). We knew we weren't going to get luxury and expectations were altered accordingly. It was okay. I don't think the complaint about the size of the room in the OP is reasonable. Also, when figuring out the location of a hotel in a city you are not familiar with, you really have to do your due diligence. I would never rely solely on the hotel's description of what it is close to. Maps and customer reviews tend to be a better indicator of whether location is good or bad. The other complaints sound valid but also sound more like annoyances and personal preferences.
Nov 23rd, 2016, 05:04 AM
#23
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 10,210
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The Hotel Pennsylvania is still there (though it's long been targeted for demolition or some kind of redevelopment yet chugs along), and having stayed there a couple of times I can assure you that it is not the worst hotel in NYC. But it is where many the dogs from the Westminster Kennel Club dog show stay. But the fancy dogs now stay at the nearby Eventi, which is a luxurious Kimpton property and allows pets.
Nov 23rd, 2016, 07:26 PM
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,227
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We've stayed at lot's of Fairfield Inn's.The rooms have all been what I would call normal for that category of hotel. The one in downtown Montreal is wonderful, as are several we have stayed in in Colorado, California and Mass, and maybe I should have expected the one in NYC to have very tiny rooms, but I didn't, and wasn't happy about the size of the room. The other complaints, slow elevator, only 2 elevators for the entire hotel, freezing lobby and problems with the heat and noise in our room were justified. For me, a Marriott is a Marriott, whether or not it's the 4 Seasons or Fairfield Inn. I just expect some assurance that they have similar basic standards, and then go up from there. Anyway.. lesson learned. I will ask more questions the next time I book in a big city. Thank you all for your kind input to my posting.
Nov 24th, 2016, 01:10 PM
#27
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,391
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
For me, a Marriott is a Marriott, whether or not it's the 4 Seasons or Fairfield Inn.
Kleroux, I am sorry you were disappointed but hotels assign different brands within their chain precisely to avoid disappointing their customers. However, you as consumer have to research and understand the logic of their branding. You also have to understand the realities of local real estate prices.
Look at it this way: if one buys a salad at a fast food chain like Wendy's, one should expect the lettuce to be fresh. But one shouldn't expect avocados in the salad. One shouldn't expect the lettuce in the salad to be much other than iceberg. Because one is not eating at even an un-starred Michelin-rated restaurant. Similarly, a Fairfield is the hotel equivalent of a fast food chain. It shouldn't give you food poisoning, i.e. the place should be clean. But that is about all one can expect. If one gets more, it's a bonus.
Either way, Fairfield rooms will be relatively smaller than hotels further up the brand pyramid. The key word is 'relatively' smaller. What is small and what is large in absolute terms, will be affected by local prices for real estate. You can't compare Montreal to NYC. NYC is some of the most expensive real estate on the planet, akin to Vancouver or London UK or Tokyo. Lots of people's full time accommodation - their apartments - are about the size of a modest hotel room! So everything will be scaled down. I hear you about the elevators, but elevator shafts don't produce revenue. So the cost of making room for banks of elevators must be carried by the room prices. The more elevators, the higher the room price, on average, will be. How much more are you willing to pay, to wait x fewer minutes for an elevator?
Kleroux, I am sorry you were disappointed but hotels assign different brands within their chain precisely to avoid disappointing their customers. However, you as consumer have to research and understand the logic of their branding. You also have to understand the realities of local real estate prices.
Look at it this way: if one buys a salad at a fast food chain like Wendy's, one should expect the lettuce to be fresh. But one shouldn't expect avocados in the salad. One shouldn't expect the lettuce in the salad to be much other than iceberg. Because one is not eating at even an un-starred Michelin-rated restaurant. Similarly, a Fairfield is the hotel equivalent of a fast food chain. It shouldn't give you food poisoning, i.e. the place should be clean. But that is about all one can expect. If one gets more, it's a bonus.
Either way, Fairfield rooms will be relatively smaller than hotels further up the brand pyramid. The key word is 'relatively' smaller. What is small and what is large in absolute terms, will be affected by local prices for real estate. You can't compare Montreal to NYC. NYC is some of the most expensive real estate on the planet, akin to Vancouver or London UK or Tokyo. Lots of people's full time accommodation - their apartments - are about the size of a modest hotel room! So everything will be scaled down. I hear you about the elevators, but elevator shafts don't produce revenue. So the cost of making room for banks of elevators must be carried by the room prices. The more elevators, the higher the room price, on average, will be. How much more are you willing to pay, to wait x fewer minutes for an elevator?
