Radisson NY East Side - Definitely Not the Waldorf!
Written: Dec 23 '01 (Updated Dec 24 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fairly reasonable price for the great location; helpful staff
Cons: Limited non-smoking rooms, strange room and bathroom configurations
The Bottom Line: Although the location is good, there are inadequate numbers of non-smoking rooms (even when reserved in advance). We had a very bizarre "suite" the first night.
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Location, Location, Location!
The Radisson Hotel, 511 Lexington Avenue, is much less expensive than its neighbor just down the block, the Waldorf-Astoria. It is also considerably smaller, with much fewer amenities, and none of the elegance or glamour.
Note: This review was originally posted in the generic Radisson category. Since this hotel now has its own category, I have deleted the old review and posted a revised version in the correct new category.
What to Expect
First of all, it is not the Waldorf-Astoria. It is a very close neighbor, but that's where the comparison ends.
It obviously caters to flight crews from around the world, judging by the bus loads of flight attendants and pilots I encountered in the lobby and elevators.
There is a single entrance to hotel's rather small lobby area. There is an Italian restaurant to the left of the lobby, as well as a small bar/sitting area. The check in area has about six stations and there were usually three people working at any given time.
On the right side of the lobby is the bell station and a hallway leading to the bank of elevators and a hotel coffee shop, Raffles. There is a separate entrance to Raffles on the Lexington side of the street.
Not What We Requested
We arrived about 7pm and found that, although our reservation had clearly stated non-smoking, we were given a smoking room. Because the hotel was at capacity, my traveling companion and I were sharing a room on the first night. We were given a smoking “mini-suite” with two beds and two bathrooms.
You Call This a Suite?
As I told the desk clerk the following morning, where I come from that room was not a suite. The room consisted of a queen bed, desk and closet on one side of the room. An armoire with television was the dividing line of the room. There was a chair in front of this area. The bathroom on this side of the room had marble floors, a tub with shower, and a pedestal sink. There was no counter top, merely a small, narrow shelf on which to precariously balance any necessary toiletry items.
Then there was the other side of the room. We deemed it the mother-in-law side. It had a twin bed in an alcove, with just enough room on each side to place a night stand and to walk around the bed.
The bathroom on this side looked like something you would see in a hospital. It had a tiled floor comprised of ugly 2-inch square beige/brown tiles. It also had a pedestal sink and narrow ledge above the sink and toilet.
It had no tub. Rather it had a shower with hand-held nozzle. There was also a chair in the shower. The water pressure was minimal and it took a long time to get hot water.
Upon exiting the bathroom after her shower my roommate commented:
Note to self: Do not leave dirty clothes on floor next to shower.
The shower seemed to drain toward the middle of the bathroom.
No Shortage of Phones
The room had a total of five telephones, one in each bathroom, one by each bed, and one on the desk. Apparently smokers like to talk on the phone while they smoke -- or so this hotel thought.
There was also a clock radio beside each bed.
The heat was blasting in the room when we arrived, so we adjusted both thermostats- one on each side of the room.
Awful Smoky Smell
The hallway leading to the room was disgusting. It smelled like a dirty, stale ashtray. Of course, our room was at the end of the hallway so had to smell it for quite some distance.
The room itself did not smell too smoky; however, when I went to bed, I quickly discovered the smell of stale cigarette smoke in the blanket and pillows. Not surprising that I had a major sneezing attack, much as I had when I first approached the room.
Help is on the Way
The next morning we went downstairs to check into our separate, non-smoking rooms. We were told they would not be clean until approximately 2pm. We had to check our bags with the bellman and return to the hotel after our meeting to once again pick up room keys. This was quite a pain and they made no offer to work around this for us.
Much Better
Yes, I did finally get my non-smoking room. This time we received non-smoking rooms on the same floor. (I had only reminded them about five times that they must be non-smoking.)
My room was the larger of the two. It had a queen bed, armoire with television, a desk and chair. It also had no thermostat. The heat was blasting from the radiator directly below a window air conditioner.
Oh, yes. I was forced to run the air conditioner for two days to counteract the heat from the radiator.
The bathroom was long and narrow with a marble floor, tub and shower, and – you guessed it – a tiny shelf on which to balance my belongings.
This time I used the desk right outside the bathroom to hold my toiletry bag and just brought a few items at a time and placed them on the shelf as needed.
The room had a hair dryer, iron and ironing board. It also had direct high-speed Internet access for a charge of $9.95 day. (I didn't use it.)
The beds were comfortable, but the pillows were small, uncomfortable chunks of foam. I didn’t sleep well a night I was there.
Apparently people who smoke must talk on the phone more than non-smokers. There were only two phones in this room, as compared to five in the first room.
The Food
We had breakfast in the hotel coffee shop on two mornings. They offered a variety of breakfast combinations, as well as many a la carte items.
We had the All-American $9.95 breakfast, which consisted of two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and coffee or tea. We had bacon both days. The slices were fairly small and not very well cooked. The scrambled eggs were pretty good and they served real butter with the toast. One day they included a 16% service change on the tab. The total for us both was $24.99.
We had dinner one night at the hotel’s Italian restaurant, Vuli. The house Chianti was good and the menu offered a variety of pasta and other dishes. The evening’s special was broiled lobster tail and grilled Portabello mushrooms for $26.95. It was very good, once I received some drawn butter.
Helpful Staff
The hotel staff members were helpfuloverall. The doorman and bell staff offered suggestions for restaurants and willingly provided directions to Rockefeller Center. There was never a problem catching a taxi from the hotel. I thought it was strange that we had to explain more than once how to find the hotel on our return trip.
If you stay there, remember that the hotel is at the corner of Lexington and 48th Street. Apparently giving the exact street address does not suffice.
When I checked out of the hotel, the manager asked me if my new room had been better than the first. Apparently, my multiple requests for non-smoking had not gone unnoticed. At last! (And yes, I found out later my traveling companion had a box of Godiva chocolates in her room.)
Were they supposed to give the chocolates to the crabby woman or the poor woman traveling with her? I'll never know.
Conclusion
I would have given the hotel a better overall rating had we not been stuck in a smoking room the first night. I was paying $350 for that mini-suite so I guess you could say the "smoke clouded by view" a bit overall. For $350 I should have gotten a very nice, non-smoking room. They should be more attentive to their reservations to ensure guests receive the type of accommodations they are expecting.
I feel the hotel could have done a better job of keeping the hallways smelling cleaner and fresher – although I guess it wouldn’t make a lot of difference to someone requesting a smoking room.
Recommended:
No
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diverpam
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Member: Pam
Location: Collierville, TN
Reviews written: 263
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~~~~So many oceans...so little time!~~~~
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