The Rockaway Hotel — Hotel in New York

Let me begin by saying that I believe in hotels. I believe in freshly ironed sheets, bellhops who call you "Miss", and rooms with a sense of aspiration. I do not believe in spending over $500 for the privilege of staying in what amounts to a glorified dorm albeit one with better lighting. Which brings me to The Rockaway Hotel.||Let's set the scene: we pull up at 9 PM. Emmanuel, the valet, greets us like he's been training for this moment his whole life. He's gracious, warm, and genuinely seems to enjoy the job--possibly one of the only people on staff who does. Ten bucks to him. We immediately thought - this is going to be a great place! ||Now, the lobby: gorgeous. All moody lighting and curated textures. It looks like someone went to a branding agency and said, "Make it look like we sell $18 cocktails and complicated emotions." Mission accomplished. ||It smells like sandalwood and startup culture. So far, so Goop. Then we get to the front desk. The staff looked like we'd interrupted a quiet moment of existential dread. Not rude. Just emotionally... dimmed. Like someone had pressed the hotel's hospitality setting to "low power mode." They looked at me like I was insane for asking if they had a gym. Spoiler alert: THEY DON'T. It was 9 PM, so we gave them the benefit of the doubt. But if I'm paying $500 for one night, I'd like at least one person to pretend I'm the main character.||We get to the "room", open the door and immediately check the floor plan because surely this is a pre-room, a vestibule, a stylish holding cell for the real thing. But no. This is it. This is the $500 box. It's tastefully decorated in that vaguely coastal, hyper-minimalist way that suggests "serene simplicity," but feels more like "Oops, no one ordered furniture." There's no closet. No dresser. Nowhere to put a bag except the floor and a few wooden pegs that seems less like storage and more like an art piece. There's no complimentary water. Not even a decorative carafe pretending to offer hydration. Just two aggressively chic bottles of water for $10 each, staring at us like: You knew what this was. We bought them (insert eye roll emoji). We were sunburnt, dehydrated, and emotionally vulnerable.||There were two sad pillows on the bed (as in ONE pillow EACH) the kind that seem filled with recycled Kleenex. So we did what resourceful people do: we removed the cases, stuffed in the decorative throw pillows (bless you, down feathers), and fashioned ourselves something that at least resembled comfort. No phone in the room. Everything felt vaguely damp, as if the room itself had been out surfing and hadn't quite dried off.||The beach is a block away. That's the whole business model. The next morning we took the complimentary bikes out for a spin on the boardwalk and, honestly, it was fantastic. For a minute we were two happy people on vacation. We came back to the hotel glowing--literally sweating--and the morning valet watched us struggle with the door while scrolling on his phone. Possibly looking at photos of people on better vacations. We held the door. We held our tongues too. ||We had breakfast by the pool. My frittata was unmemorable in a way that felt like a decision. Just sort of... like someone made food with the idea that you're too hungover to care. My husband had the french toast - he LOVED it, but he thinks my cooking is great, so... ||Our server was gem. Sweet. Gracious. We bonded over her Fabulous nails. Oh, and the pool itself is beautiful. It makes promises the rooms can't keep.||When we checked out, our friend the phone-loving valet was still... phone-loving. My husband literally placed the valet ticket on his screen. He retrieved the car with all the enthusiasm of a teenager taking out the trash. He opened the driver's door--and walked away. Didn't help with our bags. Didn't even close the door. It remained open, flapping like a metaphor for this hotel stay. ||The Rockaway Hotel is a case study in style over substance. You're not paying for hospitality. You're paying not to stay in one of the other local options that look like places people disappear from.||This hotel has everything but the basics: no warmth, no amenities, no logic. It's trying very hard to be "a vibe," and forgetting that people are actually staying there. People with bags. People who need water. People who want two pillows. Each.||Here's a simple fix: train your staff. Buy some decent pillows. Give us hanger. Throw in a bottle of water. And for the love of all things beachfront, act like you want us there.|I won't be back. But someone will. Because it's the best bad option in town. ||Level set your expectations...

