Our "home" in New York (Inn New York City (New York, USA))

Member Name: mrsgladwin

Product:	Inn New York City (New York, USA)
Date:	06/06/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great location, lovely staff, romantic

Disadvantages: Costs a fortune, uncomfy bed, nearly killing myself on the staircase

** I was 800 words into writing this review when my laptop crashed and I lost it all. Gutted. That'll teach me for not typing it into Word first! So now I have to start again...that's dedication for you! **

I have always wanted to go to New York. All my favourite films and TV programmes revolved around NYC - Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sex and City, Friends...the list goes on. I wanted to strut down Fifth Avenue, stroll through Central Park, watch a show on Broadway, and beat the "mean reds" in Tiffany's. Therefore, when it was my husband's job to organise our honeymoon, he couldn't think past New York. I was so excited! We could be the next Holly and "Fred", Ross and Rachel or Carrie and Big!

As it was for our honeymoon we needed to do it in style. My hubby was determined to find the ideal hotel. We wanted something decadent but cosy, sophisticated but romantic. He wanted to find somewhere that offered a bit more than your standard "exclusive" hotels like the Hilton etc, something a bit more quirky. Luckily, being a big fan of Trip Advisor, he decided to take a look at the section on New York hotels, and there, sat proudly at number one, was Inn New York City. After reading the glowing reports and clicking on the Inn's website, his mind was made up. He'd found "the one". So, wincing slightly at the cost, he booked us in for a ten night stay in January.

~Background~

Inn New York City isn't your typical hotel. It is a restored 19th Century townhouse on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. From the outside it appears to be just your average home, on a street filled with seemingly identical buildings. However, inside are four exclusive, individually designed suites. Each suite is filled with the creature comforts you'd expect but also has additional features that make the unique. The Spa Suite has its own Jacuzzi, the Library suite, shockingly, has books a plenty, The Opera Suite has a grand piano and the Vermont Suite has two floors and its own private entrance.

We stayed in the Vermont Suite so that's the one I shall be reviewing.

~Price~

It's expensive. No doubt about it. A stay will set you back anything from $400 to $725 a night. Eeek. But it was for our honeymoon, and as my hubby said, you only do it once (hopefully!) The price varies slightly depending on the suite you are staying in; the Vermont Suite was slightly less expensive than others.

You can get an additional discount if you book online, $100 a night cheaper in fact so it is well worth booking that way. At the time of booking you must pay a 50% deposit.

Their cancellation policy states that if you cancel your reservation with less than 30 days until you are due to arrive you will have to forfeit your deposit, whilst if you wish to make changes to your reservation or wish to cancel it with more than 30 days to go, you must pay $100 but will get your deposit back. We considered this fair, as they are a small hotel and so any cancellations will affect them a lot more than it would a huge hotel.

However, we had our own personal experience regarding the cancellation policy. 5 months into planning our wedding, and 8 months before we were due to go on our honeymoon we found out we were having a baby. After researching it, I was able to fly with British Airways up to 36 weeks pregnant but I couldn't find anyone to insure me a day past 32 weeks. The day we were due to fly home from New York I would have been 32 weeks and 2 days, and there was absolutely no budging from the insurance company. We therefore had to cut our honeymoon back by two days. We emailed the Inn explaining our situation and apologising for any inconvenience, expecting to have to pay the extra $100 to cover the days we would now not be staying. However, I received a pleasant congratulatory email back, saying that was no problem and they would amend our booking details. We didn't have to pay the $100 which we thought was great. Maybe it was because we were staying for such a long time, as the majority of guests usually stay 3-4 nights, or maybe they took pity on our situation. Either way we were very pleased with the service.

~Location~

As I mentioned earlier the Inn was located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It seemed a nice quiet neighbourhood and there didn't seem to be many other hotels nearby. We treated this as a positive as it almost felt like coming home to our own house, particularly as the Inn did not even have the typical hotel sign outside, just the house number. The fact we had our own private entrance also made us feel like true New Yorkers! We just wouldn't have got this feeling if we'd have stayed in a big impersonal hotel.

As it was such a quiet neighbourhood and there wasn't many people roaming the streets we always felt safe and happy to walk about, regardless of how late it was.

The nearest subway was just a five minute walk away which gave us instant access to the rest of Manhattan and New York as a whole. We bought daily passes which enabled us to hop on and off as we pleased. Central Park, The Museum of Natural History, the Lincoln Centre and the Metropolitan Opera were all in walking distance. The Dakota building, once home of Judy Garland, Lauren Bacall and the place where John Lennon was killed, is also just down the road on the next street.

There was a pharmacy and several small local shops nearby, as well as coffee shops, fast food places and other eateries within a short walk.

~Service~

Eight weeks before we were due to arrive we received an email from the Inn telling us they were looking forward to our visit and to let them know if we needed picking up from the airport or extra help with our luggage as they would arrange assistance. We thought this was a nice touch, as we weren't expecting assistance like this due to the small size of the hotel.

