Posted on 10/05/2009 10:01:29 AM PDT by big black dog
La Semana Hotel, New York City
**
I'd rather take a nap at the Macy's bathroom than this place
I had just arrived in New York City, exhausted and out of breathe and wasn't going to be in Brooklyn 'til later that afternoon to spend a few nights with some friends, and so I went on the web to find a few hotels in the city for a hotel by the hour rate...to get the essentials done...take a short nap, shower, get myself cleaned up. Holy crap! This place is a complete hell-hole! Broken glass mirrors, cracked tiles, the door locks don't work well, there's a weird ceiling that's not even shut....seriously, this place is a lot dirtier than the bathroom in the airplane...seriously! I don't care how cheap it is....I'd rather pay up $100 a night at the Holiday Inn than this piece of you know what.
**
Surrealistic
The most bizarre experience I have ever had in a hotel - by far.
The room was very small and especially narrow. A large mirror was fitted on two walls, apparently to create the illusion of a larger room.
There was a jacuzzi in the room - literally in the room. It had a crude stencil on the inside "Max fill", and the bottom had a number of marks on the bottom of indeterminate composition. We decided not to try it. The TV was on a perch about 12 feet high, and it was only possible to get one station, as the satellite reciever was non-functional.
The bathroom had no door or curtain. The medicine cabinet had a door that could not be open, but rather hung fully open, ready to smash your forehead if you let your concentration lapse while using the sink.
It did have a functioning hair dryer, though.
There was a space heater sitting on the floor, with the only place to plug it in being an extension cord -clearly unsafe considering that we had to plug-in the mini-fridge there as well.
There was a functioning floor lamp and one light in the toilet partition.
Even though there were at least 6 other lamps in the high ceiling, NONE of them worked, and the switches for them were largely missing the plastic toggle covers. The bed had no bedspread or blanket, merely an extra sheet. They did provide a blanket when I asked at the desk, and I'm sure it would have been good to 60 F if it wasn't sweltering in the room due to the air conditioner working fin futile fashion due to it being completely wrapped in plastic.
There were other things - including bad porn art and exposed pipes that haven't been cleaned in many years. This hotel is suited to Joe Buck and Ratzo at their most desperate - everyone else should look elsewhere.
**
DO NOT STAY HERE FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR…
It is a pity I read the comments about this hotel only after our return - the only positive impression was a single friendly person on the staff (the rest of them being absolutely uninterested and/or uninformed about anything). The room was tiny and had no heating (only a noisy electrical fan heater waking us up every half hour), the windows were very drafty (with an outside temperature of 5° Celsius), although they didn't open. There was almost no place to put our things (for lack of space and for lack of a closet and with only a tiny table). The carpet was quite carelessly vacuumed (previous guests' litter still under the bed). In addition, there was no fridge, despite announced in the room’s description, we didn’t even bother turning on the TV (arriving from Europe that day). The bed could only be left by one person climbing over the other (I wonder what “karebear100” from St. Paul are used to doing back home…?). When we tried to get a different room, we were offered a windowless (!!!) one – quite likely that it is only used on an hourly basis, as suggested by other reviewers. All this for a daily rate (225 $ including tax) which seems more appropriate for a week, considering the value you get.
**
Cockroach - Dump - Scam - Do Not Go There
La Semana Hotel - This is the worst place I have ever seen! they put false publicity on the web!
La Semana Hotel - DO NOT GO THERE!
La Semana Hotel - Toilet door does not close! La Semana Hotel - Bath in the room! transparent curtain. La Semana Hotel - if you take the jacuzzi room, well it does not work. La Semana Hotel - they have heating system on wheels - so it is freaking cold.
La Semana Hotel - some room are on the street side, and there is a bar with 200 people waiting in line at night - impossible to sleep.
La Semana Hotel - look like a place you rent per hour... (even if I have never been to a place like this)
this is outrageous!!!
La Semana Hotel - DO NOT GO THERE. NOT EVEN IF YOU GET PAID TO GO!
**
Complete DUMP! Do NOT stay here!
Hotels at NYC are generally old, but this place is an ABSOLUTE DUMP! I felt like I was in a 3rd world hostel. DO NOT STAY HERE. I made the mistake of booking this hotel after being fooled by pleasant photos on their website, but what a huge mistake that was!
