Moderne or Ameritania?
We were scheduled to arrive 6/2/12 at 6PM for check-in. However, our plane was delayed for 2 1/2 hours prior to take off so we arrived at 8:30PM. We contacted the hotel immediately upon our delay and prior to our departure to NYC. We arrived to find that there was no room available even though we booked months in advance! Imagine our surprise... The person who assisted us explained that there was a computer system glitch and that they had booked too many people. Instead of taking those who booked in order of date booked, they simply put people in rooms as they arrived. What a plan, sounds European to me.
Upon our departure from Moderne to Ameritania the person at Moderne gave us the manager's card. My personal thought is the manager should have made calls to us, not the other way around. I suppose being west coast I expect a different level of customer service, not a take it or leave it attitude that I felt from the Moderne.
We were told they had a sister property "just a block away", that we would be escorted to on foot. A very nice young man loaded our luggage onto a cart and we began walking to our hotel the Ameritania. It was a block away, in the same area, and the rooms were almost identicial. The new place has 200 rooms and supposedly was priced higher than the Moderne. We had no way of checking this information.
The room at the Ameritania was nice, small but nice, and the building was surrounded by construction. Street noise was greater as we faced a busy Broadway instead of a quiet 55th st. The television didn't work propery, as almost all channels didn't come in clearly. We were told by Moderne that there was a complimentary continental breakfast, only to find out it was $9.95 per person and coffee was $2.00 a cup! Ridicuolous. I needed internet access to work so I paid $25 for three days. No big deal. HOWEVER, it was good only for the laptop I paid with. I have a tablet (no good), and my wife and daughter each had laptops. I was told we would have to pay an extra $25 per device. That's RIDICULOUS.
More about the Moderne/Ameritania hotel: Ice, go to the lobby. We were on 12. Concierge? Nope, just some people behind the counter, very nice people, not very good at things to do, where to eat, unless you want pizza!
Upon entering the room, you needed to put your room key into a timer to get lights and air on. While I can understand this logic, nothing on when you leave, several times the key was removed as someone was leaving, and the room went dark. You are sent running around looking for another key in the dark. Not much fun. Once I was in the bathroom. Really not fun.
One big downside. The shower was a walk in, nice design, not functional. Half glass wall, freezing shower, rain shower head was OK, and there was a water wand but don't expect to stay warm unless you are standing under the water. My daughter figured out that if you turn the water on for both the main head and the wand, you can stay warm. However, water splashed out onto the floor.
Beds? Nice, white linens, great pillows! I've been hauling my pillow around for years as most places the pillows are garbage. Not this one. Left it on the suitcase.
The Moderne had a coctail hour that was complimentary but not the Ameritania. So, no coctail hour.
Overall the Ameritania was a nice place but I didn't book there. The Moderne is clearly more popular and my personal and professional belief is they overbooked knowing that the Ameritania wasn't booking, and then apologized profusely as they walked us over to help the sister property. Kind of a front for the Ameritania.
PS, in about a year the Ameritania, if it gets its act together will be a great place. The modern decor is different but good. They will have some great amenities including some remodeled penthouses, (we looked inside one evening, under construction), that are going to be pretty nice. They have a roof top patio that if set up would be a fantastic addition to the place. My daugher went up to smoke to avoid the drugs and drunks on broadway at night. The views from the roof are pretty good.
Bottom line, there are volumes of options in this area, (Broadway and 54th St.), so if you go to the Moderne and are told gee sorry, you don't have to accept their offer of a sister property.