Nov 24th, 2016, 01:25 PM
#28
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,391
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
225 square feet is 20.5 square meters.
By way of comparison, here is what one can expect in France, for given star levels of hotels.
http://europeupclose.com/article/fre...rating-system/
By way of comparison, here is what one can expect in France, for given star levels of hotels.
http://europeupclose.com/article/fre...rating-system/
Nov 25th, 2016, 05:50 AM
#32
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 23,418
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How much was this room per night?
I'm sorry you had a poor experience but you do have to pay quite a lot to get a good hotel room here. At least you had your own bathroom, which is much more than I can say about places I've stayed in Europe--a few choice addresses in Paris comem to miind. But when you don't want to pay the going rate for a good room, this is what happens.
As for the brand, Danny Meyer owns many top NYC restaurants. He also owns Shake Shack. If you do research and ask questions, you know that the service at Shake Shack is not what it is at Untitled, of at The Modern Dining Room.
Same with hotel brands.
As for the size, most rooms in NYC are smaller than they might be elsewhere, including hotel rooms. And the location--it was only a block or two away from the activity ofo the theatre district, no? Easy walking distance foro many.
I'm sorry you had a poor experience but you do have to pay quite a lot to get a good hotel room here. At least you had your own bathroom, which is much more than I can say about places I've stayed in Europe--a few choice addresses in Paris comem to miind. But when you don't want to pay the going rate for a good room, this is what happens.
As for the brand, Danny Meyer owns many top NYC restaurants. He also owns Shake Shack. If you do research and ask questions, you know that the service at Shake Shack is not what it is at Untitled, of at The Modern Dining Room.
Same with hotel brands.
As for the size, most rooms in NYC are smaller than they might be elsewhere, including hotel rooms. And the location--it was only a block or two away from the activity ofo the theatre district, no? Easy walking distance foro many.
Nov 27th, 2016, 05:21 PM
#33
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,760
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I've lived in my apartment on W. 58th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues for over six years, which in my mind is prime real estate because we are sandwiched between Hell's Kitchen (hot commodity now) and the UPS. I am a five minute walk from the ABCD1 trains, Time Warner Center, Central Park and the subway station has this new fabulous mall that has everything I need. There is also a Whole Foods at the TWC, in addition to a Morton Williams on 9th Avenue and 58th Street.
I had no idea this hotel even existed until this review, and then I drove by it the other day. I cannot say anything about the quality of it, but the location is not the worst at all. There is a TON of construction going on just west along 11th Avenue with new restaurants, apartment buildings, etc coming soon. While it is between 10th and 11th Avenues, it's not that far of a walk to the subway, TWC and the other venues I mentioned. A SoulCycle just opened at West End (which is what 11th Avenue turns into) and 60th Street. Mark Cuban is building a movie theater down there (allegedly). It's so easy to take the bus or a cab up 10th to get to the UWS. Lincoln Center is a short walk away.
My apartment faces W. 58th Street across the street from the hospital and I never hear anything. Maybe I have good soundproofed windows, but unless the traffic is super backed up it's not that loud. Again, I'm not trying to suggest staying at this hotel because I literally know nothing about it. Just the location is actually really great. I can't imagine the noise in Times Square which is really in the thick of things.
Sorry you had a bad stay. Hopefully they will give you some points or money back.
It's not totally dead in this area of the world! Maybe that hotel stunk, but the neighborhood is great. The Hudson Hotel is right up the street (although I hear their rooms are VERY small).
I had no idea this hotel even existed until this review, and then I drove by it the other day. I cannot say anything about the quality of it, but the location is not the worst at all. There is a TON of construction going on just west along 11th Avenue with new restaurants, apartment buildings, etc coming soon. While it is between 10th and 11th Avenues, it's not that far of a walk to the subway, TWC and the other venues I mentioned. A SoulCycle just opened at West End (which is what 11th Avenue turns into) and 60th Street. Mark Cuban is building a movie theater down there (allegedly). It's so easy to take the bus or a cab up 10th to get to the UWS. Lincoln Center is a short walk away.
