Hotel Alameda — Hotel in New York

This review is for the Selina hotel, and the overall hospitality experience as hotel guests.

Stay: 10/5-10/10 Room: Standard Mini - located on the 4th floor

We arrived late on Wednesday to check-in, and were greeted by a friendly employee who checked us in. While we didn't know it at the time, that would end up being the first of two positive experiences we came across at the hotel.

After check-in, we were disappointed to find the room so much smaller than what we had expected to be. The standard-mini room we booked included a queen sized bed, two very small night stands, and a standing closet large enough for a few jackets and a couple of backpacks. The room did not include a mini-fridge or table & chairs. And the room was not big enough for two people to walk side-by-side. It really was true to the "mini" in standard-mini.

We were further disappointed that the room did not include amenities to offset the diminutive size. In fact, the room had a plethora of issues that guests at even the most basic hotels should expect. The comforter had holes, the bed sheets were washed but included permanent stains, the bathroom door didn't close and kept sliding open in perpetuity, and we would come back to the room to find that the keys were not working. Also, the elevator does not have key card access, so anyone could enter the hotel and reach any floor they wish. We found this to be a potential security and privacy issue, especially in a city like NYC. There was nothing "standard" about the standard-mini room.

The most frustrating element of the Selina Chelsea is their lack of priority and commitment to the hospitality experience of their hotel guests. They have a restaurant/bar and several event spaces that seem to conflict directly with the comfort of their hotel guests, as the hotel doesn't have enough sound-proofing for the restaurant/bar patrons that visit. We heard loud noises all night throughout our stay.

And finally- the Midnight Rave. Yes, the event space hosted an all-night event called the Midnight Rave on Saturday night (10/8). The event went on from 10PM-4AM. All night, we could hear the music, feel the bass in our room, smell smoke coming into our room- which eventually caused the fire alarm to go off at 12:30AM and the NYFD showing up, and hear the Midnight Ravers walking and yelling in the hallways of the hotel floors (no key card access for elevators, remember?). The Experience Manager of the hotel, Nelson Martinez, informed hotel guests of this event less than 24 hours prior to hosting the event via email. In this email, instead of sympathy, concern or apology towards the guests, he offered earplugs as a solution. This is absolutely unacceptable on a number of levels and as one can imagine, we got zero sleep that night and our plans next day were completely ruined. They have no regard for the hospitality experience of the hotel guests.

The only positive experience to come out of this was the interaction we had with the Front Office Manager- Veronica Garcia. She was extremely apologetic, genuinely concerned for our feedback and sympathetic to the experience we had. She took the time to have a dialogue with us and took action to help remedy the situation. She is the only reason that this review includes one star as Veronica was the only bright spot in an otherwise downright awful hotel experience.

In summary, prospective hotel guests should really avoid the Selina Chelsea. They offer rooms that are bare bones, amenities that are sub-par, and most damning- show total disregard for the experience of their hotel guests. At their price point, there is not a single redeeming quality about this hotel. Literally any other hotel would provide better value. And if for some unfortunate reason, you're stuck here. Well, let's hope that Veronica is around to improve...

If there is 0 Stars I will put that for this place. First of all, I personally recommended this hotel, not realizing that Hotel Americano changed its name to Selina Chelsea... I used to come here with my co-fashion designer friends when we have a fashion show across the street. I had high expectations because to VIP Filipino celebrities and models and fashion production team hung out here. Great rooftop, something I would recommend to my traveling peers with professional business in New York. Afterall, I am a local New York resident, I don’t want my colleagues to be shortchanged in their travels here in New York. I work closely with diplomatic relations and journalists as I myself work there. I am not some wannabe influencer that’s into freebies. Which I felt I was treated with less importance with our stay here.

That being said, I want to emphasize that upon checking in last Friday, “Selina Chelsea” after 2 years of coming here, changed its name to to “Hotel Americano”. It is in such a depreciated state. I have never experienced such a lousy hotel service in my entire life. It is worse than a cheap motel with the poor service.

lousy daytime front desk, he does not look like he is slightly concerned with their guests good stay. I requested to hurry up to check us in, because I needed to use the bathroom yet had no sense of urgency and empathy with the hotel guest. Requested for an early check-in and instead we were waiting to get checked for half an hour. We were there at 12nn... standard check in is at 3pm, got in at 2:30.

