I apologize in advance, this is an extremely long review.
First off, it is not worth the trouble of a rental car. The subway is extremely easy to use (even for country folks like my friend and I), and it takes you wherever you all over, 24 hrs a day!
Pros: Clean, friendly staff, no bed bugs, 10 minute walk to the subway station (If you want a quiet hotel with no train noise, don't complain about the distance of a station).
Cons: Extremely limited parking (I would say maybe 4-6 cars, and one of them is for handicap)
Is it a safe area? Let me tell you this, I am scared of everything and extremely ignorant. We're from the country side of the south. We stayed 3 days, but drove the first two days. After dealing with horrible NYC drivers, bad drivers, and no parking after we return, we decided to take the subway. We walked to the station during noon. It didn't look bad. We returned around 1AM and I was worried sick about the 10 minute walk back to the hotel just because I'm like that. However, during the walk back, it wasn't so bad and no one was out. It was a very quiet neighborhood.
We came after hurricane Sandy came by; so many locals were without their homes and staying in hotels. The day we arrived, of all days of the week, there was a snow storm. The first night we got there, it was HORRIBLE! If this wasn't the last available hotel, I would have walked out of there. We arrived at the hotel around 7PM and parked out front. We went in with our receipt of our reservation. The lobby was extremely busy. We were probably 5th in line. Every person in line had an issue with the staff at the front desk. To top it off, their card machine had just went down at that very moment. So the staff told us we had to find an ATM and get cash. This was a $600 reservation. After hiking through the snow storm, we found an ATM that had a limit of $400. We were $200 short. We figured we could talk to the staff and see if they will allow us to pay the remaining the next day.
We hiked back to the hotel and the lobby had emptied out. The staff member we dealt with earlier was calmer now and friendly. We told him our situation and he understood, especially since their card machine was broken. Then I asked where we could park. The staff looked over at the security screen, where they had cameras all over the hotel and outside, and said it looked full. I was shocked (again, first time in NY). We didn't know if we could park on the roads either because the snow had covered up all the street signs indicating whether we could park there or not. The staff member saw our distress and then said he was getting off at midnight and if we were still up, we could take his parking space. We were so thankful!
We got a king size room. The bed was extremely comfortable! All the furniture and appliances looked new and clean. We had a mini fridge and a big flat screen TV. There was a microwave available in the kitchen. The bathroom was a really good sized bathroom.
All of our other issues, the staff of Hotel Bliss NY solved it for us!
-Because my friend and I were there to attend a concert and explore NYC, we returned late at night. One night we got back around 2:50AM. By then, all the parking spots were taken. We had to park on the streets and the street only allowed parking there AFTER 3AM. This wasn't an issue. However, the next night, we got back around midnight, and we were surprised to find that there was space. We parked against the building like the others had parked the previous nights and got out. Then a staff member ran out and told us we couldn't park there because the guests were complaining that they couldn't back out their car in the morning. What?! There was NO WHERE ELSE to park! I asked him where should I park then and he shrugged shaking his head. I looked at my friend, my friend looked at me, I looked back at the staff, and then he sighed and said...well I probably shouldn't write this down, I don't want him getting into trouble with his boss, but he was helpful. Because he understood our situation and was being helpful, I didn't want him to get into trouble either, so I told him I'll come out and move my car around 3AM to the street.
-My friend and I were being a little adventurous, as if we didn't have enough of an adventure yet, we decided to do last minute things but needed to print out tickets. We called the front desk and asked if they had a computer for the guests to use. The staff (I think he might be the manager/owner?) was very nice and said we could go to the front desk and they'll help us. So we went there and they happily invited us behind their desk to print out anything we needed. We bothered them for two days with their printer, and they didn't mind at all.
In conclusion, this hotel was extremely welcoming, friendly, and clean. I would most definitely stay here again and would recommend my friends and family as well if they were going to be in the area. read more