The Jane Hotel — Hotel in New York

If you think paying around $200 for a hotel room in NYC is a good deal because most other hotels cost at least twice as much, ask yourself why the price is less. Having been a guest previously I knew that the room would be small (not a problem since I didn’t expect to be spending a lot of time in it) and the bathroom would be shared (usually clean but could probably be cleaned more often on weekends when hotel seemed more crowded and the bathroom was busier). What I wasn’t prepared for was a noticeable change in the quality of the experience.||Good:|* Great location for exploring the West Village, Whitney Museum, Meatpacking District, Chelsea, walking along the Hudson River.|* Although hallway carpet and the room was kind of tired looking, it was clean|* Friendly hotel staff||Bad:|* Hotel no longer resembles, in the least, most of the photos that are on the web. Lobby is not the quirky place at the top of a long set of stairs that it once was but now it’s a non-descript lobby at the bottom of a poorly lit set of narrow stairs.|* There aren’t any bellhops anymore to assist with luggage into the basement entrance.|* There used to be a restaurant, bar, and rooftop bar but not anymore. Needed to walk at least 5 minutes to get a cup of coffee or something to eat. There aren’t even vending machines, ice or water.|* Half of the hotel is now a private club. The hallway from hotel lobby to the hotel elevator is used as a service hallway for the private club so hotel guests need to scrunch up against walls as employees rush by showing little or no concern to guests. Employees often carried trash, trays, pushing carts, etc. VERY hazardous. |* Hotel elevator is apparently the service elevator for the private club. In addition to the experiences noted directly above I once had to share the elevator with wheelbarrows containing dirt and very big, leafy plants. |* Hotel lobby and hotel elevator is also used for private party guests to enter the private club without going through the entrance to the private club (Why? If I were paying for a party in a private club I would expect access through the private club, not a cheap hotel lobby). Hotel guests have to contend with a person with a clipboard who decides whether to let you go down the stairs to the hotel entrance. Once allowed entrance to the hotel that you have paid to stay in you then need to contend with a long line of private club party guests who are not guests of the hotel and, for some reason, are not using the private club entrance or private club elevator. Paying hotel guests are forced to wait for door persons/security guards dressed in black to allow you on the elevator while you watch private party guests that arrived after you get priority to get on the elevator before you. Especially frustrating when the party guests are going to the penthouse on the top floor but I couldn’t get on elevator which would be going to the floor I was staying on first. Okay for me to wait but not them? Make it make sense.|* The elevator doesn’t display the floor numbers so you don’t know what floor the elevator has stopped at until the door opens and you look for a small sign displaying the floor number.|* Very lax security when there isn’t a private party. I noticed food delivery guys just entering and getting directions from the desk attendant to the elevator instead of the guest being notified that they needed to come down to get the delivery. That’s how it usually is in my experience elsewhere. Also, party guests when leaving could just wander the narrow hotel hallways should they choose.|* Construction site directly across the street was very noisy starting at 7 AM. Several times the entire block was blocked off because of the construction making it necessary to be dropped off by a taxi and walk a block to the hotel which was especially inconvenient after a day of shopping carrying a lot of bags.||I consider myself a patient person but staying here this time was quite unpleasant and frustrating, no matter how reasonable the...

