Da Vinci Hotel — Hotel in New York

"The value of one's work is not in the dollar. It's in their word."

Made a reservation via the industry leading platform for hotel bookings.

Reservation was confirmed. Payment details correct. Everything perfect, plus it was quite a good deal. Better than most other hotels for my dates, but not absurdly cheap. It was similar to a last-minute deal I grabbed a year earlier in a different 3-star hotel.

So after striking such a good deal, I planned much of my trip to NYC around those dates, flight tickets, and what not.

Eight days later, I receive a notification via said booking platform that my reservation was cancelled by the hotel and that I was in luck as this cancellation would not incur any cancellation fees.

Luck? Fees? What now? Could they be serious?

I immediately write to the hotel and then call customer support of the booking website, where I am put on hold.

Meanwhile, I get two messages, one from the booking website stating that "due to what appears to be an honest error by the hotel in their booking rates, the reservation had to be cancelled."

Honest? Error? Over a week after I had received my confirmation? Just like that? Does the word reservation mean the same for everybody and in every hotel or should I purchase a new and updated version of the Oxford English dictionary?

Then a message from the hotel. I am welcome to make a new reservation at the current rate, which is of course quite a lot higher than what it was eight days earlier.

Of course the price is going to be different, that is why people are rewarded for making their reservations longer in advance, and hotels reserve their right to vary their rates going forward, but surely they do not have the right to change the price of an already confirmed reservation.

Finally, and to their credit, the hotel reviews my complaint and promptly sends me another email. However they would not reinstate my booking. Instead they offer a discount on the current rates, but again resulting in quite a more expensive price than what I had reserved more than a week earlier.

What is aggravating is the fact that over those eight days rates went up overall in most hotels, and so they made me waste not only my time but also my money.

The rates they offered for a new reservation weren't bad but I dismissed it on principle.

I suspect that this hotel may be a pleasant enough place for a stay in the city, and for the good of future guests, I hope that this situation was a one-off incident.

However I would be remiss not to tell my experience trying to make a reservation at this place, and the bottom line is that cancelling my reservation was totally unjustified and violates any code of good conduct for any business in the accommodation industry.

Good luck to you all and happy...

The hotel is like a family business, what is good. For sure is not a fancy place, but it has a good price, it is safe and it is at a very good location. Very close to Columbus Circle, Whole Foods Market, Central Park, subway stations and restaurants. The room has a good size, despite the old style decoration and some not practical/useful furniture. The bed is comfy and the shower worked great. I really didn't have any problem with noise despite be in the middle of Manhattan. I really could sleep very well. My room was faced to the side of the hotel. No pretty view but I don't need a pretty view. The cleaning was good, no bugs were found, no previous guests items were found. All staff were very courteous. I really don't know if the bathroom was renovated. The material quality is good (granite) but the contractor did a terrible job: holes between the stones, grout too thick, there is no finishing between the room and the bathroom floors, the ceiling appearance seems unfinished. The material is good but the colors too dark. Dark colors don't give idea of a cleaning. Dark colors in a small room seems it is smaller than it really is. The hotel style/decoration/furniture is very antique, but it looks like it was really the choice of the owners. I know that everyone has your own style, but for a hotel the things need to be in a more clean style/bright/simple. I suggest change the heavy curtains for simple blackout white blinds. Add some shelves in the closed and remove the dresser. Add a small bench to open the luggage on it. Remove the makeup table and add a simple table (the mini fridge under it) with simple chairs. The current chairs are too big to the space. These furniture changes will make the cleaning of the space easier. Other point is the heater. Too hot for me and it cannot be controlled since it is to the all building. However, it was probably cold to other room at other area of the building. I used the air conditioning to balance the temperature in my room, so more electricity consume. It would be good improve it as well to make the guests happier and be able to avoid use of air conditioning...

Online photos are deceiving. We checked in on Sunday, June 19th. Things that I noticed immediately…the curtains were frayed and old, blind slats missing, a/c filter was filthy, towels had holes, no coffee pot and the refrigerator was on the floor in the closet, making it impossible to hang anything long. However, my son was excited to see New York and I knew it was too late to find anything else, so we left the hotel soon after checking in. After a long day walking in NY, we came back very late and exhausted from a long day of traveling and site seeing only to find multiple hairs in the bed when I pulled back the blanket and I discovered that the floors were filthy. Housekeeping is only there until 6:30. On Monday they came and cleaned thoroughly thankfully. On Tuesday, I asked for an extra towel at the front desk. She brought a set that had hairs stuck to them. I got a new set and we got ready for the day and left. After another long day, we came back to a room that had been untouched. I went downstairs and asked if they had daily housekeeping. She said yes. Our room was clearly missed. She sent them up and they quickly switched towels and emptied trash and left. Bed was left unmade and the rest of the room untouched. We are currently on day 4 of 6 and I don’t want to be here, but it’s too late to cancel and even if they did accommodate that, I couldn’t find anything else at this point. The only good thing about this hotel is the proximity to the things we wanted to see, but the immediate surroundings are less than desirable. If you value what you spend your hard earned money on and want a clean comfortable room, I recommend staying elsewhere. Our stay has been...