La Quinta Manhattan, New York City

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Nice location
Disadvantages:	Impossible reception

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

General :
In the past I stayed at the La Quinta hotel at the Ontario airport in California. There I had the most wonderful stay. I told a friend about it and because of that he stayed at the La Quinta in Santa Rosa New Mexico and had a very pleasant stay as well. Those experiences moved the La Quinta chain clearly up on our lists of hotel-preferences. That's also why I booked the La Quinta again in Manhattan.

Accessibility.
The hotel is very close to a number of subway stations, which makes it very accessible.

Room:
I had a room with a queen-size bed. The room was about 5 x 5 meters, which I consider the minimum. I come from Europe where hotel-rooms are often smaller. If this is the minimum for me, then I expect it to be too small for most Americans. The bathroom was 3 x 1.5 meters, which I found too small. The room had one window only and it was situated in a corner of the room. This made the room dark and I find dark rooms unpleasant. I always had to have a lamp on.

Gym :
The gym had a number of cardio machines. I had hoped for weight-lifting material but those weren't there.

Internet :
There's wireless Internet in the hotel, but that only worked good enough in the lobby. In the room I would sometimes have normal Internet connection, then it would disappear (while I didn't change a thing), and after a while the connection would be back. That way you can't really work on the Internet. Going to the lobby and work on the Internet there should be an alternative, but there's often a draft because people are constantly going in and out of the lobby. The televisions with the news channels in the lobby disturb you while working on your notebook. If the televisions are off there's guitar music playing constantly, which can be a distraction. It's the same song playing over and over again, which makes the distraction worse. Therefore, going on the Internet in the lobby isn't an opton either.

Surroundings :
The nearest subway station was at the corner of the block, really close-by, which was very nice. There are lots of Korean good restaurants in the area. If you like shopping (LOL, which I don't :-) ), then Macy's is two blocks away, and Manhattan Mall is one block away.

Reception :
When I checked in the receptionist was unfriendly. Even though I had paid the total bill for my entire stay of 6 nights in cash at arrival, the receptionist still wouldn't accept an international driver's license as an ID, although it met all the requirements he mentioned. While at reception (!) he actually made me go through my luggage to find my passport, even though I had told him several times that I didn't know where I had put it.
Although I travel a lot, this had never ever been an issue before (not even in the La Quintain in Los Angeles). He even had the guts to say that he wasn't obliged to let me into the hotel if I didn't show a passport.
When I had half of my suitcase unpacked (in order to search for my passport), he complained about the contents of my suitcase being displayed in public, while it was him in the first place who had demanded me to do so. To be frank, I think that this man should find another job.

Housekeeping :
The personnell that cleaned my room were clearly different. They were nice and helpful. My compliments to them.

Conclusion :
Would I go there again? Don't hold your breath for it. The current experience moved the La Quinta OFF my list of hotel-preferences. Before submitting this review I sent it to the La Quinta main office in Irving, Texas in February this year to give them an opportunity to correct the situation, but there was no reply whatsoever.

About me :
I am a male in his fourties from Europe. I travel several times a year and often to the United States. In 2007 I stayed in least in 8 different hotels. Since the extra luxury of the upscale hotels isn't important to me I try to avoid them.