The Central Park North — Hotel in New York

Absolutely not a safe area! A half a block to the east was the most unsafe corner we were at for the entirety of a week exploring nearly every part of NYC. The space is comparable to a motel. Very basic hotel type room except that we chose a larger room with more beds. The room was incredibly hot when we arrived and the halls and bathrooms were hot the whole stay. There’s mold or mildew in the room that caused us bad headaches and other horrible allergy symptoms from the moment we arrived at the room each day. The beds and furniture are incredible cheap, drawers were broken, scratched or wouldn’t even open. The cheap metal beds had completely ruined the hardwood floors which is a shame. The beds were very uncomfortable and the pillows were awful and flat. The internet was slow. Sharing bathrooms was totally fine except for a certain hour each day, which is totally understandable and we worked around it. However, there’s nowhere to even rinse a spoon off during that time and the bathrooms weren’t kept stocked with paper towels and ran out of toilet paper due to the amount of people using them. We didn’t ask for room service, but their instructions contradicted themselves, so they chose to enter our room certain days but didn’t leave the basics they took and could see we used like washcloths, coffee, creamer, etc. The noise level of other guests and staff in the hall specifically was ridiculous. The amount of street noise was to be expected, but for sure way too loud at times and could be avoided with better insulation, double pane windows. Our door didn’t close all the way and they had our lock screwed open on the handle. Their staff wasn’t barely friendly. There’s no way to contact them except email unless you’re in the building between 10 and 6, why bother?

A few things that would have made my review 4 stars: Put a shelf in the bathroom for our clothing so it doesn’t get drenched by the shower with the tiny cloth curtain that sprays all over the floor no matter what you do. Provide a trash in the shower room. Fix the doors so they actually close and are safe. Replace the doorknobs, simple cheap fix so they’re safe and not so cheap and wobbly. Replace the toilet paper holder or tighten it, just tacky. Provide a wash basin at the very least. How do we rinse dishes? Upgrade your internet. Put casters under the furniture to save those gorgeous floors. Be quieter in the hallway. Provide the basics, coffee and supplies every day, paper towels in the room, and enough towels when you take ours that are hanging up which you said you wouldn’t do. Lastly, get rid of the mold and mildew. I’m personally never this sick from exposure to it. We didn’t have these same breathing issues in the subway we do...

Three of us stayed on the first floor room at the end of the hall.||||Positives: The room was spacious and there were easy instructions for after hours check in. One of the staff members was very friendly and tried to be helpful. We also appreciated that there was a kitchenette with a sink and microwave in the room. The beds were decently comfortable. Being so close to Central Park was really nice, and we spent a lot of time in the park. If you do stay here, I highly recommend Amy Ruth's restaurant. The building has a lot of character, and the room has a really pretty fire place. ||||Negatives: The worst part was the temperature regulation. There was no way to turn off the radiator, and it was insanely hot. The windows would not stay open without being propped, and one of them had a completely torn screen. The neighborhood also did not feel safe enough to have the windows open. None of the windows locked, which really bothered us since we were on the main level. We had to run the air conditioner because of the radiator issues, and it was about 30 degrees outside. You may want to avoid staying here with small children because there were two pipes, one right next to the bed and one in the kitchen, that got very hot when the radiator was running. Also, we were not able to get a good night's sleep because everyone is loud. It might have been better if we were on the second floor and not staying underneath a family. Because it's a shared bathroom, which we knew going in, others can take over the shared space. One night, another guest was in the shower for almost an hour while we were waiting. They do allow you to use the bathrooms on other floors, but with a full facility, this wasn't possible. On a different night, a guest knocked on our door after midnight to ask for bottled water. Because there was no deadbolt on the door, we felt very unsafe at that moment. In the kitchenette, the microwave didn't work very well and they only provided decaf coffee. They didn't provide cleaning supplies, and it would have been nice to have especially during COVID with shared spaces. This may be nitpicky, but for around $160 per night, we expected a bit better than single ply toilet paper, scratchy towels, and terrible pillows. If you stay here, I suggest bringing your own. ||||Aside from the hotel itself, the neighborhood felt a little unsafe. We saw multiple fights and many people asking for money. The closest subway station seemed to attract a lot of people asking for money. The trash in front of the buildings in the neighborhood attracted...

We booked The Central Park Hotel via Travelocity. We soon discovered this "hotel" wasn't really a hotel at all. It was more so an old brownstone renting out rooms. There is no elevator and we were placed on the third floor. This wouldn't be a problem if someone helped us with our bags, but no one did, or even offer to help. My grandma has a bone disease and I feared if she carried things and took the three flights there is a higher risk of her falling and breaking a bone. I told two different people there this information two times and no one cared. They said the "hotel" was advertised as not having an elevator (it was hidden in fine print on Travelocity). I tried telling them that isn't even the issue. The issue is no one was helping us.

As soon as we got on the third floor, we were hit with the strong smell of marijuana, and I called to tell "the front desk" (a small table with a folding chair) and let them know that this just wasn't acceptable, especially since we have a non-smoking room. So they moved us even higher in the building, on the fourth floor, because nothing else was available. This room was even smaller. Neither rooms were as advertised. The entire house is old and echoes every single noise. The stairs don't creak, they moan, and it's a terrible sound. My poor grandmother got zero sleep. It also claimed to have a "continental breakfast" but it was just a bag with a bagel and capri sun...

We checked out immediately the next morning and they refused to give us our money back. I talked to them in person and there was no sympathy for the issues we've encountered. Travelocity called them numerous times and they refused to work with us. I would have even settled for taking only half the original fee back but they refused find a middle ground. A REAL hotel would give good customer service and at least give back a partial refund.

I considered calling lawyers but luckily Travelocity helped me with a partial refund (but to be clear this was NOT with any help from the hotel). This is not an acceptable way for a local business to treat customers. They should know that word of mouth can negatively impact their business and be willing to at least pretend to work with us. I will not recommend this hotel to anyone traveling to visit me or any of my writing friends who like to write in hotel rooms so I won't...