okay, little reno could go a long way
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 8/10/09
I give two stars because of smell, humidity, and inadequate showers.
Overall the hotel is okay, and the location amazing (next to Times Square). The location keeps this hotel alive, it might not survive in an other city, but this is Manhattan.
The hotel kinda smells old, at least on our floor. The service was good, staff polite. The bar on the main floor is a quiet place to wind down after a day of visits. We went to the hotel restaurant next door once and we'll never go again. The Ruben was greasy, and so was the Philly cheese and steak, too bad coz the decor is beautiful. Fortunately, there is plenty of good food around, look for the Food Emporium stores (there is one on the corner of 8th and 50th), or restaurants on the 8th.
Now back to the hotel. The shower was blasting water so hard I had to put my skin back on when done, and the water temperature could not be controlled. Hint to the Edison owner: low flow shower heads and pressure mixing valves will save you thousands in water and water heating bills while increasing comfort. There was NO air circulation in the bathroom, so we ran the AC at full blast to lower humidity. Hint #2 to the owner: install exhaust fans in bathrooms, they are cheaper to run than air conditioning. For other reno hints watch Holmes on Homes (the best tv show on reno ever).
It took us 50 minutes to get to the hotel from La Guardia, at a cost of almost zero because we used public transit. I saw less graffiti in NY public transit than in the Paris Metro. The subway is fast and the trains have AC which was very pleasant. All this to say we did not use the $36 hotel shuttle.
I am still watching my skin as we stayed one week and it felt itchy at times.