Comical!
My friend and I decided to go to New York for just an overnight trip. We have flight privileges that allow us to fly stand by for free :) we didn't want to spend a lot on a quick overnight stay. We figured we wouldn't be in the room at all except to sleep.
When we arrived we were not able to check in right away. My friend asked the hotel receptionist if we could have one of the renovated rooms and that we had seen some posts about bed bugs that we were worried about. He told us that we should be sure to be back right at 2 to assure that we would get a good room because they go fast. Funny! Who says that?! Like if we were late we might end up in a bad room. We decided we better stay close!
They said they would hold our bags for us, and a man gave us a ticket for us to retrieve them. We waited to watch him actually put the bag in the storage room. Maybe a bit paranoid, but the place was full of people waiting to check out and hanging around waiting for transportation. Praying in the corner, sleeping on the floors...
When we got back to check in the reception told us that we would have a good room. When we collected our bags I had to search through a room piled with bags to look for them. I think the man still thought I was going to tip him.
The room could not have been renovated. Well, I guess it could have but the paint job was horribly done, the carpet looked old. On one of the beds was a pillow case that just said "wanna ?". In pink. Only on one of the beds. funny, right? There was a mini-fridge though.
We looked for bed bugs, didn't see any. But to be cautious we left our luggage in the bath tub. I did take a shower and the water was warm and of a decent pressure.
Bottom line is this is a hotel only for staying in if you plan on not spending any time there. As everyone else has said, it is all about location. I would go back if we couldn't find a hotel on expedia or through a groupon type of deal. It truly is the worst place I have stayed. But I love New York and can't always afford a hotel when we want to go on a whim. Didn't get any bed bugs :)