Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Here there everywhere
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Diamond, IHG Plat, BA Silver, Aegean Gold, Aeroplan 25k, AA EXP
Posts: 2,832
My views of this hotel are a mixed bag.
Location wise, personally I think it is 2 avenues down from what would make it ideal. There are a number of budget hotels further down from the hotel, if walking towards the hudson river.
At checkin, staff member was friendly. They give you two complimentary bottles of water, in my case they gave me two right away and the voucher to come back for another two after.
I was given a room on the 4th floor, so had no problems walking up or down the stairs at any point. My room gave on the entrance of the hotel, beware there are some clubs around the corner and it can be quite noisy. I also noted a room between two elevators on each floor, so also on that front be careful.
My room itself was small for an element hotel (compared to Irving or Summerlin) but fairly large for NYC. No bedbugs, nice bed. The kitchen seems to be a lite version of what I saw at other element hotels.
Breakfast was a total zoo. I went there at 7am on the Sunday thinking I would beat the crowds. Turned out some tour group was there at the same time and the place was already full. The breakfast taste was horrible (thank god for cereal and yogurt there). The egg, meat and hashbrowns were totally stale.
4PM checkout was granted, although when I got back at 3pm, i was escorted by security up to my room. At checkout, I wanted to pay in cash. They told me I was the first guest to pay by cash (this was in June) and tried a few times to make me pay by credit card. A manager even had to come over and approve the transaction - this took 25 minutes and everyone there had a bad attitude.
I wanted to leave my two bags with them, but discovered that they don't have a secured bag room. Your baggage is left right by the entrance. I'm sure potential thieves enjoy the convenience factor here.
Overall, the worst Element hotel I have been to until now. In fact if this were my first visit to an Element, my impression of the brand as a whole would be very poor.
The only good thing about this property is the fact that it is cheap and the rooms are clean.