Washington Square Hotel — Hotel in New York

Such a difference a day makes. My family have stayed since I was a young man, decades ago. We always love the homey feeling; consistent staff year after year, they remember us. One of the best restaurants in NY, under-promoted but you cannot beat it, really. And fabulous breakfasts. We were a little concerned when we heard the hotel was being sold, but they assured nothing would change for at least a year while new owners looked things over.||Wow. We had our usual breakfast for a couple of days and it was fantastic. Rare to find an American who knows how to make a decent omelette. But later? We werewarned breakfast would be "Continental" because they're going to rebuild the kitchen, bar, and restaurant. (Really, why do them all at once during the summer?) We went downstairs expecting a true Continental style breakfast - meats, cheeses (good cheeses, not American cheese if that's a cheese even), decent bread (they had excellent bread here), good butter, coffees. Instead there are now carbohydrates and and sad sweet rolls. There were pears and apples, and the staff were wonderful as always, but if you wanted enough protein to get through a day of sight seeing, you'd need so many yogurts and even that wouldn't hold you.||Part of why we've always stayed each year at this hotel was the restaurant is quiet and feels like Europe. Now that these new people have taken over and if this is their idea of a decent breakfast? I don't doubt when their renovating is over the restaurant will be like every other mediocre hotel restaurant here - lots of bodies packed in small space, noise dampening gone, loud music, and probably different chefs. A big disappointment. ||Yes it was free. So are breakfast at cheaper hotels. I would rather have the option of a cooked breakfast, like some hotels where you can eat the free "Continental breakfast" or order from a menu. Even a limited menu. Why not do the kitchen very very quickly, then open one of the two rooms (barlounge or restaurant) at least for breakfast?||This has made us very sad. We will look for other options for our winter stay. Such a difference a day makes. My family have s tayedhere since I was a young man, decades ago. We always love the homey feeling; consistent staff year after year, they remember us. One of the best restaurants in NY, under-promoted but you cannot beat it, really. And fabulous breakfasts. We were a little concerned when we heard the hotel was being sold, but they assured nothing would change for at least a year while new owners looked things over.||Wow. We had our usual breakfast for a couple of days and it was fantastic. Rare to find an American who knows how to make a decent omelette. But later? We werewarned breakfast would be "Continental" because they're going to rebuild the kitchen, bar, and restaurant. (Really, why do them all at once during the summer?) We went downstairs expecting a true Continental style breakfast - meats, cheeses (good cheeses, not American cheese if that's a cheese even), decent bread (they had excellent bread here), good butter, coffees. Instead there are now carbohydrates and and sad sweet rolls. There were pears and apples, and the staff were wonderful as always, but if you wanted enough protein to get through a day of sight seeing, you'd need so many yogurts and even that wouldn't hold you.||Part of why we've always stayed each year at this hotel was the restaurant is quiet and feels like Europe. Now that these new people have taken over and if this is their idea of a decent breakfast? I don't doubt when their renovating is over the restaurant will be like every other mediocre hotel restaurant here - lots of bodies packed in small space, noise dampening gone, loud music, and probably different chefs. A big disappointment. ||Yes it was free. So are breakfast at cheaper hotels. I would rather have the option of a cooked breakfast, like some hotels where you can eat the free "Continental breakfast" or order from a menu. Even a limited menu. Why not do the kitchen very very quickly, then open one of the two rooms (barlounge or restaurant) at least for breakfast?||This has made us very sad. We will look for other options for our winter stay, because if things change this much in the restaurant overnight, what will happen to the rooms and lobby and staff we...