The sheets and blankets were not clean. The walls were cracked, the ceiling was cracked, and the central vents ran visibly from one room to the next via huge cracks in the walls and ceilings. The bathroom was a sham. No shampoo or toothpaste was provided. The door did not even lock. The bathroom floor and shower tiles were all cracked. A hole was cut into the wall, very near the celing, in which a tv was placed. What a joke! Walls were very thin, and the noise from other rooms could be EASILY heard. Worse of all was the staff, which was composed of unprofessional young adult foreigners who freely smoked and cursed in the presence of guests.
If I ever rented out a room such as the one I stayed at in this hotel, I would be jailed. Likewise, the owners of this hotel should be arrested. DO NOT STAY HERE!
**
Horrible doss house
This was possibly the worst hotel i have stayed in in 10 years! The staff seemed bemused that I had booked and couldn't find any paperwork - they then photocopied my passport and took a credit card payment (couldn't help feeling this was to clone my card).
The first room offered was dark and airless with a huge jacuzzi and smaller bed - lots of noise from fridge and airco. The room I took was like a dark corridor with bed and huge jacuzzi, but quieter. No chair, nowhere to put suitcase, no cups..... Bed was comfortable, however.
In England, this kind of room would normally be charged by the hour! Amazing price $229 - but arrived too late to hunt for an alternative. Expedia have over-rated room before (in my opinion) but this was outrageous.
**
Not a Hotel, a BORDELLO!
Two words: HOURLY RATES!
By no means am I a fussy traveler. I've roughed it in some real sketchy hotels and hostels throughout Europe and the US. But this place is by far the worst hotel ever.
Upon check-in, the clerk had no "recolection" of my reservation, nor our pre-payment. He didn't bother to check his computer - the same computer on which we spotted him perusing pornography. As we settled our room dispute not one, but two, couples went upstairs to use one of their advertised "hot tub rooms" for a few hours. And also there were large creepy floor-to-cieling mirrors on each wall. Those dark mirrors, that appear to be two-way. Creepy.
Also, the staff smokes inside. And there were no pillows. And broken lights and A/C.
**
A poor excuse for a hotel
Our room had no window, a disconnected air conditioner (finally activated after we spent a sleepless night in the stuffy, nonmoving air) that was located 8 feet up the wall (so we had to stand on the tub sides to reach the controls), no towel rack, no water glasses (no ice bucket, because there's no ice machine), minimal lighting (three tiny bulbs hanging from wires running across the ceiling), no maid service during the day between our two nights, a thin mattress that sloped to the center. Two positives: a small refrigerator in the room, and the room was clean (though the hallway had a range of funky smells). We stayed here only because of a special arrangement, but I can't imagine any series of events that would lead me to stay there again.
**
One real expensive dump
I checked in around 6:00 on a Saturday evening the place reeked of pot as he walked with me to the room because I didn't have any clean towels at the time. The night clerk kept coming upstairs to change the rooms every five minutes when they didn't need changing and he would just hang around in the hallway for like ten minutes before he decided what he was going to do next. Who knows whether the guy was spying on us or not but he probably was. The place was not cool for $163 a night. The name of the hotel should be here's a room your stupid. The room was a closet sized room with no curtains on the window everybody could see in I was like ok. They gave us a thin blanket we were freeziing most of the time. I really didn't want to ask for a blanket because that night clerk really gave me the creeps. Basically stay away it it not worth the price that was the cheapest room they had
this is awesome! I need to go there just to see for myself....
It looks decent from the outside. Apparently looks can be deceiving.
I thought this was a story about the White House. My bad. ;-)
Please get a clue. Hotels that rent rooms by the hour are dumps by definition. They are catering to prostitutes.
I love TripAdvisor. It has very seldom steered me wrong. It’s a must before visiting a new city.
Doesn’t the fact that they rent rooms by the hour suggest anything to these seasoned travelers? And BTW, they don’t charge for the bedbugs...
Rent by the hour?
What did he expect?
only if you can hear their music
Quit dissing my home.
The mirror and folding chair are very classy.
The folding chair is a nice touch.
what could possibly go wrong?
I stayed in a place like that in Arizona.
There was a machine in the bathroom that sold gum, and it tasted like rubber.
I work there. Quit dissing my job performance.
I use trip advisor too even if I’d already previously stayed at that hotel - if it’s been a couple years.
I do owe them a review for a Fairfield in in Butler, PA. The toilet was not flushing well so I asked someone plunge it while I was out. Upon my return 3 hours later, the desk clerk told me she was the only one on duty, and handed me the plunger. So that was weird. If it were a place that was in a more urban area, though, I don’t think I would have been too pleased.
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