Sohotel — Hotel in New York

Room is absolutely disgusting. Literally the filthiest place I’ve been aside from like… a knights inn with cockroaches or something.

Small, but we expected that. Does not look as cute inside as from photos. No art in the room. Chipped and broken wood counter. Cheap plastic acetate instead of glass. No amenities whatsoever besides a tea bar in the morning.

Mysterious drip stains on every wall and piece of trim, mildew and mold in the shower, dust on literally every surface top. Floors look like they’ve never been waxed or cared for in the history of this hotel, the mattress is a terrible creaky boxspring, and the use of space in the room is WILDLY inefficient.

The filth isn’t limited to inside the room — the hallways and common areas are just as filthy if you look for more than a second. The 3 was even missing from our room number signage? The walls look like they weren’t even primed for paint, as the paint is sagging and chipping away from the walls.

Showed photos to front desk staff and was told there’s nothing they can do because we SAT on the bed, and there’s no evening or weekend management OR evening housekeeping apparently?? Absolutely absurd. Some of these complaints were waived away as part of “staying in a historic boutique hotel,”… I stayed in a historic mansion 2 nights ago that absolutely had none of these issues, and in fact, was really fantastic! For half the price of this place!

As we were there, I increasingly noticed hives and bumps on my neck as an allergic reaction to something. Felt some pain in my throat. We decided to leave in case it progressed to anaphylaxis.

The biggest scam and filth trap I’ve ever seen. Really disgusting and I’m upset I either have to sleep in filth or lose out on all of my money spent. Have stayed in MANY nicer hotels, B&Bs, and Verbo/AirBnBs and none have been so disgusting, valueless, and asinine. I wanted to leave immediately but it’s super unlikely I’ll get anything back… this place is such a horrific scam.

Edit: my husband and I left after a couple hours of debating what to do and the allergy solidified us leaving. Literally preferred to sleep in our car in a truck stop parking lot in the middle of a blizzard than stay there longer.

2nd edit: despite the absolute emergency of me nearly going into anaphylaxis and my husband and I feeling so unsafe that we slept in our car during a BLIZZARD, 2 days later I still have not heard from management. I called this morning and was told “tomorrow.”

The Sohotel also had the audacity to charge an additional $25 service charge to us. The $250 incidental charge has not been returned to me as of yet. Nearly $700 of ours has been tied up in this hotel between the booking fee, service fees, incidental holds, etc. I fully chose to lose out on an additional $105 I had spent on parking as close to the hotel as I could get, as I had major reconstructive surgery on my foot this past year.

I didn’t even mention in my earlier review that this hotel has no elevator, and nobody offered to help with our bags. I also didn’t mention that my largest known allergen is insect bites.

Seriously looking into available legal remedies and will be speaking with my financial consultants about reporting this “hotel” as fraudulent. Filthy, disgusting place not even fit for rats. Nothing about it is luxury, boutique, or trendy. My exact quote while looking at our room was “cheap and tacky.”

Final edit: The hotel manager avoided me for days even after promising me a resolution by the Monday following our Friday “stay”. Employees were rude when I called. She offered me a discount off our next stay… why would I ever come back? My bank refunded my husband and I promptly.

Don’t know why I didn’t identify this sooner, but I’m realizing there’s probably extensive water damage in the hotel (the sagging paint, the wall stains, the smell inside) and my allergic reaction was actually likely due to mold - not bugs. Still...

We booked this hotel because we wanted a family room and be able to explore the area. We booked on expedia but were disappointed with the tiny room, with an even tinier 1 person shower room, nothing like the photos. We told the front desk but the girl stated there was nothing else 'suitable' available, but she really didn't seem to care. Our room (327), was very basic for a 3 star hotel, we had to walk in single-file to get in, it had one tiny 'desk' the width of the dining chair pushed under it, 2 hanging rails, about 12 coat hangers along the r/h wall, no shelves or drawers and barely enough space to wheel a suitcase along let alone open it up and get things out. Floorboards which were not clean, as we discovered whilst barefoot. One tiny console shelf fixed to the r/h wall opposite the beds, so you had to shuffle sideways along the end of the beds to get by, it was too low to put our cases under it and we couldn't get the cases past the safe fixed under it at the far end. Two small bedside shelves one of which sloped down so everything fell off! There's no lift, reception desk is on the 1st floor. Also, it is 5 doors away from engine 55 fire station, a fire engine blared out of the station after 10pm, came back an hour or so later. The ceiling fan only worked when the light was on, the single air con unit under the window was thick with black dust, 4 inches from the bed and really noisy. So, about 3.30am I woke up thinking I was having a heart attack, my chest was so tight, the room was so hot and stuffy I couldn't breathe and I feared for my children, so I had to open the window to let the cool air in which made the street noise even worse. The curtains were thin and didn't block out any daylight, streetlamps nor headlights going by. The beds were uncomfortable, could feel the springs, duvets didn't even have covers on them only a thin sheet underneath that just folded over the top edge and awful narrow brown 'comforter'? across the ends of the beds, all snagged and needing a good laundering. It's a gorgeous historic building, high ceilings and lovely original features. Boutique hotel does not mean so small it's claustrophobic, it means unique, one of a kind and of a high standard. Staff the next morning were apologetic but stated we should book direct with them next time for a better room because they have 'deluxe' family rooms. It made me feel that because we'd booked on expedia we were not given a good room. Because we were so upset and had had such a rough night the hotel allowed us to check out early, after the 1st night instead of the 2...

I don't make a habit of writing negative reviews. I like to find something positive to say about everyone. However, I also believe that if someone is paying for a product or service it should be what they expect and pay for. There were some things about my stay at the hotel that made it less than desirable.

First of all, there is no elevator in this hotel. I soon found myself walking up to the fourth floor with a heavy bag as the bellhop did not offer to assist with everything. I also overheard the bellhop instructing other female guests to "carry some and [he] would help with the other." The other problem with this arrangement is that the hotel is not suitable for people with disabilities or elderly guests.

I did find the rooms to be nicely furnished, however the rugs were faded and curled up at the ends. A major tripping hazard if getting up in the middle of the night or early morning. There also was no microwave or coffee maker in the room. Being a tea drinker I asked one morning for a cup of hot water and was informed over the phone that there was no room service and that coffee was in the main lobby. I explained I don't drink coffee and even brought my own teabags. Somebody did bring me a cup but was a little less than nice when handing it to me at the doorway. I did go to the table later to find they did have hot water amongst the coffee...along with lots of flies buzzing around the dispensers.

The most unsettling thing about my stay was financial. I was staying in New York for business and my boss had pre-booked the room on a travel booking site. I checked into the room early and provided my credit card for the traditional hold on incidental fees. I checked my bank statement the next morning to discover they charged my card for the entire balance despite the fact that my boss had already given his credit card information and had funds already removed from his account for payment. This was unlike any other experience we have had with hotels in the past. Together we spoke with at least three different employees at the front desk with no resolve in the situation. Both of our accounts had the funds removed and I ended up signing for the bill at the end with the employee at the front desk guaranteeing that my boss' funds would be returned to his account so he could reimburse me.

I would not recommend this hotel for anyone staying in New York City. The service was not warm or welcoming and while the room did look nice, I felt it was lacking with basic functions for a...