Goldorak

I just stayed in this hotel for 3 nights with my family (3). Prices were completely crazy in NY as always, and I struggled to find something "acceptable" in term of price. What make me choose this one was first the location and the possibility to have only one room for the 3 of us and complimentary BF. But the whole bill reached something like $1300 for 3 nights, so not cheap at all despite booked through Booking.com.

The room was nothing to write home about but did the job, even if the sofa bed was not top notch. But what was truly unacceptable was the elevators and breakfast situation. There are 4 lifts for I think 37 floors (IIRC), which is clearly not enough. In the morning until 10-11, it was regularly a 15 min wait to be able to board a lift to BF and same to go back to your room. Sometimes, the only solution to finally manage to go in was to take a lift up if you want to go down (and reverse). Then when you finally manage to reach the BF room, you enter into complete chaos and garbage room
The "buffet" was poorly refilled and nd once you grabbed something, then you need to find a place to eat. It was archi crowded but the unacceptable part is that nobody's cleaning the tables, floor, etc. So the entire place turns into a pile of dirty dishes and garbage everywhere. Customers needed to make themselves some space on the tables and pile dishes and garbage on other tables. Totally unacceptable. I took some pictures to show you a sample of this dump place.
It's not because something is complimentary that you can justify this, especially knowing that nothing is complimentary (you always pay for it somewhere, sometime). It just shows that this property is badly managed and is to be avoided.

ehallison

That looks pretty bad.

Did you bring this to management's attention?

CJKatl

Agreed that this is bad and the hotel should have staff to clean the tables, etc., but don't we usually clear our own dishes at RIs? This is not to point fingers at the guest who shouldn't have to clear someone else's stuff, but the other guests are pigs if they are leaving all of this on tables when they are done. Maybe I shouldn't, but I might be saying something to the other guests as they get up.

NYC is less attractive to me each time I visit. And I'm a native who has great memories of visiting my grandmother on the UES as a child.

Goldorak

Unfortunately not yet. In the BF place, there was never any management in sight and at the front desk, always a lot of people, so I gave up on this. But I intend to send a note to the hotel.

Really ? This was my 1st stay at R.I. Nobody told us we would have to do this and there were no signs saying this. And there was no place that I remember for collecting the dirty dishes. I don’t find this would be normal practice IMO, as this s an hotel and not a Burger King or a cantine.

Srisarin

Taken as a given, no wonder this brand (RI) has no props in Asia

kb9522

You were in the city and opted to eat a hotel breakfast? I think that might be more egregious than the dishes. Did the staff say no when you asked them to clean a table?

GoPhils

But at Burger King at least you pay specifically for the breakfast. If as you said there were no employees in sight, why would you expect one to appear to clean the tables?

But obviously many others either didn't know or chose to not to do that as well as evidenced by the amount of trash around, and even if OP did clean up after themselves I'm sure the trash cans would've been full.

3Cforme

That really ought to be a check box when starting a new complaint thread on FT! It's poor form that guests have to supervise basic hotel operations but front desk staff will get sick of having guests confront them and call upon services to be performed.

If one has time to take pictures and upload them to a new FT thread, one has time to complain to hotel management.

joshua362

That is ridiculous, people need to clean up after themselves in a buffett situation, whether it's a free buffet or a swanky lounge (where they encourage you to leave it but I never do).

That said and with NY's "its not my job attitude" I can easily see someone getting to work late one morning, the garbage pails piling up, someone decides to leave their crap behind and others start quickly copying that behavior. Garbage attracts other garbage, see Alice's Restaurant.

And I agree, better to let someone know at the property rather than complain to strangers on the internet but misery does like company. Perhaps this was a one off? Better to complain on morning #1 and let the world know on morning #2 if it continued.

Lifts are always a problem in NYC although it doesn't make it right.

CJKatl

In a normal suburban US FI/SHS/RI there are one or two breakfast buffet attendants. IME, these are usually dedicated, cheery, experienced people. This person restocks the buffet and wipes down the tables, but the guest carries his own dishes to large garbage cans and/or a tray for collection. The tables are wiped quickly and often. Most attendants take pride in keeping the area stocked and clean. It actually works very much like a Burger King, but with a buffet line instead of ordering at a register.

These are limit service brands and this limited service. The breakfast is mostly prefab food (pre-made canned eggs, mostly preservative danish, very salty cold cuts, flavored sugar with a little yogurt) served on disposable plates with plastic utensils. Guests should know this when choosing a limited service brand. Maybe the hotel assumes this, but if it is a regular issue there should be signage, ala "Thank your for removing your stuff when you're done. Your mom doesn't work here."

The breakfast works for certain people in certain circumstances, but I agree with the poster who would eat elsewhere in NYC.

CJKatl

BTW, for those not used to staying at US hotels... In most Asian and European CLs, the lounge attendant clears your breakfast dishes. The norm in the US is to carry your dishes to a tray near the dishwasher, place your cloth napkin in a receptacle and throw away your own trash. I've experienced US attendants asking if I'm done with a plate and clearing it, but I would never just get up and leave my dirty dishes on the table in a North American CL unless I knew that was the expectation which would be the norm in most of the rest of the world. Off the top of my head, the Raleigh North Hills Ren does not have a tray for dishes, you just leave them, but that's the only one of my regular hotels like that.

mjcewl1284

I've stayed in this RI probably about 2 years ago. Looks like nothing has changed in terms of trash piling up on tables near the breakfast area.
But the location of this particular RI is unbeatable. The poor breakfast area can't really deter that.

Kacee

They should have staff cleaning up. Period. End of discussion.

kcaluwae

Read your post and agree that I would expect the staff to clear the tables as well. (Despite the fact that I usually clear my table after breakfast in places like this)

I wondered however why you booked through booking.com. Why not book with Marriott and file a BRG claim? Are claims regarding booking.com not accepted?

joshua362

In any "problem" there is a root cause and contributing causes.

After reviewing these photo again, I am stumped as to the root cause. The obnoxious guests who feel entitled to leave their (obviously disposable) crap behind based upon the amount they paid, country of residence or past experiences at other breakfast's?

Or Management for not providing a system for disposal, enough garbage containers and a person to clean up after the one pig that always ignores common sense thereby giving everyone else the impression its ok to do so?

Very stumped why this continues to happen here. It's not Motel 6 in Appalachia after all. I agree its shocking!