Bar does not even have olives to serve yet there were three bartenders just huddling at the bar ROOFTOP IS CLOSED! Rooftop is not accessible and closed, dont be fooled with the photo they advertise because it is closed. Wet towels in the bathroom after the half hour of wait for check-in. We already raised our dissatifaction first hour checked-in, yet this review will show you that they did not step up to make it any better. Broken hair dryer that was not even replaced. No drinking glasses in the room. No safety emergency exit guide in the hotel room. No safety reminders, guest informational guide for TV, Room, Lights, ice and basic hotel room services. Shower is leaking to the bedroom. We requested for a late check-out after the bad start with the hotel, yet still called us up to check out at the standard check-out time. Elevator floor and corridor floors are dirty. A lot of electrical/technical mishaps, the light in the shower is not working. To top off this unpleasant stay, just after checking-out, we placed our baggage to the outdoor sitting to call for an uber, and one of the bartenders came out trying to shoo me away as if I just did not come from the hotel as a hotel guest. No security door latch lock! I have never been in a hotel or motel that intentionally removed.

I regret recommeding and going to Hotel Selina, it is not the same as it was two years ago. My boyfriend visiting NYC over the weekend did not deserve unnecessary inconvenience that your hotel provided.

I also wonder, were you treating us poorly because I am Asian? I talked to another guest, an Average Joe, but said he had a great service from them? Is it because I am Asian, you did not find the need to accomodate me properly? Makes me think now since the bad reviews of your hotel seem to come from [Windie Nguyen, Daniel Song] check all the bad reviews here. Hey, it’s not cool to discriminate AAPI, are you aware of that?

You better not charge my boyfriend for “security deposit charges” if anything breaks in the room. Your rooms are already decaying broken. I would even demand of a refund for this, you should not be in the hotel hospitality business with how you...

Not worth the price they charge. No deadbolt function, limited luggage stow capacity, and lackluster customer service.

Two stars for a decent shower and comfortable bed (note it’s on the soft side). The hotel seems to have undergone a renovation in the last couple of years, and card access is used for the room, but the deadbolt did not work (what!). The lobby was your typical trendy midcentury furniture with greenery type setting. Upon exiting the elevator on my floor, I was greeted with dim lighting, hallways and doors painted a dark grey/almost black, no wall art for contrast, and stepped onto gray carpeting with various dark stains. Images of that recent Netflix documentary on the Cecil Hotel came to mind as I walked to my room.

Other than one associate who was working the front desk on a late Sunday afternoon, all of the other front desk staff I interacted with during my stay was what I characterize as millennial aloof. I’m a millennial too, and try not to fall in this bucket.

What is millennial aloof? Think Stevie from Schitt’s Creek, season 1, but a couple of notches lower. Three examples:

If you book through a travel site, the confirmation indicates there were slippers as an amenity. When I asked the front desk staff on the day of check-in whether there were slippers as the confirmation said there was, the front desk staff gave me a puzzled look and replied that they do not offer slippers. A couple of ways to improve this experience would have been to apologize for the inconvenience, offer to work with the site to have that information updated (at least lip service), or suggest a convenience store nearby.

In another instance, when asking about the deadbolt for my room, the front desk staff (different guy from check-in guy) gave me a puzzled look and said that the deadbolts are not used. Not certain if that is really accurate or not, or technically legal, but since the card access seemed to work, I opted to not dwell on this too much. However, my guest heard noises outside the door before going to bed and had difficulty going to sleep for a long time. Again, it would have been helpful to provide some assurance or background that the deadbolt was no longer in use because of a renovation or some kind of reassurance that regulatory codes do not require it, etc.

Upon check-out, I asked about whether there was an option to leave my luggage for a couple of hours, which is a common amenity available for most lodging in its price category. By this point, I had a feeling this may be an issue. The staff briskly apologized and said that there was a big party checking in today and so there were no spaces. Once again, the experience could have been improved by simply offering an alternative such as stowing luggage at the train station, but the overall exchange felt aloof. Aloof customer service - it’s just not a good look.

If you see my other reviews - a two-star review is rare from me. However, this experience needed to be shared for transparency. Even though there are many travel sites with gram-worthy, professional photos and no shortage of reviews, somehow after doing a reasonable level of research, we still encounter unfortunate surprises. I do not expect to return and do not recommend to others unless significant changes are...