Hilltop Inn & Suites Yonkers — Hotel in City of Yonkers

We arrived at 8pm on Sunday and threw our things in our room (306) after a 6 hour drive to go get some dinner and relax, we arrived back at about midnight and took off our shoes to a soaked floor, what's worse is the wet floor was so dirty that it felt like a paste when I stepped in it. I looked around for a reason and it looked like the window was left open so no biggy, while looking around I found some syringe caps and realized that the room was actually filthy. There was seven dust all around the bed and the beds were wrapped in those anti bed bug covers as a bandaid for what was obviously a problem in the room previously. So I went to the front desk and told the man working the counter that we wanted to switch rooms.

After telling the guy what was happening with the room he borderline interrogated me on how the floor got wet and filthy then tried shifting the blame to me. This guy was a flat out prick! After a 5 minute argument he set us up with another room...finally some sleep....HA! Jokes on us! Because when he gave us the new keys he disabled the old ones and all of our things were still in the old room.

He refused to get us a key for the new room to get our stuff and made us wait until the helper kid was finished doing whatever he was doing to let us in the old room to get our stuff he told the helper to look around the room to see what we did to get the floor soaked when he got up there, there was just s complete lack of respect and professionalism on his part, he made things purposely difficult for no reason... So long story short...about an hour later we got into our room and after a quick bed bug inspection we lay down for the night. What a pain in the ass!! Oh and we got into the new room a few doors down and there was a floor drier in the middle of the room like they use during the winter for the entrances of grocery stores to dry up the snow people track in. So the wet floor problem must have been an issue for the whole floor.

Aside from the staff being jerks and the rooms being disgusting the outside doors were all propped open 24/7 with towels and after I removed them so the doors would lock to the outside they were back in the morning.

The doors to both rooms had obvious signs of break in also.

Nothing else went wrong besides having to avoid the glares of the night time desk guy.

One other thing to note is that due to the area the parking lot is located up a small hill. There is a small strip of parking spots in front but every night when we got back those spots (including the handicapped spots) were taken by the employees. So yeah..the little ghetto Honda crv's with the stance kits and decals and the mini van you see right when you pull in are actually the employees cars, you're walking up the hill as a guest as a result.

So in short if you stay here, check the room for bed bugs. From my experience and other reviews here it looks like they have them in some rooms and I wouldn't deal with the night guy at the desk, he's bothered by everything. Just wait until Morning with anything you might need. This isn't a hotel at all. I'm honestly surprised these rooms weren't rented by the hour. Managment obviously doesn't care about upkeep on the building and the employees were free to do whatever they want all night, they were messing with their little Hondas the majority of the time I saw them.

Edit- the elevator is still...

This is a very peculiar property to bear the Ramada name. The whole point of a hotel chain is knowing what you're going to find, but the surprises start when you pull into the parking lot. They just paved the top of the hill without bothering to level it, so it has no flat surfaces anywhere. It's not a problem, it's just ... odd. And odd's not what you expect when you check into a Ramada.

So forget that this is called a Ramada; there are the things you need to know:

(1) Location: it's a twenty minute drive from Central Park and they charge only $116/night. Draw your own conclusions. The hilltop location, accessible only by the long steep driveway feels secure. Yonkers may not be Manhattan, but features many decent, affordable restaurants nearby; so it's not a bad choice for business travel, except...

(2) The on-site restaurant plays disco music VERY LOUD; so much so we didn't want to go there to eat. This music can be heard throughout the hotel and on the Saturday night we stayed the music continued until almost 1AM. This wasn't a problem for us but if you have some place to be bright and early you'd better call ahead to find out how late the restaurant will be playing music. I assume it isn't every night until after midnight.

(3) Our room and bathroom were clean enough, but somewhat worn and threadbare. This "clean enough but old" applies across the board. We didn't recognize the elevator for what it was until after we'd hunted for the familiar sliding door in vain. On the other hand the free wi-fi worked fine and wasn't congested, which can be a problem in Manhattan hotels.

Overall, I'd consider staying here again, although it wouldn't be my first choice due to the disco problem. The location is convenient and I had no problem with surly staff. We did not find any bedbugs either.

A word about bedbugs: they're everywhere in the NYC area, including the finest hotels. People are constantly bringing them in so you have to assume every hotel has a few rooms with bedbugs. If you're planning an NYC visit, learn how to do a quick inspection. It takes about five minutes but can save you a lot of hassle down the road. Good places to look are behind the headboard (which you can usually take down), in the edge seams of matresses, and in the bedstand drawer. If the mattress is encased in plastic THAT'S GOOD; do not unzip the plastic cover. If you do find bedbugs don't panic or lose your cool. It doesn't mean the hotel staff are bad people or that the hotel is a dive (although this one is kind of a dive). Simply ask for a room in a different part of the hotel and inspect that. Don't leave the hotel until you've tried two or three rooms; going to a different hotel is no guarantee and chances are you'll be tempted to leave...

This is a complicated place to review. I really think this hotel has so much untapped potential. But for now, it's not up to par. I asked an employee for a bit of history. This location has apparently changed hands often. Perhaps the current owners will be the ones to invest in desperately needed room fixes and upgrades.

The only actual lack of cleanliness was in my sister's room, where she found hair still in a non-working shower. The diverter was apparently stuck. But regardless, hair from the prior guests should just not be happening at a Ramada.

Other than that, the spacious rooms with nice tree views, rather than Yonkers roadways, just seemed unclean. They are really desperately in need of some TLC. The headboards had old unidentifiable stains and minor graffiti that you would think a Ramada would immediately repair in some manner. The hallway carpets were worn as were some of the towels. The towels were, however, clean, relatively soft and the bath towels were large. The closet had a few small hooks but no hanging bar or hangers. It's a shame because it could really be a charming room. The bathroom surfaces looked to have years of cigarettes burns in my room. My sister's bathroom had nicer counters, but then she had the shower issue.

On the bright side, the lobby is well cared for, the continental breakfast area was charming, every staff member was very friendly and ready to assist during our brief overnight stay. The beds were comfortable. I slept well. There is an outdoor pool that was not yet open, but is supposed to be opening soon. Each of our rooms had a working microwave, mini fridge, and cup sized coffee maker. The one in my room was missing the little tray to hold the complimentary coffee, but I'm certain they could have given me one with a tray if I had made the request.

This is a great location to meet with others and then share a ride for an evening out in Manhattan. But, before lots of people try it out, the owners really must invest in the appearance of the individual rooms. Most people are not going to take a closer look if their room feels "used".

Still, I think this is a Ramada to check back on. If the ratings start to go up, the...