LovetoTravel83

Same thing happened to me, I cancelled a stay and did not know if the amount was actually processed for a refund or not, So I talked to online chat and everyday I would recieve a message that no one is in their accounting department, they opened a file and one day later I recieved an e-mail from them and processed the refund asap.

WMPA

I'm staying on a Sunday night in late June 2011, and got a rate of $186+tax (a "LGBT" rate, not that there is anything wrong with that ), which is the lowest cancelable rate in Manhattan that I could see.

Has the Element improved at all since the comments at the beginning of 2011? I'll only need it to sleep...

ma91pmh

If all you need is sleep then I would ignore all the prior comments anyway. I have stayed here 4-5 times, each for 2-3 nights a time, at sub $170 rates (as low as $89) and it has been great value. Perfectly good for cheap sleep stay

abk

I spent three nights there in May and although it has it's problems I kinda liked it and would stay there again. The biggest problem is the elevators. There are only three of them and during the day the cleaning people take one out of service so if the hotel is crowded the wait can be forever. My advice is to ride the elevator up and then down. If you wait for a down one and are not on a top floor chances are it will be full.

I am not sure I understand why they put the mini kitchen in each room but having the refrigerator was nice. The breakfast looked good but by the time I got down there it was pretty picked over.

As for the neighborhood, it is close to the port authority and sort of seedy. I realized that it is better to walk towards ninth avenue than eighth and then towards downtown. If you do this, there is a nice Italian restaurant down the street from hotel and then on ninth a nice pub and some restaurants. Much better than eighth avenue.

schistosomiasis

Stayed here last week. $139 rate, $161 AI, felt this was a good deal.

Arrived on redeye flight and front desk gave me early checkin at 6:30 AM, this was enough to make me happy for rest of stay

Third floor room allowed me to use stairs rather than elevator.
Small rooms, but were comfortable and very clean.
Free breakfast quite good if you get there early enough, obviously I was there early the first morning and got my pick of everything but the next day I woke up 15 minutes within closing time and not as many selections.
Free wifi a huge plus, connection speeds good.
Location safe as it is adjacent to times square, but does kind of have a seedier feel compared to the hotels in times square, didn't bug me one bit.

Would definitely stay here again especially at this rate,

Keyser

how are you getting these rates????i can't get anything close to this....

macdonaldj2

It's a fine place...big enough for NYC

itsaboutthejourney

Just checked out of there on my 3rd stay:

- Elevators are still a problem. Staff tell me there are no service elevators, hence why we see them using the guest elevators and it can take sometimes 8-10 mins for a simple trip.

- The room key cards have NOT been fixed for late check-out. If you have late check-out, expect your key to not work and have to take another round trip in the elevators to have someone from security escort you up (why they can't simply re-key is beyond me)

Otherwise it's a decent hotel, just not sure I have the patience to deal with the elevators and key situation again.

LilZeppelin

Just completed a one night stay at Element, and while the design is nice, room size not that small (if you can ignore protruding air conditioning below the window blocking easy access to one side of the bed), kitchenette a nice bonus, and guest laundry in the basement handy, I would be hard pressed to stay here again for the simple reason that we got very little sleep. The bed was fine, but we had to keep the air-con on as there's a mini heat wave in New York. The air-conditioning was pretty noisy. Understand that noise may be a subjective notion, but if you are a light sleeper that is a consideration. Another minus, was that elevators seemed slow. Otherwise, the service was nice, public areas are great, and the room while a little on the cheap side pretty functional.

TCnSanDiegoCA

I stayed here for 3 nights a couple of weeks ago, and I agree the elevator situation is ridiculous. At off peak times it wasn't much of a problem, but most of the morning and around check-in time each day there was quite a long line in the lobby, and it could easily take 10 minutes. The free breakfast in the mornings was a mad house, I skipped one morning just because of the size of the crowd. Other than the elevator situation, I thought the hotel itself was nice. I think next time I stay here I'll ask for a low floor so I'll have the option to take the stairs.

InHouseCounsel

I still think this is one of the best bargains in the city for a new clean hotel. I am still now sure why I would need a full size fridge or a stove top, but hard to beat the place for the rates I have gotten ($85-$135 with AAA). I have never had a problem getting a decent breakfast and the evening reception is nice. The gym has a lot of equipment for a bargain hotel, and has never been crowded. It is also an easy walk to food or the subway.

JonathanIT

You won't be seeing anymore of those "$85-$135" rates anytime soon.

DCBob

+1. You will be lucky to get ANY room at Element for less than $200 this summer and fall. Better to book the Travelzoo rate at the Aloft Brooklyn for $99 while it's still available.

morerainplease

The elevators are still tough. And the roll out of the evening reception had its kinks. But the food was tasty and even the very crowded breakfast was a nice enough addition. I checked out a bike for a cheap thrill. Overall, I thought it was a great location (my shuttle from EWR came into Port Authority). Plus it's clean and new. And it has the best shower heads EVER!

merrickdb

The $99 Travelzoo rate is sadly gone.