My views on the hotel ? Not good. I most certainly will not be staying here again.

Initial impressions were good. Nice looking lobby with friendly staff. The room was small but cozy. Also the hotel was just north of Madisson Square, so well located (though alas too far from Central Park).

The reality. The windows to the room are single pane wooden affairs which look like they are starting to rot. There is always a cold (icy at night) breeze coming through them, and they keep out no noise. The bed was comfortable, however as a partial insomniac it was hard getting to sleep, and once woken by noise outside (about 7 a.m. on both mornings) back to sleep it was impossible to get again.

The room facilities were really poor (considering it is a nearly new hotel). There were no tea/coffee making facilities, the bathroom was very small, the shower was tempramental (see my previous edit about scalding hot water suddenly coming from the cold supply), making it unusuable, and the toilet was in such a tight corner you had to be a contorsionist to use it. There was a safe, but it was so high up I had to use a chair to check I had removed everything from it. There was a small coffee table and a pair of chairs provided, however the cponstant draft made for a chilly experience using them.

The hotel’s restaurant is none existent. For breakfast I had to hit a deli round the corner.

The staff proved to be a mixed bunch. For some things, like fixing the TV remote they were helpful, foir others such as where to get stamps from, or postage, they were clueless.

I’m not sure on whether to blame the hotel for the really really poor wireless ‘Net connection or not. It is not advertised on their website, but the reality is the service is truly poor. I did get through to the provider’s customer support and their view was to move the laptop to the reception. I should ahve just camped out in the nearest Starbucks instead.