NO room available and STILL charged for the stay
I booked a room at this hotel through Priceline for 6/16-17/2012. I arrived on 6/16 and was told by the front desk staff that my King room was upgraded to a double bed room. Only problem was there were NO rooms available, NO King, NO Double! We learned this after having cleaining staff check one room and then being escorted up to another room, only to find that it was occupied. The front desk staff then told me that no rooms where available but that there were rooms at the Comfort Inn across the street. They were nice enough to walk me acroos the street; enroute, I asked my escort if the Comfort Inn was as nice as the Gem, and was told that it was "comfortable" but not as nice. 
The next morning (6/17) I checked my bank account online and learned that The Gem had not one, not two, but THREE authorizations on my card. Two were for the room (!) and the other one was for parking...which was only to be validated, not charged to the room!! (This hotel does not have a parking lot, so why would an authorization even be required for a simple validation??) I called to find out about the authorizations and was told that my card would not be charged and the authorizations would be removed by Wednesday, 6/20. Ok fine... 
I checked my account again today (6/19) to find that I was charged for the stay, after being told they were going to remove the authorizations. I called, and after the front desk person did some research, was told that the charge would be reversed in 72 hours. Because I "checked out" on the weekend, it will take time for it to be removed. Funny, because I never actually checked in. In addition, one of the authorizations is still pending and I was told that would be removed by 6/20 (we'll see).
Though the front desk staff was helpful and responsive, the booking and billing practices of this hotel leave a LOT to be desired. Unfortunately,friendly, helpful and responsive staff do NOT make up for being charged for a stay when I never made it pass the lobby, except to view an occupied room. I travel to NY frequently and typically stay in the Times Square area at the more pricey hotels. I guess I'll be returning back to that area... may cost more, but I've never had problems with getting a room or billing.