Belleclaire Hotel, New York City

...2006! I chose the Belleclaire for the second time, after being so pleased after my first visit two years ago. The reviews I had read before the first trip on various websites were all pretty good apart from the odd one that complained about things such as the renovation that was being undertaken at that point in time and the odd dingy bathroom. I went not expecting a fantastic hotel but a basic, comfortable hotel and I was not let down in any way ...
...We arrived at the hotel Belleclaire for our 5 night stay and were greeted by the doorman who pointed us to the reception in the lovely modern foyer. We were checked in quickly, with no problems then directed to our rooms which was only a few floors up. We waited for one of the lifts (there were two, both were small but never busy) and found our rooms with ease. We had booked a double room with a shared bathroom on a non-smoking floor, the room was ... more

For my twentieth birthday I decided the Ideal thing to do to celebrate would be to go back to New York City in February 2006! I chose the Belleclaire for the second time, after being so pleased after my first visit two years ago. The reviews I had read before the first trip on various websites were all pretty good apart from the odd one that complained about things such as the renovation that was being undertaken at that point in time and the odd dingy bathroom. I went not expecting a fantastic hotel but a basic, comfortable hotel and I was not let down in any way which is why I felt it was a good hotel to return to!

We arrived at the hotel Belleclaire for our 5 night stay and were greeted by the doorman who pointed us to the reception in the lovely modern foyer. We were checked in quickly, with no problems then directed to our rooms which was only a few floors up. We waited for one of the lifts (there were two, both were small but never busy) and found our rooms with ease. We had booked a double room with a shared bathroom on a non-smoking floor, the room was offset into a corridor off a main corridor so it was nice and quiet. Our room shared a bathroom with two other rooms, but there was never a point when either my partner or myself went to use the bathroom and it was already in use. I feel that choosing a shared bathroom is a fantastic way to save money when staying at the Belleclaire .. Why spend money on having your own private bathroom when you can share one and have much more money to spend in those wonderful NYC shops!

Once we arrived in our room I was pleased to find that it was of a decent size, was very clean and best of all .. the beds are probably the comfiest I've ever slept in, perfect after a hard day of New York life! In our room there was a TV, games, a fridge, a sink, a large storage cupboard, air con, radiators and your other basic bits and bobs that you would expect in a hotel room. The view wasn't fantastic (unless you really like brick walls) but there was a blind and curtains anyways so it wasn't like it was staring you in the face all day. Our rooms were cleaned and our beds made up daily which I've heard is uncommon in other budget hotels.

The hotel didn't offer its own restaurant but did offer delivery from the fantastic restaurant/diner over the road. I do belive the restuarant is called simply the Manhattan Diner, and it is ideally situated for breakfast before a hard day shopping and sightseeing! The food is delicious and the service is the fastest and most efficient I've ever seen, add that to the bargainous prices and we have a winner.

The hotel is situalted in a lovely little neighbourhood in the upper west side of Manhattan. Its quite quiet but only a short Journey from the hustle and bustle of the city. By foot, it is approximately 10 minutes to Central Park/Museum of Natural History and only 35 minutes walk from Times square. There is easy access to nearby subway stations, which make your jouneys all over NYC only a matter of minutes long .. I'd definately reccomend you use the subway in the afternoon when your feet start aching that little bit .. they will thank you later on! There are lots of nice local shops near the hotel and also a few small supermarkets to stock up on snacks and drinks for your hotel room.

On our second stay in New York, when we left the hotel to walk into the city on our last day we were greeted with knee deep snow which was quite a shock! Little did we know we were about to be caught up in the biggest snowstorm NYC had seen in a long time. We called our pre-booked shuttle bus service to check that our transportation to the airport was still okay and they confirmed that everything should be fine. We checked out of our room and left our bags at the hotel whilst we went for some breakfast. Upon returning to the hotel we found out our transport to the airport had been delayed by hours so the hotel staff allowed us to set up camp in the foyer! Hours later we were eventually given the information that we would not be getting any transport via our pre-booked shuttle bus and that we had to make our own way there as it was not safe for such vehicles on the roads. The hotel staff were very helpful at this point and found us an alternate route to the airport (which involved walking, catching subways and busses and took a few hours) and gave us verbal and printed directions and timescales. If they hadn't been so helpful we would have probably still been there now!

Overview:

Hotel Belleclaire
250 W. 77th Street
Corner of Broadway
New York
NY 10024

Basic, cheap and comfortable accomodation.
Shared bathroom rooms are much better value.
Close to subways and Central Park.
Friendly, helpful staff.
Nice neighbourhood.

If you're on a budget yet still want comfort and cleanliness, I'd definately reccomend the Belleclaire! 

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