June 14, 2008

A few details about Expedia's "$58/night in NYC" ad

Expedia, you must be joking.

The travel company is currently running an ad on TV that touts "New York from $58/night."

Considering the dirtiest hotel in America costs you $99 a night, it's worth investigating what Expedia is willing to tout as reputable for $58. (Expedia Inc., by the way, also owns Hotels.com, Hotwire.com, and TripAdvisor.) So let's turn to Expedia's own website to see what $58 gets you, mid-week in July.

It turns out Expedia will let you book a bed in New York City for as little as $30 a night.

That's for the "Columbus Studios Hostel" at 106 W. 83rd Street. What do Expedia's own readers have to say about this place?

The worst experience ever

The room was damp and dark. And you can even see mice running around during the night. I just don’t know how a hotel like this can be listed in Expedia. Anyway, escape from this hotel if you can.

Bad Condition
Basically you’re sharing a room with 10 people. That’s not he problem, but the customer service is really bad. The manager is a pain same with the employee. Worst place to stay ever.

This hotel is appalling!
I reserved two double beds in one bedroom but received a bunk bed instead. Evidently this is common practice for the West Side Inn as I spoke with many wary customers during my one night stay. Although the location is good (close to subway, safe neighborhood) and the price is relatively low, the nauseating smell of the room and its filthy condition offset the mentioned benefits. This place tops my list of worst Inns/Hostels in a developed country.

And then there's the West End Studios & Hostel (at 850 West End Ave,) for $39 a night, which Expedia describes as a "chic-styled New York hotel, redesigned in 2007." Some users actually liked the place, though this reviewer was most specific:

We survived but will never go back
Rooms are tiny, some without window, one bulb hanging from ceiling. Small bunkbeds in order to save space. Some beds had thin mattresses, still wrapped in plastic. One of the two rooms we had, had a television, but with only one channel working. Extremely noisy because of thin walls, and the heavy doors that slammed every time someone needed to go to the shared bathroom at night. Elevator breaks down repeatedly. One day there was no hot water. Some of the staff helpful, others absolutely not. Only positive thing that the bathrooms were cleaned almost every da, and that for two nights we were the only guests on our level. Have not had this bad kind of experience since backpack travelling through Turkey two decades ago, and even then and there most hostels were better.

Better than I was expecting
This place was clean, quiet, easy, and cheap. If all you’re looking for is a clean, safe place to sleep and shower, this is it. Bear in mind, that is all it is, bring your own toiletries and towels and don’t expect the people at the front desk to do much more than check you in and make sure your room is clean, this is a bare bones place, and it was perfect for a busy week in the city. Ridiculously close to the subway and central park (and a really great Indian restaurant called Aryuvedic cafe) Safe neighborhood, and I even felt good to leave my stuff in the room I shared with five strangers (I was in a dorm bunk, they have rooms available if you want to stay alone). best of all NO ROACHES!!!

Not too shabby
Overall, it was a pretty good experience. Most people there were college students or foreigners. I did have an older guy staying in my room though. I wasn’t too keen on that. So note, it is co-ed. The facility was very clean. The lounge was comfortable and I could do some work there. The staff was friendly and the location was great. Lots of restaurants and public transit near by. The neighborhood is good too.

Don’t Go Here
Let me preface this by saying that I’ve stayed in hostels all over Europe; some very bad, some very good. This hotel/hostel was among the worst experiences I’ve ever had in a hostel. The shared bathrooms I felt were unclean, and you cannot keep any items in your room while you’re away (they are either thrown away or taken by guests). If you’re in a shared room, you keep your baggage in a room on the 4th floor, which makes it a hassle to get to your clothes. The staff woke me up at 2am to tell me I was in the wrong room (which was their mistake), and was unapologetic. For the price, I wasn’t expecting much, but I would pay an extra couple bucks and stay somewhere else.

June 14, 2008 9:59 AM in Cheap Stuff, Hotelology, Upper West Side

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