Horribly overpriced. If I’m going to do my business in the toilet in front of my significant other it would seem I am already paying a price. Why pay for the experience. Pay the same price a few blocks away and get twice the space.
vocoHotels
Booking.comBooking.com
I arrived at the hotel after a long day of travelling, and managed to check in very quickly. Needless to say that my room was a very welcome sight! My bed was very comfortable, and the room was very clean. Although the air conditioning was noisy, it was effective. As mentioned by other reviewers, the room was small, but there was plenty of space for me and my roomie to move around in.
The hotel is in a good location - you can reach the nearest subway station on foot in just a few minutes. If you don't want to take a subway, it's easy to walk to quite a few attractions (e.g. Broadway and Times Square) from E 39 Street. Points of interest near to the hotel include the Chrysler Building and the UN Headquarters, and there are also quite a few small shops and cafés in the area. Check out the hotel's roof terrace, too - and don't forget to take your camera up there!
The hotel staff were all very friendly. The man in the breakfast room was very chatty and liked a joke - he told my tour guide that the Statue of Liberty had been closed "due to lack of interest"! :D The pastries served in the breakfast room were all freshly made in a nearby bakery (and were delicious!).
I must also mention the concierge staff, especially the man who helped me and my friend to buy some Broadway tickets. We were going out for the morning, and he said that he would call the agency when it opened to ask how much the tickets cost, and would keep a note for us for when we returned. When we got back to the hotel later on, he was getting into his car (his shift had just finished), but went out of his way to return to the desk and tell us what he'd found out.
The only negative thing I have to say is that the bathroom door was see-through! Apart from that, I really enjoyed my stay, and hope to return to NYC - and the hotel - at some point. :)
I'm writing this review in the hope it will stop other people having to go through the nightmare I have experience after staying at the hotel. Pod 39 have taken £331 from my account on top of the £800 I paid for my accommodation. I have had to send copies of the bank transactions, get authorisation codes from the bank, and they are still saying it was a pre-authorisation. This is three weeks after getting home, endless emails and phonecall, it's just been awful.
When I was looking to book I saw something like this written on a review by someone else, but as the other reviews were generally positive I ignored it. Booking.com have been beyond useless in offering any kind of support - the stress caused have been so bad I wish I had never been on the holiday. So please, choose somewhere else and save yourself the hassle.
The night we arrived after traveling 12 hours, we just wanted to check in. They claimed that all our credit cards were declined and we should pay in cash. We gave them euro just for the first night, until we were be able to communicate with our bank in the morning. They did not accept them and they insisted on cash without giving us the room. After we insisted that our cards were functional , they finally accepted the payment by card. They charged us with the whole amount (7nights stay) from the first night. They also charged us 30$ per night as a damage deposit. We supposed to take back the deposit at our check out but one month after our check out, we are still claiming the refund. Concerning the hotel, we could say that it is a hostel than a hotel. The staff is rude and they did not behave like a hotel staff. The room was very small, there was no space for our luggage. It is very difficult to take a shower though water drops as rain. The only good thing was that the room was clean.
Slightly better than the dirt hole I slept in while in the military. When we opened the door I thought it was a joke; bunk beds! It closely resembled a prison cell but was much smaller. The room was so small (about 90sq ft) I had to put the luggage into the bath room to step inside. With no more rooms and four days fully prepaid (it was not cheap), there were no other options.
This Disabled cane-walking Vet and my “celly” had a miserable time and it all but ruined our NY trip. We are both over 50 and the bunk beds and maneuvering around the cell were an added stress. The ladder rungs were like cheese slicers on the feet. “Hip & Trendy?” I nearly broke my trendy hip coming down from the top bunk. This term is nothing more than an excuse for cramped and uncomfortable.
The cell had an attached bathroom with a sliding glass door. It was half frosted and offered little to no privacy. Our toilet lid was broke, however it was quickly fixed. There is one very narrow long shelf that things would fall from. The sink was small with no room to place anything. The single faucet knob offered no pressure adjustment. The shower had the same single knob and a full curtain that would flow inward and stick to your body. We suggest using your own shampoo and conditioner, as the cell-supplied were low quality. The towels were thin and there was no out-of-shower mat. We just used another towel.
The cell had one tiny shuttered window behind the beds that would offer minimum light when opened. It only added to the claustrophobic feeling. The metal shelf located and each bunk had a plug for convenient charging. I swung my hand while sleeping and everything fell to the bottom bunk.
The hotel staff were very friendly and seemed to be this places only saving grace. It is in a good location with about a five minute walk to Grand Central Station. There are a few coffee shops close by which is rather nice since your room won’t have any.
As a frequent world traveler and not one to complain much, I can honestly say this is the absolute worst hotel I have ever stayed in...by far!
Stayed here for 3 nights. It's a good location with lots of places within walking distance, not that touristy and there are plenty of places to eat and drink nearby. As others have said, the rooms are small but that really wasn't a problem for us as we didn't plan to spend a great deal of time in there. I would say this hotel would appeal to younger travellers really. It has a couple of trendy bars but they were both really, really busy with non-residents. The roof top bar is great but we couldn't get a seat and the music was just too loud for a couple of 47-51 yo's tbh! I wouldn't stay here again but that doesn't mean I don't recommend it. There are so many different places and areas to stay in New York and if we were returning, we'd want to explore another neighbourhood. N.B there is a daily charge for the 'facilities', $20 plus tax. We still aren't really sure what this covers and the receptionist couldn't expand apart from saying it was to cover printing (we did actually need to print an email too!) and leaving luggage....I'm sure it's in the small print of the booking details somewhere so I won't be taking it further but it's worth planning for.
