Every time I have a bright idea to save some money, I end up regretting it. When it comes to hotels, you tend to get what you pay for.
I was in New York City last weekend for FTU and had a hotel choice to make. There was an Andaz a couple blocks away that was running was almost $400/night with taxes and there were several boutique hotels just a block away from the conference center. I had no desire to take a taxi or subway to a different part of town.
As much as I love Andaz properties, I was alone and really only needed a hotel to sleep in. Furthermore, I had about $60 in Orbitz hotel credit that was expiring. If I used it at the Andaz, I would not even receive stay credit since the reservation would be pre-paid by Orbitz.
So I chose a hotel called The Mansfield, a “typical” classic New York boutique hotel. Cost was $180/night or $120 when my voucher was applied. The website pictures looked nice, I knew the room would be small, but again, it was just me…I just needed a place to lay down my head.
I checked in around 5pm and was assigned a room on the fifth floor. The common areas in the lobby and bar are quite nice.
But here’s what I found outside my room:
Yes, that’s a cockroach.
I just shrugged it off, dropped my bag off, and went back out.
It Gets Worse
Around midnight, I returned to go to sleep. When I pulled back the sheets to go to sleep, I found the bed was covered in hair and other stains:
This was all over the bed, not just two pieces of hair (which still would have been unacceptable).
Too tried to change rooms, I just laid bath towels down over the bed and went to sleep. How disgusting.
Furthermore, the “complimentary” internet did not work. Totally non-functional. I was forced to pay for a “premium” plan…that also did not work.
I brought up the issues when I checked out. Only my wi-fi was credited.
CONCLUSION
I should have taken the middle road: the Grand Hyatt at Grand Central Terminal was only about $280 with taxes. I should have paid the extra money. There may be counter-examples of great and inexpensive boutique hotels, but I just thought this was a prime example of a disgusting hotel. Avoid it!
just awful. i would have instantly left.
Stay away from NYC.
Unhappy people everywhere!
You obviouly did not read the article.
Yuck. I find complaining after the fact without bringing up issues right away is rarely going to get me very far. You probably mean you were “too tired” to bring up the disgusting conditions, but if you had, you might have gotten either another room or a real chance at a credit!
Maybe Orbitz will help even if the hotel won’t. They might at least put your $60 credit back on your account.
I did complain at check-out.
Better to complain before check-out. I’ve have called down to reception as soon as I saw the stains and hairs.
Yes, I’m with Julia. Complaining at checkout was, in this case, “after the fact.”
You were saying “I have already slept here and used the service I paid for, but now I want my money back.”
It almost certainly would have been more effective, tired as you were, to bring it up before going to bed.
The hair was probably the maid’s hair while making the bed. That is different from sheets that were slept on by the previous guest.
That’s not dumpy — that’s really gross and who knows how unsanitary!
Eww…disgusting. I would have demanded a refund and left.
I was also at FTU and went with my mainstay – Hilton Garden Inn on 35th. Perfectly acceptable, free breakfast for HH Gold and always earn at least 10k points for a weekend stay. Even the Grand Hyatt had problems with, Richard Kerr had bugs in his shower.
Sounds like I should have stayed at the Garden Inn!
You didn’t check for bed bugs before lying down?
This is something I do at *every* hotel (okay, maybe not in Japan), but especially a dump in NYC.
I don’t use Orbitz, so I am curious — in a case like yours, do you have any recourse thru them? After all, they probably didn’t feature your little corner of paradise as a “fleabag, roach infested dump with beds available on an hourly rate.”
I do plan to contact Orbitz now. I will follow-up with another post.
Ha! I find often that when you are a travel guru you spend so much time finding the “perfect” solution. So when it goes wrong you beat yourself up mercilessly. But sometimes it isn’t perfect and you have to live and learn. I’ve kicked myself over so many of these things. I took my daughter to nyc and chose the “wrong” hotel after hours of deliberations. All up it’s no biggie. Good learning experience!! Thanks for the review.
Have you tried the Hotel Tonight app? They often have much better prices for last minute stays – particularly in NYC.
Do you ever look at the travellers’ photos posted on hotel reviews on TripAdvisor? Whether its a 5-star deluxe or one far worse than this one, stray hairs in beds is a very, very common theme. I’m not saying it should be disregarded, but this place honestly doesn’t look that bad (and this is coming from someone who brings along their own cleaning supplies and cleans the rooms myself). And its NYC, there’s roaches and mice everywhere. I’d say you got off easy. There’s way worse dumps than this place.
Check TripAdvisor before booking! I’ll only book hotels rates 4 stars and up… I feel like things go downhill very quickly at 3.5 stars and below. Being a short subway ride away is fairly painless most times in NYC, too.
Finding myself in need of a place to lay my head, in June 1964 I checked in at the Mansfield. This was long before remodeling as a trendy boutique. The naked light bulb over the bed says it all. I would guess the rate in the $15.00 range. Morning could not come soon enough.