Half Price Hotel Heaven (Hotels in New York in general)

Member Name: zoe_page_1

Product:	Hotels in New York in general
Date:	07/11/01 (797 review reads)
Rating:

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It took me a while to find a hotel for when I was in New York. What I really wanted was the Holiday Inn for about $50 a night, but since that didn’t seem possible, I had to search around a bit. Eventually I stumbled upon the Belnord and although it didn’t have its own website, and info on it was limited, I booked it anyway on a whim. Now that I’m back, I’m glad I did.

The average price for a hotel room in New York at the moment is $150 (and this is low, lol, with tons of prices having been reduced in the wake of September 11th). I paid $71 per night which included all taxes of which there were a handful, which seemed quite reasonable to me.

The location is wonderful – only 10 mins walk from Central Park, and 2 minutes to the nearest subway (86th Street, on line 1, 2, 3 and 9 – the red ones. It only takes this long as crossing Broadway requires a good minute and a half). Within 5 minutes walk, either along Broadway itself, or Amsterdam Avenue, you can find numerous shops and affordable eateries. I ate out for pretty much 3 meals a day and never ate in the same place twice, while also never paying more than $7 for a meal.

The rooms are small but not cramped. Mine, which I imagine was typical, contained a bed (duh!), chest of drawers, table, chairs and wardrobe. There was a window with a view of, erm, a wall, but if you kep the blinds drawn you were none the wiser. Extras included a TV with some very oddly named channels. I can’t remember all of them, but I managed to pick up the new serieses of Friends, Buffy, Dawsons Creek and Felicity among others, plus have news headlines around the clock – and there’s nothing better than hearing all about Anthrax at 6am, right?

Bathrooms were shared – approximately one to every 5 rooms – but this was not a problem. My room was directly opposite, and I really don’t think the other guests washed (or did so between 12 noo
n and 4 pm) because whenever I was round it was always empty. Compared to where I live now, this was wonderful – all sparking procelin and shiny tiles. Towels were provided in the room, along with soap and, interstingly enough, tissues…. Now maybe I’ve been watching too much Men Behaving Badly, but I have way too many visions in my head, and none involve blowing noses… There isn’t a bin in the room (always a pain to me) but there are plenty in the bathrooms and corridors so it’s not that bad.

The staff were helpful although I think claiming that they were multi-lingual was a bit of a lie. When I checked in the guy in front was French and spoke little English. The receptionist (I think the name badge said Crystal….) asked for his room num, and he replied “Le numero de ma Chambre?”. Now I may not be all that fluent in French (ok fine, I’m terrible - stop laughing thequy) but I can understand enough to respond with a hearty “Oui Monsieur!” after those two had battled it out for 5 minutes or so.

Bedrooms were cleaned and linen changed daily. They would tidy up my mess and fold my night clothes (just like in Paris – and once again I must have let them down by sleeping in my boyfriend’s t-shirt and a pair of shorts I’ve had about 6 years). The only gripe I had is that one day they tided Benjamin, you know, the one eared travelling companion of mine, into the wardrobe which resulted in a frantic bedtime search…..

There is no restaurant in the hotel, but there are machines vending everything from chocolate to pretzels to drinks to ice and as I said, there are many coffee shops and restaurants and Diners nearby. There is also an internet terminal for guests to use ($1 / 5 minutes) and a room to leave your luggage if you have a late flight. The reception can (and do) arrange hotel transfers – either in hotels or minibusses depending on how many of
you there are, and how much you wish to pay.



Quick Info At A Glance :
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Check out time : 12 noon

Check in time : 12 noon

Address : The Belnord Hotel, 209 West 87th Street, New York, New York, 10024

Telephone : 873 5222 (from inside NYC)

Fax : 873 8907 (ditto)

Num of Rooms : 85

Num of Floors : 5



For info on the hotel, or to book online, check out any of the following :

http://new-york-city.coolvacation.com/hotelpro files/NYC/belnord-hotel.html

http://www.new-york-hotels-discounts.com/hotel -information/new-york-city/belno rd-hotel/

http://www.new-york-hotel-discounts-and-hotel- reservations.com/westside/belnor d-hotel.htm


If you’re on a budget (but like me, still feel the need for a trip to the States…) then I would recommend it thoroughly. 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up as it says on the back of the Clueless box....

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