My apartment faces W. 58th Street across the street from the hospital and I never hear anything. Maybe I have good soundproofed windows, but unless the traffic is super backed up it's not that loud. Again, I'm not trying to suggest staying at this hotel because I literally know nothing about it. Just the location is actually really great. I can't imagine the noise in Times Square which is really in the thick of things.
Sorry you had a bad stay. Hopefully they will give you some points or money back.
It's not totally dead in this area of the world! Maybe that hotel stunk, but the neighborhood is great. The Hudson Hotel is right up the street (although I hear their rooms are VERY small).
Nov 27th, 2016, 07:38 PM
#34
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 2,776
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"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."
OK, we have air which is somehow "noisy" ...
We have someone who by their very own words had to know the location of the place before making the reservation, and who still made the reservation and accepted the location only to complain about it later.
And we're also told of room sizes that aren't that out of the ordinary for NYC hotels. (Had this room been in Kansas City or Manhattan, Kansas, the complaint about size may have been more on-point)
OK, we have air which is somehow "noisy" ...
We have someone who by their very own words had to know the location of the place before making the reservation, and who still made the reservation and accepted the location only to complain about it later.
And we're also told of room sizes that aren't that out of the ordinary for NYC hotels. (Had this room been in Kansas City or Manhattan, Kansas, the complaint about size may have been more on-point)
Nov 28th, 2016, 07:03 AM
#36
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 14,748
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
For me, a Marriott is a Marriott, whether or not it's the 4 Seasons or Fairfield Inn.
Isn't that like saying, "For me, beef is beef, whether or not it's filet mignon or 75% lean ground beef?"
The two French couples who didn't "know New York:" I can honestly say that I've never booked lodgings in France without a very good look at locations and maps.
In Paris, there are at least a few dozen hotels with Opera in their name, and several of them are no where near Opera anything.
Isn't that like saying, "For me, beef is beef, whether or not it's filet mignon or 75% lean ground beef?"
The two French couples who didn't "know New York:" I can honestly say that I've never booked lodgings in France without a very good look at locations and maps.
In Paris, there are at least a few dozen hotels with Opera in their name, and several of them are no where near Opera anything.
Nov 29th, 2016, 08:11 AM
#38
I won't stay in Fairfield Inns. They are the budget brand of Marriotts. I hate them in rural/suburban areas. I would expect even less in NYC.
But the location is fine for a lower budget hotel. I stayed in a HIX 10 blocks south between 10th and 11th and it's just a few blocks walk to Broadway (which is why I chose the hotel). The location for the Fairfield is even better. Close to Columbus Circle, Fordham, Lincold Center, Central Park. What's there to complain about?!
I liked the other hotel I stayed at better, but I paid more for the extra (closer) two blocks. You get what you pay for, especially in NYC.
But the location is fine for a lower budget hotel. I stayed in a HIX 10 blocks south between 10th and 11th and it's just a few blocks walk to Broadway (which is why I chose the hotel). The location for the Fairfield is even better. Close to Columbus Circle, Fordham, Lincold Center, Central Park. What's there to complain about?!
I liked the other hotel I stayed at better, but I paid more for the extra (closer) two blocks. You get what you pay for, especially in NYC.
Nov 29th, 2016, 08:20 AM
#39
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 23,418
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How much was the room???
As for that forced hot air, I agree that they are pretty terrible but many of us who live here have to contend with them. (I was talked into taking out the old radiator and installing one in my living room but happily, the other rooms have the old radiators and a couple have through the wall a/c.)
As for that forced hot air, I agree that they are pretty terrible but many of us who live here have to contend with them. (I was talked into taking out the old radiator and installing one in my living room but happily, the other rooms have the old radiators and a couple have through the wall a/c.)
Nov 29th, 2016, 10:15 AM
#40
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 3,070
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Neo, there is no obsessive grudge. You're just not that important. However your spin is predictable. You can call someone out for not wanting a bible in their hotel bed stand, and call someone else out as not playing with a full deck. But call you out? Don't play the victim card when you are guilty of treating people with great disrespect.