Went to have a romantic getaway for Saturday through Monday. We were greeted and treated very well on arrival and I looked forward to using the downstairs pool and bar around 5 that evening, (Saturday). We flew from Florida to there that day and were tired and just wanted to enjoy the hotel. We left for a few hours to watch college football across the street. When I went back to the hotel to get me a 5 o’clock dinner/ cocktail, I was kinda stopped at the hotel door and asked if I belonged there? I said yeah, I’m a guest and I showed him my little wrist band I got earlier. He let me in but that was only the beginning. I walked in to see people dressed nice. So I thought it cocktail hour. I brought a dress to put on in case they did do this. So I went and changed then came back downstairs to the bar area me and my husband went to earlier that day. I was greeted again with someone asking if I wanted champagne again like earlier that day. I took a seat on a couch and just chilled for like 30 mins. I didn’t really talk to no one because I didn’t know anyone. I did talk to two ladies who I saw earlier outside the hotel, ( just trying to be friendly). An older gentleman then fell or something and that’s when I noticed what looked like a lady that could have been a bride. She came over to us and the ladies I was talking to and said that this was a private event. I saw no sighs, banners, nor did anyone tell me( the staff) that there was going to be a wedding and wedding parties there that weekend when we checked in. This lady literally chased us out and was like yelling wedding crashers at us while actually “ shooing” us out saying “shoo”. I felt embarrassed and very uncomfortable. Then as I’m going back to my room another man runs and says “ you know this is a private event?!” And I said well I do now. I got back in the elevator to go to my room to change. I left the hotel to join my husband back across the street to watch football. I told him what happened and he said well maybe you can go a little later. We came back to the hotel around 9:30-9:40 pm, hungry. The doors to the restaurant downstairs was closed for the “ private event “ I guess. They were closed with some of the suit and tie people in there. We then went to the front desk to complain that we weren’t notified of a wedding there at checkin and wouldn’t be able to use most of there amenities because of the wedding parties going on. They were like we are sorry, here’s champagne. We weren’t thirsty by then just hungry. By this time, me and my husband were just tired and went to our room. In which we were stopped again by someone at the elevator if we kinda belonged there. And we were like, yeah we are going to our room since the restaurant and bars downstairs are closed to us. I then was like, maybe we can go upstairs to that bar cause they have food. We were told that the wedding was having a party upstairs by the pool at this point and that we could go up there after 10… at this point, I was just done and frustrated and I told him no I didn’t want to be showed away by the bride again or causing any conflict. So we just went to our room. And yes, by the way, you have to have an active key card in order to use elevators if you don’t have one you can’t go up or use the elevator. It wasn’t like we were intentionally trying to ruin this lady’s wedding. We were trying to enjoy the hotel and all it had to offer that was our reason for staying there. The music from the upstairs party was played till after midnight. We could hear it at our room. The trip was supposed to be romantic for me and my husband, but it ended up agitating his PTSD because he is a disabled veteran. And my nerves were just shot after that as well. I didn’t feel comfortable in the hotel anymore and wanted to just be away from the hotel for the rest of our trip which was just another day. It gave me anxiety to be there because I felt like I was a nuisance then. The next morning, Sunday, we ended up going into New York, which I didn’t plan on doing and getting lost. Just a...

There is much to love about this hotel: very welcoming and accommodating staff, gorgeous design both in the public areas and in the rooms, which have many thoughtful details including soaps and shampoo without harmful ingredients that are not too overly scented + under bed drawers, a seating area and helpful instructions on how to use the somewhat complicated shower faucets. Several good restaurants on site, nice food and drink service at the pool, very good coffee/snack shop in hotel. The entire space is eco-friendly and their mission is to the uplift the neighborhood and nearby businesses. I don't think I've ever been to a hotel with a mission and certainly not one, this inspiring. I wish I could give it 5 stars, but they have some work still to be done. I mentioned most of these to various staff, who said 'I'll look into it'...but nothing changed, so either I spoke to the wrong person or these are not of concern? I have traveled all over the world and have stayed at both 4 seasons hotels and Holiday Inns and am able to adjust my expectations according to venue and price. Based on what you are charging and the vibe you are reaching for, I believe these issues are worth a second look. My biggest issue was the music volume at the pool. On Wed 12-3pm it was barely noticeable (I don't think the speakers at the pool were even on) and it was fantastic. People were carrying on conversations and relaxing- some even took naps. On Thursday at 11AM suddenly we are blasted with loud, fast and furious nightclub beats. Honestly, would have been bearable at a lower volume, at least. I asked server if volume could be reduced. She said, I'll ask. Nothing changed. Do your neighbors (who you say you care about) enjoy your music this loud. Pillows. I am actually leaving a day early, after second sleepless nights because I was not able to get comfortable enough to drift off with my head angled that high up. Morning of day 2, I asked at front desk if there were any down alternatives or other lower profile pillows (maybe for children?). She said sorry, no- but she would look for a thinner pillow and send a second robe to our room, since there were two of us in the room. No substitute pillow arrived and no second bathrobe arrived. I tried using the throw pillow as it seemed smaller, but it was just as high. Most 3-5 star hotels have down pillows avail on request and some have pillow menus (if you want to go crazy). Better signage. I did not know that there were showers or bathrooms at the pool area until end of day 2. Great rooftop bar- but put up signs to order at bar on oceanside. Have poolside staff say 'let us know when/if you want your umbrella raised'. Lots of people tried to DIY their umbrellas. Maybe add "reserved" signs to cabanas? Saw quite a few guests be asked to move by staff, which I'm sure did not make them feel very good. Around 3:30 I tried to nap in my room on 5th floor and the door slamming was off the charts. It was housekeeping- saw their carts. I kept going into hallway to let them know, but could not catch one in action to alert them. This was on July 21. Nothing you can do about this one- but, there were several different guests getting naked in their rooms with their blinds open. I was on my balcony about 6 feet away from one couple's window and we made eye contact and I put my hands over my eyes in shock ;). When I uncovered my eyes he had lowered his blind, leaving one foot up and was standing in front of it so that I could only see his genitals.

Again, congrats on everything- there is so much of it- that you are doing so well and in such difficult times. We made our reservation in Feb for July, and were really looking forward to splurging on a relaxing 'beach vacation' close to Manhattan. Maybe it's just not for 'Olds' 50+ (young at heart, though!)- the Patty Smith book in lobby had us entranced for 30...