I really wanted to speak with the general manager before posting anything regarding my stay. However, after numerous attempts of trying to get a general manager‘s contact info, via email and on the phone, I have been unsuccessful and I have been no choice but to leave this review.||My son and I stayed for one night at the Washington Square Hotel in mid July 2025. Based on reviews that I saw online, I thought that it would be fine for a one night stay. We were attending an event at the NYU theater and it was right across the park, so the location was very convenient. I was traveling alone with my autistic son who is seven and I didn’t want to have to deal with multiple Ubers and or the subway.||Check in was relatively fast and uneventful. I had inquired if they had any vending machines because it was very hot and we needed some water after traveling. The guy at the front desk said there was a vending machine around the corner after the elevator, but only had water and soda. My son is a milk drinker, but he had to settle for water that day, no big deal. We can’t win them all. ||We went up to our room at first glance it looked clean. However, the longer we were in the room, the more I discovered that the room was actually filthy. The closet door was open and there was also a small utility door in the closet, and upon further inspection, I realized went to some kind of pipes. I tried to close it to the best of my ability, but it would not close tight so I put the ironing board against it and hope that nothing would creep through in the middle of the night. ||The bathroom had blood spots on the floor with what appeared to be an eyelash or some kind of hair in it? At that point, I was disgusted. ||As I pulled the sheets down for my son to get into bed, there was dark curly hair on the pillows and throughout the bedding. My son and I are both blonde. I ended up stripping all of the bedding except for the bottom sheet.||Now, you might say, why didn’t you call the front desk and ask for a clean bedding? Well, the answer is pretty simple: they had been absolutely useless. I had asked them upon arrival if they could give us a few options in the neighborhood that had a kids menu. My my son is autistic and is very rigid with what he’ll eat. I told them all I was looking for was chicken tenders. We were told they had no idea and couldn’t help. The website states that the staff is very knowledgeable about the neighborhood and would able to help guide. Couldn’t be further from the truth. ||The website also shows a rooftop garden. This is another reason why I booked this hotel. I knew my son would really enjoy that. Well, when I inquired about the rooftop garden, I was told that there is a rooftop garden, and I could see it from my room, however, we were not allowed to go out there.||The hallways were so narrow that I couldn’t even put my arms out without touching the other wall. I’m 5’3”, so my wingspan isn’t exceptional. The rooms were also small, but I expected this from a hotel in New York City. What I didn’t expect was the filth and uselessness and dismissiveness of the staff.||Their website also claims that they have a “lounge” outside of the lobby. That space consisted of about eight small function tables with a bar that was about 6 feet long. Behind the bar there was one bottle of gin. That was it. Also, there was a sign in front of the “lounge” the entire time that we were there that said “Closed”. I should mention we would be there on a Friday night until Saturday. ||I paid $350 for this room, that was disgusting, and for a staff that couldn’t find their nose, nevermind help the their patrons. The “doorman” stood next to the iPad stand the entire time we were there. I saw people coming and going and he never opened the door or helped with luggage. ||So, if you don’t mind sleeping on used, dirty sheets, having a filthy room with biohazard material in it, such as blood mixed with hair, and also a utility door open to pipes and god only knows what, with a staff that barely acknowledges your existence, much less help you, this is the place for you. ||See...

Positives: Staff was helpful with our luggage (worked enthusiastically for their tip). uniformed police officer stationed inside the front door at night. Reasonable distance to subways. Good air conditioner (with the size of our room that was barely able to fit our bed, it had no trouble keeping the room cool. Curtains were heavy and kept the room dark. Good soundproofing from the outside of the building. I never heard a siren or a garbage truck.

Negatives: Terrible location, surrounded by crackheads out of their minds on the sidewalks, covered in garbage, etc. I guess if you’re looking for the full New York experience, this is your place. Uniformed police officer stationed inside the door at night because they need one because the area is so bad. We paid over $320 per night to get a microscopic room with no refrigerator, no space, and a view of a brick wall 2 feet from our window… so highway robbery on the price, especially when the location in the city is so gross. NO soundproofing on the interior walls. We just spent the last hour listening to a Jerry Springer show quality fight happening in the hallway and surrounding rooms at full volume. They slammed something into something else so hard the fixtures in our rooms rattled so hard I thought they might break at least 55 times in the space of 1.5 hours (that’s after I started counting after giving up on sleeping.) Staff did nothing to stop it… probably for the same reason I didn’t say anything… because these were OBVIOUSLY the type of people who would have no shame or respect for anyone else and asking them to stop slamming things and screaming would only redirect and redouble their antisocial behavior at whoever said something to them. WORLD STAR!! ( Also my 11-year-old got to learn some new phrases and ideas when we heard people very passionately (violently?) having sex. So that made for a fun conversation. Shower head was cracked in 3 places and consequently sprayed water in every direction. Wouldn’t be a problem you’d think, what with it being in a shower and all, but the shower doors are so poorly designed that any water that hits them is going right out on the bathroom floor. Spent 20 min sopping up the puddle the first time before i figured out you have to lower the head to chest height and hug the one wall and tilt the head just right, and you can avoid that mess. TV is antique. No streaming services, no smart TV, no Bluetooth, not even a guide or a menu. It’s TV from the ‘80’s: Flip the channels and see if you can figure out what you’re watching once the commercials are over. So bring a laptop and a long HDMI cable, except… WiFi is not good. Even if you do hook up your laptop, streaming services will frequently struggle. Bed is hard as a rock. Sore back every night. Ice bucket but no ice machine, at least not that I could find. Gave up before bothering to go ask staff. (They didn’t seem like they appreciated being bothered if there wasn't a big tip involved… and I didn’t care enough to make the effort.)

Summary by any other city’s standards: super old, sketchy place, in a sketchy neighborhood, super overpriced, no amenities… obviously a hotel just trying to milk as much money as they can while they save up to demolish and rebuild.

Summary by NYC standards: it’s a 3 min walk to one subway station and a 10 min walk to another. Quaint, authentic NY experience that will leave you with plenty of stories to tell your...