BEST WESTERN Jamaica Inn, Jamaica

6/23/2009 Trip was 6/19/2009-6/22/2009 Let me put this in perspective, we live in out in the country in NW Illinois where the nearest neighbors are 1 mile away in any direction. We tend to be nervous in the “big city”. With that said, I tried to research where to stay and found a number of reviews on this hotel. I was very impressed with what I found when we got there. We were allowed to check in at 11:00am 4 hrs before the stated time. We went to the room and freshened up. The room was very clean as was the bath room. We parked the car and purchased subway tickets (7 day unlimited for $25). The subway was 8 min walk up the street and the ride was only 20-25 min to Times Sq. We never had to drive anywhere except back and forth to LGA. (We could have taken a cab but are not really sure about the ins and outs of that) When we do it again I will take the bus from LGA to one of the MTA stations. Safety wise, there are bars on the windows at the near by food places but we felt comfortable at all times. The breakfast area was clean and we loved the fresh waffles. We inspected the rest room near the breakfast area expecting to find it less clean then our hotel room but found it in the same clean orderly fashion as the room was. The hotel staff was very friendly all 4 days we stayed. Concerning Manhattan and surrounding area, the only rude people we found were non-Americans who found it necessary to push wherever they went. The Statue of Liberty wasn’t going to be moving so I am not sure why they had to be the first ones off the ferry. When we needed directions the uniformed officers seemed more then happy to answer the questions. Next time I will have a small compass to get my bearings coming out of the subway stations. When waiting in line at the TK office in Times Square one should make up their mind with at least three options of what they want to see BEFORE then get to the windows. It was kind of frustrating hearing people time and time again ask the ticket taker “What’s playing” They could have read the sign for the 30 min they stood there. You might want to skip Coney Island…didn’t feel real safe there off the boardwalk. Some one said in another post to stay clear of the rest rooms at the subway station at Coney Island. They were not kidding. What a mess. I guess we should have gone to Central Park instead. Would we do it again at the same hotel? Without a doubt yes.

I have stayed here when I missed my flight out of NYC. I paid 90 bucks for a night which was almost cheapest I can get at that level. The room I got was on the first floor(which is between the ground level and basement), but would be nicer if I can get a room on the second level. Ask a room for higher level if you go. The room was a bit damp maybe because lack of light.