Originally Posted by coleslaw

I’ve stayed at this property many times over the past three months and each time the room I have been assigned has been pretty dark (or, at least, hasn’t had much natural light).

There’s heavy construction on two sides of the hotel (the front faces onto a lot that’s in the middle of having a building demolished, one side faces onto a street with construction on the opposite building), the back of the hotel faces an alley with the building across the alley (<20ft away) undergoing light construction - so you have banging and shouting rather than pile drivers and heavy machinery that you get at the front.

Some rooms face the atrium over the lobby area - the upper floors don’t feel too dark since the top of the atrium gets a good amount of light. The lower atrium floors are very dark. The upside of the atrium is that you get very little outside noise on the lower floors (there is more noise towards the top, but nowhere near as bad as on the front of the building).

The room furnishings (darker wood, more “antique” vibe pieces) don’t help the feeling of being in a dark room, but they do fit in with the rest of the building.

If you want lots of natural light then 50 Bowery is probably a better option, although I think the Beekman is generally a much nicer property (and the best downtown property, at least).