Hotels Near Harlem Art Park in New York

This is my third review of The Carlyle over the years (across probably 25 stays), and, sadly, the first one where I didn't feel I could give the hotel five stars. Although this is specifically about a stay in November 2022, it relates more generally to the renovated rooms at The Carlyle -- and here, the 11/22 stay was our third in a renovated room. Two were in Superior Suites, and one was in a Rosewood Suite. First, the good: The service continues to terrific, and greetings from the staff are genuine and caring. Across the board, when I raised an issue, someone tried to make things better. Housekeeping did not miss a beat. The bedding and linens are top notch. I found the beds in all three rooms terrific. And, the renovations fixed what had been a tendency for the HVAC to be spotty, depending on the room. The renovated systems worked flawlessly. And, the rooms are quiet -- no street noise or noise from adjoining rooms. In the Superior Suites, the bathrooms are small. In one of the two we stayed in, we had a half bath, which made things a bit better. But, if you want a big bathroom, then look elsewhere. I find the baths adequate, and the showers delightful (as they have been across 30 years). Now, the not so good: The lighting the renovated rooms is atrocious. In the living rooms of all three suites, there wasn't enough light to read in the evening, other than in the one chair that they equipped with a reading light. The desk lamp -- while stylish -- gives off about the equivalent of a 40 watt light bulb. Who does that? There are wall mounted sconces -- with the equivalent of 15 watt bulbs in them. One room had a ceiling unit that had 3 bulbs with the equivalent of 40 watt bulbs. Why? The traditional Carlyle had great lighting -- three way bulbs with up to 150 watts in total in each of 3 or 4 lamps in the room. In this version, I feel depressed in the rooms in the evening. And then there's the bedroom. While there are lamps on the end tables next to the bed, they are on one switch. Either both are on, or neither. Why? Why not have them separately switched? There's a spot-like reading light on each side of the bed -- but that's a poor substitute from the warmth of the bedside table light. Why would anyone design a hotel room this way? I suppose if all one does in a hotel room is look at one's phone or computer, or watch TV, the lighting will suffice. But if you want to read? Forget it. And then you get to storage. In each of the three suites there was no storage at all for your things (I've seen reviews that show some rooms having dressers). Each of the living room and bedroom had shelving, but the room designers filled the shelves with design stuff that serves no purpose, leaving those unavailable to the guest. Even the closets lack usable shelving, other than a high shelf above the hanging clothes. The old Carlyle rooms had vast amounts of storage space in large dressers. It's almost as if the room design

The rooms are super clean, but unfortunately extremely loud. The windows are not insulated and leaky, as is the room door. The people passing by or showers/TVs from other rooms are as loud as if they were in the room itself. We couldn't really sleep through the night for 7 nights because of the noise. The staff seems disinterested. The toilet didn't work and was only repaired within 12 hours after repeated requests. Nevertheless, extremely clean and modern hotel. The location/area seems threatening at first glance, but we never felt unsafe. We wouldn't book again because of the price and the noise. It's about a 9-minute walk to the metro. The F Line takes you quickly and easily to Midtown without having to change trains.

The West Side YMCA is definitely a no frills place to stay, but the location is excellent. You're right next to Central Park and Columbus Circle. Times Square is an easy walk south. We stayed in 2 different rooms. The first had a bunk bed and was quite small, but the bed was comfy and the room was clean. It also had a small TV and fridge. We had a semi-private bathroom, which was down the hall. This meant we had to scan our key on one of the bathroom doors to get in, but once inside we had privacy while we got cleaned up. The bathrooms were kept clean and tidy. We were able to upgrade the second half of our stay to a room with a larger bed and an in room bathroom. Again, this hotel is no frills. It can be rough around the edges, but it's clean and comfortable at the end of a long day of sightseeing. We did not have time to take advantage of the gym, the pool, the sauna, and stuff like that, but they looked nice. I'd recommend the West Side YMCA. If you're visiting NYC, you should be out doing stuff, not sitting around the room. It was everything we needed it to be.

