Haiban Inn — Hotel in Jersey City

If I could give the Hellban (Haiban) Inn a score lower than one, I would do so. I knew this place was sketchy when the Uber driver pulled up to the Hotel entrance which was located in a dirty alley way. Upon exiting the Uber, we were assaulted by smells of burned bread and garlic. We made our way to the so called lobby (a small room with a sofa, non functional flat screen television and mini market with varied sundries), and checked in. We made our way to the elevator and ascended the three floors. We easily gained access to our room with the provided key.||||The room was large, with a kitchen/dining area separated from the bedroom area. The kitchen came with a two burner stove top, microwave and mini refrigerator. However, the kitchen did not have any cooking or eating utensils, nor any drinking utensils. Also, the hotel does not provide an ice bucket or ice service. We had to purchase ice at a local market.||||The bathroom was very small...extremely narrow...reminiscent of an airplane bathroom with a shower. Shampoo and a hair dryer were provided. We did have a problem having our dirty bath linens replaced after the first night. A trip to the front desk resolved the problem. The water pressure in the shower was poor at best; the shower head desperately needed to be replaced.||||A spacious closet was provided. However, there was only three hangars provided. Also, there was no luggage rack or chest of drawers provided. Bring your own travel iron or steamer for removing wrinkles from clothes as the hotel does not provide an iron.||||We were booked for two beds in our room. When we arrived, we were surprised to find one queen bed. An attempted call to the front desk was met with a dead phone. After several minutes of troubleshooting - the problem was the phone was plugged into a dead phone jack. With a live phone, a call is placed to the front desk. Unfortunately they are booked and this is the only room they can accommodate us with.||||As it was stuffy when we arrived, we turned on the air conditioner as we left the room for dinner. Returning some two hours later , there was no ambient change. The air conditioner was non functional. Fortunately the windows opened. However, the noise from street below was deafening...and did I mention that odor?||||I have much more to say yet am limited by tripadvisor. I would not stay here again! I recommend that others avoid...

2024 Updates:

Some things changed since last review. The hotel maintenance is still not good. When we checked in the shower door was stuck in its place. When we went to front-desk, the guy tried to blame me for late check-in. Upon asking why my check-in late would cause issues with door, he tried to contact someone to fix it. Not to mention, I called up informing that we will check-in late in night. One guy came and told he will come back early in the morning but he never showed up. After a very long journey, everyone was tired and wanted to take shower before sleep but we could not. But the ladies at the desk in the morning were fantastic, provided another room for shower and also got it fixed very quickly. Looks like coil beds and didn't feel comfortable. Last time we got kitchen but not this time, not sure if any change. I booked it due to my past experience. Parking $30 per day opposite to hotel need to be factored in. Overall, if I come back again, I would look and compare other options also.

First review in 2018:

We had a nice stay at this hotel. People are nice and are willing to help / provide items requested. If you are Indian and looking for Indian food, it is the place you got to stay. All Indian restaurants and Indian grocery stores are here. Just 5 min walk to Journal Square so you can easily go to NY. It has kitchen so you can cook items. It could have been better, if they had given a few basic utensils for cooking. We were FOUR and had to ask for towels every day, they don't put necessary towels but provide when we go to front-desk, which is a little bit inconvenient. If you need car parking, you may want to call up in advance. They have only 3 parking slots for an addition pay. Other than a couple of minor issues, rest all is excellent...

It was a wonderful experience in New York. Stay is an important factor which takes half of our expenses in New York trip. Choosing Haiban Inn for 4 days stay saved my money a lot. First and foremost value for money. I was not able to find any other hotel with all the basic amenities for less than 100$ per day. The room I stayed in this hotel, had everything including kitchen. Free breakfast is also available and the advantage is that they have it till 10 or 10:30. With kids we cannot come to have breakfast before 9 and this timing helped me to finish my breakfast in hotel itself. Maintenance & Security Rooms and facilities were well maintained and gave us pleasant atmosphere. Bedsheets & towels seems to be very clean without stains. Hotel seems to be in busy location and we felt we are not isolated and lonely. Compared to other budgeted hotels, security seems to be much concentrated with cameras in corridor and I couldn’t see any unwanted nuisance happening. I would suggest this place for family with kids. We felt we are in home. Accessibility The hotel is five minutes’ walk from the Journal Square PATH train and bus station which made my transit to New York very easy. I hardly spent 30$ for my whole trip for transportation. This hotel is surrounded by so many restaurants that you won’t have time to eat. Starting from south to north and east to west you think of any Indian dish you have a place to eat it. Advantages I personally experienced. Cost effective, easy accessible from New York, lot of options for food, free breakfast at our convenient, safe and secure to stay with family and kids, clean and pleasant rooms, friendly staffs who helped me to plan the...