Hotel Scherman — Hotel in New York

I was recently visiting NYC for an evening to attend a reunion of some theater friends and was looking for a charming place to stay near the theater district. Hotel Scherman is such a place. ||First, let's get the unfortunate check in experience out of the way. Upon arrival, I was asked for identification and my credit card. I tend to travel light these days, and since NY State has converted to permitting digital licenses, I presented this as identity verification. Well, that was not enough. The clerk insisted I email him a copy immediately. Then, since I also have done digital with my credit card, we had a second issue. The clerk allowed me to use the digital card for the security deposit the hotel charges, but still insisted that I pull up a copy of my American Express statement to show my billing statement where the hotel had been prepaid. Just imagine if I had sent my daughter into the city and had prepaid for her room. She would never have been able to pull up the statement since it was my card. Anyway, all of this excessive verification after a day of traveling did not provide a very welcoming experience upon arrival. And it was certainly not a kind delay when all I wanted was to go to my room, wash up, and relax for a bit before the reunion. (In fairness to the hotel, the manager did indicate that their reservation confirmation states that identification and form of payment must be presented upon arrival. I would contend that digital presentation should constitute such proof. So just be aware you will have to present a physical DL and CC upon arrival and you will be spared my experience.)||Now that that is out of the way, allow me to share that the hotel is indeed charming. My room, 305, was exactly as the first two photos depict on TripAdvisor. It was spacious, charming, and felt like a pied a terre in the city. The bed is wonderfully firm (I like that) and had delightful linen sheets. The bathroom was also spacious and had a lovely retro charm to it. The living room area was slightly less comfortable, the couch being a bit Ikea-like for my tastes. However, all in all, I was very pleased and felt like the hotel is very much as advertised.||Hotel Scherman, thank you for a lovely stay. My only wish is that someone look into a more flexible way of handling your guest verification process that takes into consideration the digital age in...

Pros: The hotel is in a great location, right in the center of New York City. It was mostly clean, but I had to wipe down the toilet and floors.

Cons: The breakfast was average, not safely covered considering Covid-19, and not a variety of offerings. The room I stayed in was directly next to the door of the building which slammed every time it was opened or closed, disrupting me throughout the night and making me nervous it was my door being opened. The staff was rarely available at the front desk at night, which was inconvenient because my key wasn't working past the first day of my stay. On my final day, I left two sentimental clothing items in my room. The first day after I left, the GM lied and said no one left anything in any of the rooms. I called again the next day and someone had found them. I called multiple times throughout the week trying to figure out the process for having the items shipped to me - for which I was willing to pay. None of the employees were aware of the process or on the same page considering that each time I called they said they'd leave a note for the next manager. By the following Monday, my mother took the call - fed up with the back and forth - and was forced to speak again to the GM who said the items had been donated (within only 7 days of me leaving them behind). He then tried to manipulate us by saying my mother's anger was unreasonable and that I should accept the responsibility for leaving the items behind which was totally uncalled for considering I was an exceptional and kind guest that left everything clean, tidy and broke none of the rules. At any other hotel I've stayed, shipping out items is a common practice and should not be this hard. We settled on a refund of half of my stay, but I was so disappointed with the entire experience that I had to leave a review. Now that I read other reviews, I see that being petty and snarky is in his character. Due to the lack of communication and un-professionalism of the staff, I do not recommend this...

Noise has to be the theme of this review sadly, we asked for a quiet room and was assured by reception on arrival that our room (106) at the back was quiet (see below). An otherwise nice hotel with lots of lovely touches, amazing roof terrace with views over part of the city, good clean, little kitchen area and TV with Netflix. The staff were friendly and helpful. Hotel is 5 minutes walk from Times Square so ideally sited for siteseeing.

Noise. Firstly the fan in the bathroom could wake the dead, it makes the whole ceiling vibrate, but at least that can be switched off. The first night (Wednesday) of our stay was fine, but the second night there was fairly loud music, mainly due to the the open roof of the Cantina bar below the hotel which is literally a couple of feet from the bedroom window. We spoke with staff in the morning, they apologised, said it was a private party. The last night (Friday) of our stay was horrendous, once again the roof was open but the music was much louder, literally vibrating the floor of our room. I went to complain, the receptionist said she would speak to the bar manager and made a note on our account, she said that they were required by law to reduce the music by 23:00. Nothing changed, the music was just as loud with people shouting at each other to be heard. The roof eventually closed, the music then got even louder, it was impossible to sleep, it continued to 2am when finally a rather poor nights sleep could begin.

We knew that a stay in New York wouldn’t be quiet, we expected some traffic noises, but didn’t think that a hotel could exist with music noise quite that loud.

So unless you plan to be out until 2am (not exactly easy for jet lagged Europeans) every night I’d avoid this hotel. The hotel really should pre warn guests that there is a noisy bar below the hotel that might have an impact on their stay. If the bar below closes or stops it’s music I’d stay there again but otherwise not a...