At first I wasn't going to write a review for this hotel. Yes, I was going to be selfish and try to keep this gem of a hotel to myself. But now that our NY office has moved to Miami, I'll go ahead and give the lowdown on my secret NY hotel.
Whenever anyone from our Charleston office had to go visit our NY office, this would be our go-to hotel. We've stayed at other hotels in the area (mainly Renaissance Hotel 57 & Chambers Hotel) but we much prefer this hotel. Let's do a little pros and cons and pros and cons and proooooosss (Jimmy Fallon, anyone?).
PROS
- Best bang for your buck. These rooms/suites are HUGE by most standards. By NY standards, they're ginormous. For this part of midtown, it's impossible to find a bigger room for the same cost. Guaranteed.
- They're quick to upgrade you. There have been several times that we've booked a standard room and got upgraded to suites.
- Most or all of the rooms/suites are individually owned and then contracted with the Lombardy to be booked out as hotel rooms. There are several different floor plans and each one is decorated differently. Even though we stayed here a bunch, we never knew what our rooms would look like. So it was a tradition for me and my co-workers to go check out each others rooms as soon as we checked in to see who got the best one.
- It's quiet. I've always had a peaceful night's sleep here. The same can not be said for Hotel 57.
- The staff for the most part, has all been really friendly. We heard a rumor/joke about it being run by the Russian mofia. And if you book here, you'll see what I mean. However, we've always found everyone to be super nice and accommodating.
- I've always found the rooms to be nice and clean.
- I'm not sure if all of them have kitchens but all of the rooms we stayed in did.
- They have their own car service. Not necessarily an unusual thing, and though it's a lot pricier than taking a taxi, it's nice to have the option to not try to flag down a taxi at 5pm on a Friday (I've tried, it's no fun).
- When the bar that was attached was open, they offered a free continental breakfast. Not sure if they still do since the bar was being renovated for the majority of my trips there (I hear the bar is now open again so hopefully it's better than the pub-type atmosphere it used to have).
CONS
- It's a bit outdated. I personally think the lobby is rather nice, in an over-the-top, gaudy sort of way. It's not very modern. The same goes for the rooms. If you like trendy and modern, this is not the place for you. Chambers Hotel might be more your speed.
- Keeping with the outdated aspect, they're old school and have an elevator attendant. They're sort of creepy and pretty pointless. I would rather push my own button to my floor, thankyouverymuch.
- Not a whole lot of amenities. They did just recently add a gym, though. Just don't expect everything you normally would from a hotel, think of it more as a rental. For example, the first night of our stay, we'll always stop by Duane Reade to pick up bottled water because they don't offer those in the rooms.
This is a case of what matters more to you when you book a hotel. If you're a no frills type of person that would enjoy coming back to a quiet room that you could really spread out in and enjoy, this is probably for you If you want to be wowed and pampered by a hotel, definitely look elsewhere.
TIP: My favorite suite by far is #605.
Another TIP: Try the pizza place across the street. Cheap and tasty! read more