I have never, ever stayed somewhere that remembers my name. Bella is one of the warmest people I know. She is the face of this hotel. I was also greeted by multiple team members asking how my stay was. Everyone was truly caring and waited for my answer, ready to fix anything or just lightly chat about me moving my Son to NYC. The area seems sketchy but everyone keeps to themselves. Close to subway and fairly quiet compared to other areas. The room was very clean and fresh. Beds could use warmer blankets. We found street parking for our car. You really do not need a car here!

I booked at Nap York Central park in June 2022 for September/October 2022. I chose the discounted flexible rate, as I didn’t see having to cancel or move my dates at all - my flight was paid for. Earlier this month my father suffered a stroke, was diagnosed with cancer, and was told he was in need of an operation on his heart. His quality of living went from active and healthy to in need of 24/7 care overnight. I contacted this property to see if even though the flexible option was non-refundable if there might be some leniency with this as I don’t see being able to travel in the near future, even at a partial refund (mostly for the $500 I already paid to be used for medical bills/needs). You cannot actually call or speak to anyone - they do not have phones. You can only communicate through a chat service. They don’t provide any details as to who you are talking to and my questions as to whether there is a management company I might reach out to were unanswered, and then I was just told ‘we don’t have phones’. After explaining my situation, they let me know they would not refund anything but would move the dates. According to my original booking, I would have six months to reschedule. Speaking to someone through the chat service, I was only given four months to reschedule and many dates blocked out and unavailable to me due to holidays. I pointed out that it was less time than my original booking stated and that went unaddressed, the person let me know that ‘my situation’ (my father possibly terminally ill) ‘was not their responsibility’ and they wouldn’t refund my payment or add any dates (which really would have just been giving me what I should have anyway, not exactly doing me any extra favors) and again - all questions as to whether there is an actual number or company to contact with questions was not provided. While I understand my original request for a refund was outside of the original terms, they don’t even offer the terms that are paid for and clearly stated. I’ve also worked at hotels and lodges in the past to know that they often make allowances for nonrefundable stays in cases of extreme circumstances. Booking.com reached out to try to negotiate and the only response they received was ‘no refund’. I’ve also had travel plans in the past change slightly and have been out money and have not asked for special accommodations or refunds from locations, but with the stress of my father’s health and rising costs, and so suddenly, I was looking for some empathy here. United Airlines is notorious for delayed customer service or non-negotiable refunds and I was able to explain my situation and received a full refund immediately. After some of the language used by whoever manages their chat service, I wouldn’t stay at this location at this point. I've attached some of the reviews on google, as well as management's insane responses (including taunting people about calling the police, or pointing out they don't speak English).

We were so pleased to stay at the Best Western even without any reservation. The hotel was clean, comfortable and everyone was kind and professional. The breakfast was delicious and I recommend it. We encountered a very pleasant employee by the name of Angelique. She literally made us feel at home and that’s what every visitor appreciates. The price was affordable especially in this time which is hard to find. So we give this hotel 5 stars which we rarely do.

The best hotel I ever stayed at. They were extremely nice (cheerful and funny) staff and they were very accommodating. Especially Jessica and Annalie. They went above and beyond. I received a gift bag of goodies for my birthday and I was super touched and happy. No hotel has ever done that for me, and I’ve been to many hotels across the country. The room was quiet and large and very comfortable. Love the bed. The amenities were great and the sushi restaurant next door was awesome.

Location is the greatest advantage of this hotel. Less than 1 min by walk from Yellow R & W Subway Whitehall South Station Exit. This hotel has 40+ floors, but 3 guest lifts only. Long waiting time for lift was annoying. The air-conditioning unit was noisy, as it started on/off intermittently all the time. The shower room is tiny, it was just enough room for an adult to turn around the body. The design of shower room glass door was poor, as the bathroom floor would get wet when open the glass door.

The room is a bit small, but there are rooms with over 1,000 yuan in the local area, so if you have one that can fit in

As usual Marriott always exceeds my expectations. I arrived late and was greeted so warmly. They checked me and informed me what time the restaurant closed and went and had a glass of wine took some food up to the room. It was a wonderful and relaxing experience. Thank you so much Marriott.