My Manhatten Madness.... (Thirty Thirty Hotel New York)

Member Name: mythdata

Product:	Thirty Thirty Hotel New York
Date:	17/01/09 (314 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic location, Sights easily acsessable....

Disadvantages: Poor maid service....

INTRODUCTION

I have always dreamed of going to New York so in January 2004 my dream came true when we arranged a stop off in New York for a five night stay, this was the perfect start to our additional three week break in St Pete beach Florida.

As everything was arranged through a travel agent the additional flights to New York only cost 55.00 each as we had already bought and paid for the flights to Tampa Bay we only had to pay a fuel surcharge of the 55.00 each.

As for accommodation this is what made the trip that bit more expensive, but all in all I think we got the whole New York trip for roughly 500.00 plus spending which is where we spent the most, but hay this was New York and shopping is a must.

Our travel agent recommended the Thirty Thirty hotel to us as she had been and stayed so some personal opinions from her and the deal was sealed.

THE HOTEL SELECTION

Apart from the travel agents recommendation we were happy as the Thirty Thirty was ideally located from many of the major attractions, such as the Empire state building being only two blocks away, Madison square gardens, Macys and Times Square.

All of the above attractions were only a short walk away and the nearest subway station was located only a five minute walk from the hotel. So this was ideally located and we had all of Manhattan within our reach, which was a huge factor as we had so little time and we wanted to see everything.

It is situated at 30 East, 30th Street which is why it got the name Thirty Thirty Hotel.

I have to say the hotel was not fantastic but it suited us as we got to see all of the attractions within four five day time scale and as we were only stopping off to drop off shopping and sleep there we couldn't complain.

THE RECEPTION

On arrival the hotel didn't look as good as it did in the travel brochures, it was very dated on the outside and the fact that there was a busy bar and a tacky souvenir shop either side of a small pokey entrance to the Thirty Thirty I have to say my first impressions were very dismal.

After entering the small entrance we walked up a few rather big stone steps towards the hotels main entrance, this in my opinion is where the actual hotel started as I tried to forget the very bad impressions I had of the front entrance.

It was like I had just walked through a time warp as the whole reception area was massive and lined from floor to ceiling in huge marble slabs that reflected all of the many lights, making it look very nice indeed.
Here you could making phone calls from one of the three pay phones and in my experience this was much cheaper than calling from your room, there were two PC's located at the far end of the lobby where you could use the internet for a small charge and there was also a back exit for the hotel at the back of the lobby.

The check in was very simple we just had to show our passports and we were then presented with out key cards for our room and pointed to one of the three located to the left hand side of the reception and lobby area.

We were placed on the forth floor but as soon as the lift doors opened you were hit with the strong smell of cigarette smoke and there was a mist that lined the corridors, once inside the room we noticed that we were able to smoke but the smell was to over powering so we requested a non smoking room.

The staff moved us to a different floor straight away with no questions asked, this time the lift doors opened and all you could smell was fresh air and the room was much nicer and cleaner too.

What really made me laugh was the fact that the fourth floor was for the smoking rooms but the three floors above it were no smoking and smoke rises, so this I found highly amusing.

THE ROOMS

The Thirty Thirty has over two hundred and fifty rooms that consist of single, twin, double and then deluxe suites which are located on the top two floors.

We stayed in a double room that was rather basic but very clean, it was white washed with a few garish painting adorning the bright white walls.

Inside the room we had a double bed with immaculately clean white sheets and a thicker cushioned throw, which I personally chuck off as soon as I get it to a hotel as I know from experience they only wash these every so often, but extra bed linen was provided in the wardrobe so we didn't get cold.

Also the room had an alarm clock, a safe for personal and valuables and a small bed side lamp and a television that consisted of many sky channels that were actually watchable, although we didn't really watch it all that often but it was nice to have.

The only thing this room didn't offer was storage space, yes I did have a wardrobe but if was only a foot deep and roughly two foot wide, which would suit those only visiting for a few days but we had four massive cases as we were flying on to Florida for three weeks.

The space was an issue so we went to reception and they allowed us to keep the three cases we didn't need in the baggage room that was usually used on the day you check out, so they did everything in there power to ensure we had a nice stay.

THE BATHROOM

The bathroom was on the right as we entered the room it was on the small side but as there were only two of us it didn't matter.

Even though this was small it offered us a walking shower that was a big as a bath, so I felt this space was wasted as they could have put in a bath and had a shower within it. I do have to admit it was nice to have a huge shower it was very novel at the time.

It also had a toilet and a wash basin with a cosmetic counter and massive mirror that spanned the length of the bathroom, so as a woman I was completely happy with this.

Every day the hotels maid left us new shampoos, conditioners, body washes, soap and shower caps, there were personalised with the Thirty Thirty logo and if I am honest we just let these stack up as they were not the good and really dried out our hair and skin.

THE BAR

In the travel broachers it advertised the hotel as having a bar and restaurant, well this was not true the bar they were referring to was the busy one at the front of the hotel that was over flowing with people who I would only class as undesirables.

Zana's bar is a separate business and it really nothing to do with the hotel, the only thing that links it to the hotel is an entrance at the shared lobby that really let the hotel down.

The bar was very clean during the day so you could go in for a quite coffee, but it became a totally different place in the evening so I can comment of the food as this is somewhere we didn't eat but it does offer breakfast and evening snack if you wanted them.

To eat we personally went for Mc muffins as McDonalds was on the next block and there were many placed situated near buy to get nice but very cheap food, If you wanted a nice sit down meal the was a lovely family run restaurant a few doors down that o would recommend but you can expect to pay around the 200.00 dollar mark for a two course meal and wine, plus the 20% tip that is always expected.

MY OPINION

On first impressions of this place I was severely disappointed as it was classed as a three star, but it did improve through out our stay.

I found the staff to be very helpful with the exception of the maid who cleaned our room, well she didn't clean the room as all she just kept on adding shampoos and conditioners and changed the towels.

I would also recommend that you never leave any cash laying around in your room, we have a habit of throwing down all of the change you accumulate on your holiday and then actually spend it when your funds start to run low, I hate carrying around change but we never even got chance to spend our change as the maid took it.

We complained to the reception as there was over forty dollars in change laying on the night stand and when we returned that evening it had gone, the maid had took it but when she was approached by the receptionist she told them she thought it was her tip for cleaning the room. Every time we stay in a hotel we always leave the maid a tip on the day we check out, but this woman didn't get one as she had helped herself.

Over all we were happy with our stay as the location was perfect but to be perfectly honest this was the only thing that kept us there, I don't think that I would ever stay there again but I would get a hotel in the same area.

The staff were very helpful, well those that didn't help them selves anyway. The reception staff were very accommodating and helped if we needed it.

I think this cost roughly 80.00 a night which is very good as it is in the heart of Manhattan and this is a very reasonable price to stay in a hotel so ideally located, I went a few years ago now but I do hope they have modernised it as the website and travel brochures gear people up to expect a great place but on arrival they will be disappointed.

Summary: Good location, not a great hotel but ok just to sleep there.