The Allen Hotel — Hotel in New York

How many ways can a hotel ruin your stay? My experience was horrible from the second I walked in the door. First the stench of cheap cologne in the lobby, then my room doesn't have any windows (despite my reservation explicitly guaranteeing me floor to ceiling windows...). They tell me that's the last room they have (despite the fact that I made the reservation more than a month before), but they will switch me to something else the next day. It's late, I'm tired, and I don't want to find another hotel at the last minute, so I agree to stay in this horrid little miserable room with the noisy AC and the door the staff use slamming right outside my room constantly. But now the wi-fi code doesn't work. A half hour later and four visits to the front desk, including bringing my laptop to show the manager how it doesn't work (since he assured me it worked and I was probably just entering it wrong), and he finally realizes that he didn't enter my information correctly so it would allow me to log in. Okay, so the first night was rough. Maybe it gets better? Nope. The next morning they inform me that I will need to not only check out of my current room but also check my bags and stay checked out for three hours until I can check in to another room. Huh? Yes. So I pack everything up, check my bags, and leave the hotel not knowing exactly when I'll need to return to get a room with actual windows before they give them all away. Eventually I get a call that a room is available, so I rush back. I dump my stuff in the room and head back out, since I'm on vacation and all. When I get back fairly late, I just want to relax and turn on the TV for a bit. No dice. I check everything I can to figure out why it's not turning on, and then I call the front desk. The clerk walks me condescendingly through a few obvious steps since that's clearly the easiest thing for him to do. Once I seem to have convinced him I'm not a complete imbecile, he gives several sighs and adopts a tone that makes it clear this is not at all convenient for him. He tells me he'll come up in a bit and check it out. It's late, but I'd really rather take care of this now so I say okay. I stay up waiting for him, and after a half hour I call back down to see what's going on. A new voice answers, but this guy has no idea what I'm talking about, and he tells me the guy I had been talking to had ended his shift and left twenty minutes before. Is this some kind of joke? I mean, at this point it seems like they're going out of their way to be as bad as they can possibly be. But no. So I walk through all the steps with the new guy, convincing him I know how to use a remote control, etc. He tells me there's nothing he can do, but they can send someone up the next day. I'm tired and irritated and I've now paid for two nights at a place that has only succeeded in causing me aggravation and given me nothing that I've been promised. I get off the phone, go to set the alarm on the clock by the bedside, but....the clock doesn't work. The next day - my last day there - they do fix the TV while I'm out, but not the clock. When I approached the manager about reducing my rate or taking a day off my bill, he made a big show of going to his superior and advocating for me and then proclaiming that he had been successful in getting me 15% off of one night. I had to repeat that back to him...15% off of one night? He said yes and smiled nervously. So that was pretty much my breaking point and when I stopped expecting anything from them or even wanting to speak to them. Save yourself the aggravation and stay...

I came to NY for a concert and chose to stay here just for one night and kind of glad it was a short stay..

Checking In: My room wasn’t ready when I arrived around like 3:40 so I had to wait an hour which was a bit bummy. Staff was sweet and said they had a lot of check outs today and only two cleaners so I understood but still sucked.

Cleanliness: The room looked really nice! The bathroom didn’t have hand soap and instead they gave me two body bars which I thought was weird but I think I’ve seen that before at another hotel so it’s not like that taboo. The shower had a weird funky smell that seemed like it was maybe coming from the drain? It also didn’t look like it was cleaned? Like it wasn’t dirty thankfully but it looks like it was maybe just wiped down with like a dry cloth and that’s it? The glass door had dust on it and so did the shower handle. The toilet also had brown stains on them that were hardened.

Bedding/Sheets: There were a couple of stains on the comforter that could potentially be ink and food. Also, one of the pillows also had two small holes in them

I also noticed they had slippers in one of the draws under the tv so I opened one of the packs but saw the slippers had stains on them towards the heel. I opened the other pair and saw the same thing. Even though they’re in packages, it looks like they just reuse the slippers and just wash them which I think is a bit gross especially with there being a stain. The photos sadly don’t show them as good cause of the lighting.

