Not so bad as many say. Absolutely great location.
This hotel is for young people and tourists without great expectations. The hotel was built in 1901. The rooms are small with 100 years of history. So don’t be surprised by ghosts playing with your ceiling lamp :)) I was lucky to have none of them or they were just friendly not to scare me out of wits. Having spent about 25-30 minutes in a queue finally I got keys from my room. The girl at the reception told me I was privileged to get a superior room instead of standard one. God, if this poor room was a superior, I’m sorry for those who had Standard. The long labyrinth of corridors and finally the door with a historical plate would be a shock for every girl travelling alone. The windows faced inner court so there was no view of the street. My room had a shower, a wardrobe with 6 hangers. There was a space between the windows and the frame and cold air easily came into my room so I had to keep the heavy thick curtains shut constantly even during the day time and turn on the heater to maximum. At the end of my journey I felt myself like a vampire scared of coming to day light. The bathroom was small. The shower had curtains and no slide doors so I had to wash myself carefully to prevent the flood. The bed was big and comfortable. And I spent some great time watching TV with big number of channels. My room had a small fridge where I used to store some food for a night bite. However to my surprise there was a lonely sandwich left by the previous guest which I found inside on the second day of my stay. Some people say the fridge was not to be used for free (10$ per day). Mine was free. I even asked if it was free at the reception desk on arrival. They looked at me as I was a bit crazy. :)) Once in two days I encouraged the maid with 2-dollar tips. And my room became nice and clean. The shampoo, the hair conditioner, the soap and mouth wash were added on daily basis. On arrival the girl at the reception took a deposit of 40 dollars. I paid it in cash (otherwise it would be blocked for month on the credit card). The cash deposit was given me back on departure. I would also recommend thinking in advance about the socket adapter. I took one from Moscow. But many people experienced difficulties to find it in stores or borrow at the hotel. The hotel is huge indeed. So do not expect great service. I saw many irritated people around arguing with the staff. The staff had cold and blank faces. The wifi is not for free. I never used it in a hotel. If you need free wifi just go to any Starbucks café. The best thing about this hotel is location. Easy to get from and to the JFK airport. The shuttle bus stops just 20 meters from the hotel. The price is only 15 dollars each way. Can be booked on the shuttle company website or you can pay right in a bus. If you decide to use this shuttle just ask the ground transportation service desk on arrival. They will ask you the name of your hotel and give you a small note with the bus number. I was called by my driver in about 10 minutes. The bus has several stops between airport terminals to pick up/drop off every pax. It also has several stops at Manhattan. It took me about 1 hour to get each way (from airport to Manhattan and from Manhattan to JFK airport). Mind the traffic. It would take even longer in rush hours. The famous Macy’s is right behind the corner. The Metro station is near and you can easily find your way to Century 21th. The Broad way and Empire State building just a few minutes walk. If you are hungry and prefer to bite in a room, take it left from the hotel and go to the Fresh and Co. There is a choice of up to 8 soups a day. The large portion is 8 dollars. They give you free bread and wrap it to take away. My favorite was Crème soup with turkey. If you would love to have not only salads or soups then take it to the right from hotel in direction of Macy’s. Pass Sbarro and Macdonald’s and enter a small take away restaurant. There is a variety of hot meals and starters for 7 dollars per 1 pound (approx. 500 grams). Quite delicious and good alternative. Anyway Don't stay in this hotel for your honey moon. EVEN if you are tempted with it's great location and in love with camping style of accomodations. This honey moon will end in 5 minutes after you will enter the room. :)) Not for romance for sure.