This hotel is situated in a fantastic location and is very cheap, however the standards inside reflect this, and the location is by far the best thing about this hotel
On entry to the hotel there is a large foyer area which is always extremely busy, this hotel boasts about being one of the largest hotels in New York City comprising of around 1700 rooms and so check in can be a long wait and then another long wait if you need to return to reception to ask any questions or complain. The staff are very abrupt, no friendly smile or courteous attitude and the bellboys are always in competition to try and reach your luggage first. They are also very rude and will blatently stand there with there hand out until you provide them with a tip they like!
Rooms - Where to begin, our first room was supposed to be a triple room which we had booked in advance several months earlier, on arriving at our room we were suprised to be confronted with just one double bed. Not ideal for three travellers. Our next room after waiting half an hour to complain had 1 double bed and one sofa bed so still meant that two of us would need to share and had an enormous hole in the roof. Again a return to reception took us to another room, again not enough beds and the toilet was broke. Fourth Time lucky and we had a room again with only 2 beds, fed up of wasting our 3 day break in this holliday we accepted it wasnt going to get any better and settled with room number 4. It was very basic and very dated. There was no ceiling light just two table lamps which let out little light. There was a television that had seen better days and windows were that disgusting I didnt dare go near.
The linen although clean looked very old and had several holes in the material. There were also numerous cigarette burns in the sofa bed.
The bathroom was no better and was stained from many many years use and little cleaning. The shower over the bath was very low down and fixed so you had to crouch into an awkward position to be able to use it.
Food - There are a couple of restaurants off from the main foyer however these are highly priced for what they are and you would be better off visiting the Irish Bar just across the road for some fantastic value food and drinks. I ordered sausage and chips one evening and was presented with 6 sausages, what looked like a whole tin of beans and a separate plate of fries. All this for $5.99. Ideal if you are just wanting a quick evening meal before setting out into the city and you would rather save your money for shopping than expensive restaurants. They also offer a wide range of traditional english pub food, and full irish breakfasts which were lovely.
Location - The location is the best thing about this hotel, it is located directly across the road from MadisonSquare Gardens and just round the corner from Macys. Times Square is a short walking distance away and there are subway facilities just across the road and also round the corner. There are several large stores located on the same street such as Footlocker and there are a couple of malls within short walking distance also.
In total we paid about £70 per night here which between 3 of us worked out very cheap, however its true that you get what you pay for and its worth paying a bit more to stay at many of the other well maintained hotels available.
Overall if you are only using this place as somewhere to sleep at a low price then is ideal, however if you are wanting luxury, comfort and good service then stay away!!
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£70 a night is certainly cheap for NYC but, apart from that, thanks for the warning! Duncan
Soho_Black 09.02.2007 13:08
Sounds like you had the same room confusion as they had when I was there nearly 4 years ago.
Tempus_Fugit 08.02.2007 21:27
It seems to be an ongoing problem with this hotel. When I was there quite a few years ago I had a rather rubbish room at first, I complained and was given a room in the refurbished part of the hotel and it was great. I wonder if they are trying to give guests from abroad the worst rooms almost hoping they don't complain like the US customers. The hotel has some really lovely rooms, but you have to complain to get them.
Location. The Hotel Pennsylvania is located in New York, N.Y. Across the street from ... more
Madison Square Garden Across the street from Penn Station One block from Macy's department store Three blocks from the Empire State Building Hotel Fea...
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Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Feb 8th, 2007
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