ChrisAustria

Well I have booked a sky view room with two double beds mid December, so you should be fine. Please share your experience with us after staying there

ewire

Yes, you can get two beds in a corner room. I'm current staying at the hotel. At check-in, I was given the choice of 2 double bed Sky View Room or a double bed Sky View Corner Room. Guest relations were happy to show me both rooms and let me decide. The corner room has nice views, but is a bit smaller than the double Sky View Room. I went for space over the view and chose the 2 double bed Sky View Room.

Ewire.

Roger

My wife wants to bring her tea. Do they have kettles in the rooms? Nespresso coffee machines, if they have them, wouldn't suffice.

(I thought of e-mailing the hotel, but they are slow to react and FTers are so much quicker and authoritative. )

Thanks.

demiurg

No kettles, if I remember well. They have these horrible Keurig coffee machines (http://www.keurig.com/hospitality/b1...EHFLS713V3D71A). We wished they had Nespresso machines - there is a world between a Nespresso coffee and a Keurig coffee.

Roger

Crikey! That's a quick and authoritiative response. IME, the hotel would have needed two days and a reminder.

Thanks very much for your info.

ChrisAustria

Interesting, on their webpage they quote both rooms to have 350 sqft. Maybe the corner room looks a little bit smaller as they have to position the furniture differently due to the second glass front?

ewire

It was Guest Relations that told me that the corner rooms were smaller. After having a look at both rooms, I felt the corner room was smaller.

Ewire.

Sohan

Anyone know how to book a suite? I can only see a studio.

tiebomber

You probally have to call the hotel directly. The studio is actually what would be considered a junior suite at most hotels. I posted pictures of the studio from my stay in August, Here

Kathabene

Does anyone have any upgrade experiences at that hotel?

torcross

Not actually an experience, but for next year I booked 2 nights on points and 2 nights using a new style BOGOF booking the standard (cheapest) room.

I e mailed the hotel and they have upgraded me to a '1 king bed deluxe avenue studio'. They did state they did not have to upgrade me on points but would do so I would not have to change rooms.

Oh, they also said they would honour all the RA benefits on the point side of the stay

Kathabene

Wow that sounds very nice

Roger

We had a 6-night stay last week, booked on Points + Cash. This is not a full TR - there has been much feedback already - but some comments on our stay.

At check-in (Ambassador desk), we were told we had been upgraded to a de luxe room on the 19th floor. Frankly, I don't know whether this was much of an upgrade, but the room was fine. The gift was some dried fruit and a couple of chocolates. Two bottles of complimentary water per day.

^

• Location #1: for our leisure purposes, it could hardly be bettered. Immediate access to theatres, restaurants, delis and shopping not far away.
• Location #2: transport(ation) Adjacent to the hotel is a subway stop with direct connection to JFK. *
• Decent bathroom but with reservations (see below). The walk-in shower was great.
• Fluffy towels.

• No seats in the lobby. Our first IC without seating to await guests. The bar is available, but it's a poor substitute.
• No bathtub. I know that space is tight in NYC, but this was our first NYC room without a bath.
• The furniture was loaded with snacks and water. If you so much as look at them for more than five seconds, there is a charge to the room account. A slight exaggeration, but I do object to these expensive items located not a million miles from the welcome gift and the free water.
• Internet connection is expensive at $12.95 or $14.95 per 24-hour period. There is a keyboard and screen in the room, and printing @ $1 per sheet can be ordered direct. I used my laptop.
• Single ply loo paper.

* I'm happy to use public transport in New York. The hotel can be reached by Airtrain ($5) and subway ($2.25 if full fare - discounts are available) in a little more than an hour.

For the IC Times Square, take the Airtrain from JFK terminals to Jamaica station (actually Sutphin Blvd/Archer Ave Station) then the E train, or to Howard Beach station then the A train. The E train is quicker. Go to 42nd St/Port Authority Bus Terminal. Follow the exit signs for 44th St/8th Ave and take the SW exit. The IC TS is adjacent.

Raffles

I checked in here yesterday, an impressive 65 minutes after stepping off BA1. (AirTrain to Jamaica, E train to 42nd/Port Authority, one exit is literally next to the front door.)

First impression - hotel itself is physically stunning. Room could be a Four Seasons. This is a very, very nice hotel as you'd expect from a brand new property. Ambassador upgrade seems to push me up to a high floor (24th).

Second impression - the area is a dump and a tourist trap. Literally next door on 8th are a gentlemens club and an adult store. If you are based in London, imagine that you are staying in the new W Hotel in Leicester Square. That's it. That same swirl of tourists when you walk out of the door all crowding around the theatres, plus the mess that is the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the detrius it attracts. However, oddly, walk past the front door down towards the corner of 44th and 9th and there a few English-style pubs, one of which I remember visiting a few years ago. This is, frankly, a very odd place to put a luxury five star hotel and it would be better as a W, albeit there is a Westin across the road and a W fairly close anyway.

However, I base my comments on the fact that I normally stay in business areas (RC Battery Park, Millennium Hilton, IC Barclay, Waldorf Astoria, Waldorf Towers etc) where you are surrounded by smart people in suits when you walk out of the door. You walk out of the door here at night and there are lots of chubby people in leisure wear milling about . If I'm honest, though, there is obviously more going on in the immediate neighbourhood than any of the hotels mentioned above.

Minimal noise on the 24th floor.

What is quite cool is that there is a PC in the room. You can use it for web access at $12.95 for 24 hours, and print stuff out to collect at the front desk for $1 a page. A far better deal than the ripoff $7.50 for 15 minutes in the business centre, or indeed the $14.95 for in-room access on your own PC. That said, the pricing is totally hidden and I had to ask at the front desk.

That said, I used the Regus at 1501 Broadway this morning for free - thanks to whoever mentioned this earlier (I have a Regus gold card).

I got a nice tray of AMB amenities last night (water, fruit inc dried fruit, welcome letter). Excellent bed. iPod dock on the radio (albeit the alarm is set for 7.30 and I don't know how to stop it!). The Westend Diner (apparently the Daily News' diner of the year once) is on 9th between 43 and 44, had an unbelievably cheap but calorific breakfast there this morning. Free New York Times at the room and WSJ available downstairs.

A bit like London, there is a 'celebrity chef' restaurant with the same space used for breakfast. Looks very pleasant and not shockingly pricey, albeit the diner round the corner is still a third of the cost! There is a nice lounge area as well.

Roger

Interesting to compare our recent experiences. Sure, the area is a dump, but that's what makes it interesting in a non-business way. I had thought of staying at the new HIE near Wall Street (perhaps I will next time), though the area did seem remote, especially for the weekend. When we walked past the gentlemen's club on one occasion, there were two of NY's best (policemen) talking to some employees. Curiously, no guests seemed to be entering while they were there.

In-room web access on your own computer costs $12.95 or $14.95. You can select, though the default is $14.95. The higher price is said to be better for video work. That didn't concern us, so we opted for the $12.95 rate for a couple of days.

Good to know that Regus worked. We didn't bother - partly because our sleeping times didn't coincide so I used Mrs Roger's sleeptime on the laptop - but again, perhaps I will next time. (Ahem, I think I'm the guilty one who asked the question.)