Aloft Long Island City-Manhattan View — Hotel in New York

Alright, so we had some hiccups....

I’ve got to say that we had some major problems checking in. We made our reservation a month in advance through a third party site. Then about 2 weeks or so before we discovered the prices on the hotels direct site was much cheaper, so we cancelled our third party reservation and booked a new reservation directly on their site. We gave CC info and agreed to be charged day of arrival even if we didn’t show. (No cancellations allowed). This is where we had problems.

On the day of arrival we got a call from our travel companions (another couple) that the hotel had cancelled our reservation for no apparent reason. They didn’t ask us, they didn’t call us, they didn’t email us, they just cancelled our reservation and had absolutely no explanation as to why. Our travel companions were at the hotel (we were half the country away awaiting to board a flight to NYC) and they were arguing with the employees. Apparently the hotel cancelled them because they believed the reservations were made in error, but they didn’t contact us. Unfortunately for us NYC was booked of just about every hotel room available in the entire city and we were going to sleep on the street if we didn’t get our CONFIRMED RESERVED ROOMS at Aloft.

When I showed up at the hotel at 8pm or so they said the same as they’d told the people we were traveling with. No rooms; no reason for cancellation, just that we’d have to find another place. I told them I wasn’t able to find one and me and my wife had been trying since we got off our flight 2 hours ago and hadn’t found a single room available: The girl (who was very nice) working the counter said she had one in Brooklyn for double our rate for the night, then we could come back and stay the remainder at Aloft. I said fine, as long as they were paying the difference and providing transportation.

She called the manager and all of a sudden they decided they had the room available. This was a 15 minute discussion of them telling me they had no rooms and it wasn’t until I said I’d be sleeping in the lobby for the night that they found a room.

Okay so that was the checkin experience, which was awful, but let’s get to the hotel...

The property is nice, the employees are friendly and helpful (even the girl whose name I can’t remember and her co worker Robert were very friendly during the horrible checkin).

The rooms are small but that’s expected in NYC (We has single king bed). Beds were as comfortable as any hotel I’ve stayed in. Shower was nice and big. Strong pressure with hit water.

Bar was nice. Open 5pm - 11pm. Roof is open 24/7 and alcohol is allowed. They say no smoking but several people were smoking on the roof and no one hassled them. One was smoking pot because I could smell it.

I loved this property and would be happy to return to it, the whole problem I had with checkin was the only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5.

We loved this place! But they tried to do us so wrong by cancelling our reservations with no notice to us. No explanation. Nothing.

But it resolved in the end when I said since they didn’t have our booked and confirmed rooms available that I’d be sleeping in their lobby and to roll out a cot. That seemed to the thing that found me a room. So if you find yourself in our situation then just tell them you’re sleeping in the lobby and ask for a cot. That seems to get the problem resolved.

My wife and our travel companion loved Robert and Theo. They said they had a lot of fun with them down at the bar (employees were not drinking) they were just having conversation.

Overall, I think our experience is unique and not common. Stay here and you’ll love everything about it. If you happen to be in my situation where they cancel your room right before you arrive then tell them you’re prepared to sleep in the lobby. It...

Good Location outside of downtown, but a bit strange

We recently stayed at The ALoft Long Island City location, and it was mostly good but was also kind of odd. At first blush, the hotel looks quite modern and up-to-date: they even have aromatherapy in the lobby and hallway that smells pretty nice. Everything is decorated to look funky and cool, but eventually you start to notice that a lot of this is just for show.

Our stay left us with a bit of a sour taste in our mouth because our room's air conditioning broke during our stay. We basically lost a night of sleep because our room was swelteringly hot. They moved us to another room the next day, fortunately, but several emails to the manager to inquire about a one night's refund / discount because of the broken a/c has gone unanswered. We at least expected a response to our inquiry.

Pros: The view from the rooftop patio is awesome. The location is good if you're looking for something outside of Manhattan (personally, we preferred this). It's a block or two away from the nearest subway station which can get you wherever you need to go quickly. Or just Uber/Lyft everywhere, that's also pretty easy. You can also walk towards the Long Island City waterfront, which is pretty and has a number of cool restaurants to hit up. The bed was clean and comfy. The front desk staff were helpful and made suggestions for cool things to check out.

Cons: The complimentary continental breakfast can SEEM handy, but the kitchen and eating area gets so busy so quickly that it's just not really equipped to keep up with demand. Don't count on this, find a local grocery and self-cater, or eat out. The air conditioning in our room broke and blew hot air on us all night, making sleep quite difficult given that it was warm outside. Opening the window isn't really an option because of the noise. What at first appears to be "cool design" is actually quick and cheap. Housekeeping would clean our room, but would NEVER leave towels for us. We had to request towels every time they cleaned, which was delivered to our room by a surly-seeming staff member. Not sure what that was about. Don't bother getting a "balcony room" -- the balcony is tiny and isn't really usable. Save your money and get a regular room.

Summary: While the ALoft Long Island wasn't a bad hotel, and had some good aspects, there are other hotels in the same neighbourhood that have a similar vibe. If we went back, we'd likely seek out one of...

Although the location is not in Manhattan but in Queens, it is still very good, and this is a very good hotel for the purpose of visiting NYC. It is close to multiple subway lines (around 5 different lines within 5 minutes walking for the hotel), which takes you to Times Square in less than 15 minutes total trip time.

Since this is a newly opened hotel, you can tell that the staff is very young and inexperienced, however they more than compensate their lack of skills through helpfulness, politeness, and positive attitude. And since this is a new hotel, the amenities are pretty good as well.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but there were many minor with this hotel. None of them a deal breaker, but they add up ...

First, there is the noise! The constant, annoying humming that comes from all the construction sites around the property. The noise doesn't stop even at night, and you can hear it in your room thanks to the average soundproofing. To make things worse, we got a room on the last floor of the second building (8 out of 8), and there were some loud fans on the rooftop. Because of the noise and the vibrations, we couldn't sleep at all in the first night. I have a pair of noise cancelling headphones and I tried to use those for sleeping, but still the noise was very strong. We complained to the staff and were moved to a lower floor starting with the second night, and things got a little bit better (but you could still hear the humming).

Second, the bathroom amenities are a big problem. We had not soap (at all) in the room throughout our stay. The staff told us the soap supplies were supposed to arrive the next day, but they never did. Yes, this is a 3 star hotel with no soap! They could at least have purchased some from the shop around the corner...

Third, the hot water in the shower was also a problem. Sometimes it was working just fine, but other times it was just barely warm, and we had to wait 20 - 30 minutes until we got hot water.

Fourth, the breakfast is almost non-existing (although it was included in the room rate). Some beagles, some yogurt and some cereals ... and that's about it. Furthermore, the supplies end fast, so I recommend you go there early (one morning I arrived around 08:30 and there was not much food left).

This could have been a good hotel, but it's almost like they try hard...