I stayed with my teen daughter for 3 nights in the bunk bed arrangement last weekend. Let's just break it down as such:||THE GOODS:|- I may not be the average traveler, but the narrow hallways with the deep red walls and the lamps were charming to me, as was the compact room - the bunk beds run the length of the room, and you've got the width of the door for your walkway. Some people feel that's cosy, some feel it's claustrophobic. I'm the former, but the people who came tromping through at 3am with what sounded like a U-Haul's worth of luggage loudly proclaimed the latter. There are some pull-out shelves underneath the beds so for backpackers like us we were fine, but definitely if you are equipped with multiple suitcases you may have to figure out how to maneuver your room. (Please don't arrive at 3am if so.)|- The beds were comfortable - both my kid and I slept well.|- Location is very nice - not far from the West Village, the Whitney, the Hudson, High Line, Chelsea Market, Little Island, etc. Numerous cafes nearby. |- Shared showers have shampoo/conditioner/bath gel provided - we weren't sure about this but that was less stuff we had to carry/buy. We are provided bathrobes too. |- Of course you have the history here with the Titanic lore, maritime stuff, etc. You're probably paying a bit just for that.||THE NOT-SO-GOODS:|- Yes there's construction going on. Our stay was Friday night to Monday morning and we were out the door no later than 9am so we never heard noise from it. Elevators were really the only way out - we were right next to the staircase but only for fire escape reasons, as we learned when we saw that every doorway led to an area under construction.|- As mentioned by the 3am-ers above, the walls are not the sturdiest. We were not far from the shared restroom so we could hear flushes if we tried to listen for it, but we're not fetishists or anything so it's not like we were trying to listen for them. |- I was not capable of filling my water bottle from the shared bathroom sink. There is a long-necked sink in the basement of the hotel where you check in/out so you do have an option but it's a bit of a hassle.|- $250 for the room...is a bit of an overcharge for what you're getting, in my opinion. I realize it's NYC and it is a fabulous area, but for reference I normally stay at the Chelsea International Hostel on West 20th not that far away from here. I pay less than $100 for a solo room with shared bath there - that room is larger than what I have here. They don't have a TV (this one does - two of them actually, for each bunker, but what are you doing watching TV in NYC???) but they have a sink in the room. The bed there is admittedly not as comfortable as here. All in all they're pretty comparable. The Jane is admittedly a more attractive looking hallway/room but 2.5x more expensive? I could see $200 at most. I booked it thinking it was $219 all inclusive but that was before the taxes which brought it up to the price listed.||In the end it's the price that made me consider it 3 stars vs 4. I found it totally adequate and even charming otherwise. But "charm" is an added plus I don't necessarily feel the necessity to pay for. I'm not everyone. But even if you're not me, I hope this gives you...

This is not a review that I want to write but I think potential guests should be aware of current circumstances affected by construction at the Jane which are, according to their website, expected to be ongoing until February 2025. ||I’ve stayed here twice a year for about 7 years (not during the pandemic, obviously) and always been satisfied. In the past: interactions with staff have been positive; rooms, though very small, are functional and clean; although bathrooms are shared I can’t recall having to wait to use a toilet, shower or sink; the location is ideal for access to West Village, Chelsea, Whitney Museum, walks along the Hudson River, etc.; the rates have always been reasonable; and the Jane has a quirky, shabby chic charm that is missing from sterile chain hotels.||My recent 6-night visit was a major disappointment after years of being pleased. Construction is taking place which is extremely disruptive. Just some examples of unpleasant conditions:||• There was only one working bathroom on the 4th floor since the other one was sealed off, meaning 2 toilets, 2 showers and 2 sinks were to be shared by guests in the 40+ rooms on the floor. Several mornings and evenings it was necessary to wait for a toilet and/or shower being used by other guests.||• Three separate instances during the daytime when it was necessary to wait while construction workers used toilets and sinks. One of those times I had to wait for 3 workers who were washing up at what was apparently the end of their shift, using loads of toilet paper to dry their freshly washed faces. Why aren’t there aren’t facilities or portable toilets assigned solely for workers?||• The website states that work takes place between 8 AM and 5 PM and will have “minimal impact” but one morning a loud grinding noise from within the bowels of the building started at 7:12 AM.||• Signs clearly state that the front entrance and the elevator are for guest and staff use only. Returning from an early morning run the sidewalk and stairs were nearly impassable with construction workers standing and sitting blocking the front entrance. Several times I shared the elevator with construction workers, once with 2 guys who got on at the third floor each with a large garbage can full of debris. In fairness, other times when workers saw that a guest was on the elevator they said that they would wait. It may seem like I’m a snob but the elevator is small and as a paying guest I don’t want to be up close and personal with a dirty/dusty worker hauling trash.||• Photos accompanying this review show just some of the construction evidence that you pass on the way to your room on the fourth floor.||Without reviewing credit card receipts from previous stays, I do believe that the rates I paid during this visit were more than I’ve ever paid and the stay was, to be blunt, extremely disappointing. Quite frankly, the owners/management should be ashamed for accepting paying guests, especially at non-discounted rates. I look forward to staying here again in 2025 when construction is complete but until then my hotel stays in NYC will...