Incredibly tired of starting hotel experiences on a good note and them ending on sour notes.
I travel ALOT. Meaning I am in hotels a minimum of 9 - 10 days a month, sometimes 20 days a month. I probably spend more a month on hotel cost than I do on my mortgage. So with this in mind, I am a consumer who understands the workings of a good hotel. I know the industry standards so to speak and what to expect.
I knew that the room would be small. It's a "boutique" style hotel, small is ""standard" in NYC. The room was a little bigger than I had expected, but still small. The bathroom was larger than I expected, I've been in ones that you actually had to out your knees into the shower stall to use it, so this one was pleasantly accommodating for the price.
The bed and pillows were actually incredibly comfortable and very comfortable to sleep in. 
I was disappointed that there was no desk, no chair, and no outlets to be used near the bed. In this day of cell phones an outlet near the bed is a mandatory item.
The was no outlet near the sink, making doing hair an obstacle, as it was several feet away from the mirror. There was no bathmat, so when you got out you had to be very careful to not slip on the floor with wet feet.
No washcloths. No mini bat. No ice bucket. And the IPods dock alarm clock could not be set.
All of these things I could deal with for the price point.
BUT, I have been aching to try this hotel, as I fell in love with the online photos of a beautiful lobby, and bar/ lounge area.
The lobby is under construction and has no appeal what so ever, although I will give them points for the lemon ice water available. 
The lounge area was ok. I loved the bar area. It was what I had hoped for and my server was gracious and knowledgeable not only of drinks but in suggestions.
Everything was acceptable enough for me that I extended my stay one night. To do so they had me check out and check back in, although this was odd as I had to do it online. Originally I made my reservations online with a debit card, when I checked out I paid with cash and was told the room charges and incidental charges - which I am clueless as to why they do this since they have no mini bar, no hotel robes.... I was told over the phone the incidental hold would be 50 dollars, when I got there they put a 75 dollar hold on my card.
So I have paid cash for my first nights stay so I have been told specifically that the hold on my credit card of 238 dollars would be immediately released. Great.
So I check in for my second night stay and pay for the stay upfront with cash, including the incidental charge, which will be returned to me upon check out. No big deal.
This hotel is not really convenient to my business in the city as I have an industry function to attend down on Varrick Street, which is quite a hike, even by cab or subway, but at the price point, it is acceptable, even though the lobby is under construction, which they do not tell you prior to booking, and seems a little deceiving....
In other words, the only reason I booked here was because this was a hotel I wanted to check out because of it's lobby and the library bar, and with the price, I thought now was the time to do so. It hasn't been a wonderful or notable venture, but nothing so far that would make me avoid it in the future. Hotel management, take note to that, as of that point, you could have been assured of possible repeat business with a very frequent traveler, that is mire valuable in any business than anything else.... as to constantly try to get new customers through advertising dollars becomes very expensive, when all you have to do is maintain a certain standard once you have a guest to get them to come back.....
Before I check out I get onto my IPad and log in to my bank account and notice that my funds have not yet been released???? Hmmmm..... 
When I get to the front desk to check out I inquire as to why the hold is still on my bank account, and am told, that the hold was immediately taken off the moment I originally checked out, 24 hours prior, and that it must be my bank..... which I know is untrue. I travel too much and always use the same debit card for my travels, and have seen in nearly 98% of the hotels that I have stayed at, that the moment I check out, the hold is released, and the money back available for my use within an hour. 
Once I leave, I call my bank to get the REAL facts, I have been dealing with them for years, I have a good relationship with them, while this is my first dealings with this hotel, and my bank, which is the one I use for all of my travel bookings, informs me that the hotel has never contacted them AT ALL TO RELEASE MY FUNDS, AND THAT THEY HAVE ACTUALLY PUT A HOLD ON MY MONEY FOR 5, YES, FIVE DAYS!
I had specifically inquired when I checked out the first day and opted to pay them with cash if the release would be done immediately, I was assured that the minute they checked me out from my original reservation that it would be done that moment. When I checked out the second day I again inquired and was again assured that it happened immediately when I had checked out the day before.
They never released the hold, my bank was NEVER contacted at all, except to put a hold for 5 business days. This is unacceptable on every level. If they had been honest with me from the start I would have simply left the room on my debit card and not paid them in cash, so now I am out 238 dollars until they decide to honor their contractually legal obligation, which was to release the hold immediately upon my check out from my original reservation.
They falsely advertise their hotel in the depiction of the hotels photos, if it's under construction this should be made aware to the guest, as it is the ONLY reason I wanted at stay at this hotel, as there are hundreds of other hotels in this city to try, and they have in an essence stolen my money. 
And they can try to state that this is industry standard, but I travel enough to know better. They can try to blame my bank, but I have been using my bank for years, and have never had any issues with them releasing my funds, EVER, and the fact remains, I was told specifically that they released the hold and my bank has been very clear to me that they were NEVER contacted by the hotel to release my funds, only to hold them and this has caused me great inconvenience, and if I had been told the truth from the start, I would have opted to have kept the charge on my debit card and not paid them with cash..... thank God that I had enough money on me to be able to afford to pay for my travel arrangements to get home. God forbid another traveler goes through this and then finds themselves stuck on the streets of NYC trying to get home.