The Inn is family run and there seemed to be a small team of staff, including the housekeepers, which made it easy to get to know the staff. We were greeted upon arrival by Ruth, the owner of the Inn. She was pleasant and welcoming, and due to the fact I was heavily pregnant, helped my husband with our bags. She showed us round our suite and how to work various things like the TV and DVD player. We also had a hand made chocolate cake on the table with a small note saying welcome. She then left us to settle in, and told us we could pay the remainder of what we owed after we had unpacked.

After unpacking I reached for my mobile phone to contact my mum and let her know we'd arrived safely. However, being the dunce I am, I forgot that my phone would not work in America. My husband's was the same. I started to panic slightly, I didn't want my mum to be worrying, and I couldn't go the whole trip without contacting her. The phone in our bedroom was local calls only so we couldn't use that either. When we went up to pay the remainder of what we owed I mentioned being unable to contact my mum to Ruth. She explained that there was a newsagent down the street that sells international phone calls, which I would need to be able to call home. She also offered us the use of her own personal laptop so I could contact them without having to buy a phone card. She brought the laptop to our suite and left it with us for three days. I thought this was a lovely personal touch that again, we wouldn't have gotten elsewhere. She also explained the places that were best to eat out, or buy ingredients to make our own meals.

During our stay she also rang us asking if we were interested in seeing one of the other suites in case we were thinking of coming back one day. My nosiness got the better of me and we agreed. She showed us the Opera Suite as the guest has just left. This suite too looked lovely.

When we were due to leave our flight wasn't until 6pm, but check out was at 11am. We were unsure what to do with our luggage until Ruth offered to keep hold of them for us, so we could just pop back and pick them up. Again we thought this was nice, as a lot of hotels would charge for this.

~Room~

So, the important stuff, what was the suite? Well after coming in through our own little entrance, we walked into the "living room". Here was a chair, a couch, a desk, a dining table and a TV. There was also a bookcase with reading matter such as books, New York sight seeing guides and where to eat in New York. There was also an information pack made by the Inn advising on the best places to visit and eat, and also told us they had DVDs available should we wish to watch one. Despite having so much in it, the room was really spacious. There was also a little cupboard with a safe in it, a great idea considering the amount of cash and valuables we had/we planning to buy.

You then walked through to the kitchen. It had all the mod cons, an oven, microwave, fridge etc. I have to admit that we rarely used the appliances I was tended to eat out, but it was a lovely kitchen with everything you needed in it should you wish to make your own meals.

There was a spiral metal staircase in the corner of the room, leading to the upstairs bedroom. I personally found the staircase a bit of a pain as it was very narrow and at 8 months pregnant I was...not so narrow! The bathroom was also upstairs so I had to plan in advance when I'd need to go because there was no way I could get up there in a hurry!

The bedroom was equally as lovely as the downstairs, decorated in the same quaint old fashioned way. There was plenty of storage place and had a dressing table with mirror, a walk in wardrobe (how very Carrie!) and cupboards.

The bed seemed huge and after a gruelling flight combined with jet lag I couldn't wait to climb in. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. It was rock hard! It had no give in it whatsoever, and my whale sized body found it really hard to get comfortable. My husband also agreed that it wasn't the comfiest bed he'd ever slept in. But maybe that's how those crazy Americans like there beds.

The bathroom not huge but big enough, and had personalised toiletries saying they had recently won an award for being the best romantic retreat. It had a shower, toilet and basin, as well as luxurious bathing robes which were informed by a little note, would explode if they left the premises. Not wishing to see if this was true, I resisted sneaking them into my suitcase!

We found the suite to be quite dark as there was little natural lighting. As it was winter time we didn't mind this at all as it made the evenings all the more cosy and romantic. However if we had been visiting in summer time we would have been slightly more concerned about it.

~Meals~

Meals were not included so this is a factor you've got to consider when weighing up the price. However despite this, our fridge was full of little goodies. Each day we were given fresh milk, orange juice, several home made cakes/breads and pastries, as well as pre-packed snacks which were handy for taking when we were out sightseeing. We also had cereal, muesli and jams for breakfast, which were also replaced daily. When we arrived there was a bottle of wine waiting for us, and we got another bottle during our stay.

We weren't overly concerned that meals weren't included and rarely made use of the kitchen as there were too many restaurants we wanted to try. Having said this, the little extras that were provided were great, and often too much just for the two of us.

~New York~

I'm not going to go into too much detail of where to go and what to see as I'm planning on doing a separate review on that. What I did notice is how rude New Yorkers can be! No holding doors open or offering their seat for a pregnant lady! But as hubby said, its New York, they're known for it,

I was delighted that it snowed while we were there, so whilst it was hard work trudging through the snow with swollen ankles and feeling as though I weighed about 20 stone, it was absolutely gorgeous. We went watching people ice skate at Rockefeller Centre and with the snow, it was just movie-like, I loved it.

We did all the touristy stuff I wanted to do (Tiffany's...amazing!) and we weren't disappointed.

~Summary~

1) Great location
2) Wonderful service
3) Quaint romantic suite
4) Great honeymoon
5) Very expensive

For more information try www.innnewyorkcity.com

Summary: Perfect honeymoon