Lighting: Good amount of lighting throughout but the light in the bathroom in the shower section flickers which can be annoying.

They don’t have breakfast which is totally okay! At the front desk, there’s a small sign that has food recommendations and the woman at the desk said that same sign was in my room but I didn’t see one in my room. Totally okay! If you’re interested in seeing the list, definitely stop by the front desk.

Noise: The walls are pretty thin and I had trouble getting a good amount of sleep. You can hear conversations in the hallway pretty clearly and I can even hear other peoples tvs. I was on the first floor and my little pop out window was right above the storage room that’s by the front desk — like when I open the window I can see everyone’s bags. So I can hear when people were coming into the hotel and also leaving since the front door was right there. I could also hear when people were getting in/off the elevator.

Deposit: I paid my $150 deposit in cash so that I can get it back when I checked out. I asked if I could have a receipt or some kind of confirmation that I paid the deposit but was told they don’t provide that if it’s cash. Definitely something that should be changed because handing over $150 with no proof of the exchange made me a bit uneasy.

It’s in a good location with a lot of restaurants nearby and it’s a 5 min walk to the train but I definitely don’t see myself staying again and am a bit bummed for the experience overall. Especially with having to wait an hour for my room to be ready just for it to not even be thoroughly cleaned. I’m not able to add photos here for some reason but will be posting them on...

This is going to be a bit lengthy, but I'll make it informative. I grew up in the city, but moved an hour outside of town to the suburbs. We often come into town for business and pleasure and like to rent a room so we can have a drink, late dinner not rush home etc. We have stayed at many hotels around town over the years. That being said, I can also say that The Allen Hotel is the best value in the City. Hotels in NYC are a crapshoot. Unless you are prepared to pay $1,000 a night, you really don't know what you're going to get. This place is EXCELLENT. It is reasonably priced, VERY clean and the service is EXCELLENT (shout out to Stacey who is, I think, the General Manager who went the extra mile to resolve a booking error that I made).

LOCATION: For people coming in to NYC for vacation- this hotel is located "downtown." It's a short walk to Little Italy, Chinatown, many of the great historical spots and great eating in lower Manhattan. It's close to the sightseeing such as the Freedom Tower, the Circle Line, Statue of of Liberty, catacombs, dinner cruises, etc. It's a short cab or subway ride to Broadway, Times Square, Central Park, etc. It's also right around the block from Katz's Deli (GO THERE!). The neighborhood is good and the Allen Hotel employs all of the modern safety tech (e.g.- keycard is required in the elevator, abundance of cameras in public space etc). I noticed that they welcome the cops to use their lobby bathroom. This makes for a better-than-average police presence in the area, which is ALWAYS a good thing anywhere in NYC- especially when you want to run out in the middle of the night for ice cream or a slice of pizza! 🤣

For people coming in on business- it's close to Wall Street/Financial District, City Hall, Courthouses, etc and there is public parking right across the street and a block down. 'Nuff said!

AMENITIES: They have a really nice gym for guests which includes a suana and steamroom. I'm not a roomservice guy, but the menu looked great. Right across the street is pizza, empanadas and late-night ice cream. There is a nice bar/restaurant down the block, and Katz's Deli is right around the corner (GO THERE!). Also, for a few extra bucks, you can get a room with a balcony! This is EXTREMELY rare in NYC. You can relax and people-watch with a drink in your hand, have a smoke without having to run downstairs, etc.

Over all, this hotel is an amazing value and is now our "go-to" when we will stay in town for business or to hang out with family and friends who live here. This place is the best value that I've seen in any hotel anywhere in the city. You get high-priced hotel quality for reasonable prices. I was impressed enough with this place to sit here and write all this- so take it from a local!

P.S.- I noticed a few reviews that claimed it was "noisy." THAT'S RIGHT. This is Manhattan. You're going to hear fire trucks, horns honking and city bustle. You'll get used to it quick but, if not, just bring ear plugs for sleeping. You can always take a quiet vacation in the Pacific Northwest, but you'll NEVER find a "quiet"...