Another lost opportunity to look on epinions for the reviews FIRST:(
Written: Jan 02 '06 (Updated Jan 02 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: 5 minutes to airport
Cons: booking this hotel without checking here to see if it had been reviewed
The Bottom Line: I'd prefer and recommend sleeping in your vehicle to staying at this hotel. I've slept in better cardboard boxes...
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| thriftymommy's Full Review: Clarion Hotel at LaGuardia Airport |
We recently flew ATA out of LaGuardia Airport. Although that is a different topic, ATA airlines is cheap for a reason. One of them being they lost their contract at Newark and we needed to change our reservations to LaGuardia Airport instead. For us, it made economical sense to sleep over in the city and take the airport shuttle to the airport for our 6AM flight to Denver.
Me being, well, cheap, found "a deal" with a $259 charge for the night at this Clarion coupled with 7 days free parking and a discounted $8 extended parking while we were still on travel. My husband has now sworn that no matter the cost, he will no longer let me make such decisions...this hotel was so bad that the only way I could conceivably not fight my credit card charge is if they refund at least partially my stay.
First of all, I used the airport directions to find the hotel. Being from the Jersey Shore, and not familiar with NYC at all, I did not know that we could have travel over Rt. 278 (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) all the way to the hotel. Using the online directions, we traveled through the Holland tunnel and mid-town Manhattan on surface streets all the way to the hotel. (It was only on the return trip did we realize the misdirections given by their website). This made for a horrid trip through city traffic that had us arrive 2 1/2 hours after we left our home...even though the website directions gave me a travel time of 1 1/4 hours...
When we arrived, we had to find a luggage trolley on our own. No big deal except we had all of our ski gear and numerous suitcases, carry-ons, stroller, and car seats PLUS our three children in an unfamiliar city neighborhood. The time of our arrival was 6PM and just after nightfall; the hotel does face the airport but is not in what I would consider a safe neighborhood (although that may be a euphemism in New York).
The hotel diner is closed Mondays. Did they tell us on their website? Absolutely not. Luckily, we had to order out from either the local pizza place or chinese food place. We chose the pizza place and for $32, we received two large pizzas (one cheese and one pepperoni and sausage), a ceasar and antipasto salad, and a bottle of soda plus they gave us paper plates and extra napkins PLUS delivered to our hotel room door (which tells me anyone can walk into the hotel unchallenged...not my type of safety).
The hotel itself is old and run down with no real atmosphere excet the remnants of a once-upon-a-time renovation (well-lit exterior but poorly lit interior). For what we paid, I expected at least clean and bright. They placed us in an old smoking room that reeked of old cigarette smoke. The room itself held two twin beds, a small one chair table, a small pressboard nightstand with telephone, a broom-closet sized closet that fit two winter coats hung up side by side, and a bathroom the size of my linen closet.
Let me be grosser than usual for one moment please: when our 11 year old son sat down on the toilet, his knees touched the wall in the bathroom. When our 4 year old daughter tried to lay flat in the bathtub, her feet needed to hang over the side.
The entire room was no bigger than 12X10 and reeked not only of old cigarette smoke but also of old paint. When our youngest jumped on the bed (as 4 year olds are prone to do when not in their own bed), she broke the spring and the bed caved in slightly. The rugs were dark and looked unclean so our children never walked barefoot. We half expected roaches or rats or other insects to show themselves in the dead of night...the bathroom floor was sight clean but I don't think it has ever seen a mop.
The only redeeming quality was the cable television. A 27 inch color television took up 1/5 of the room and offered HBO, Disney and local channels. Crisp, clear reception for being next to an airport.
The in-room heater smelled slightly of something burning and was not strong enough to combat the draft coming in from the window above it. We had it on full blast heat until the scent of burning became too overpowering to stand.
In the bathroom, the shower had its own window. At 30 degrees Farenheit outside, I had no desire to bathe outdoors but even with the water turned to the hottest setting, the drafty window allowed for a cold shower despite the scalding hot water. Since we were only there for the night, we did not unpack our toiletries thinking the hotel's soap and shampoo would be sufficient. Unfortunately, this assumption proved to be wrong. We ended up using the entire mini bottle of shampoo in one shower and neither my husband or I felt like going downstairs for another bottle.
There were three towels in the bathroom which all smelled like fish. I like the smell of Clorox on my clothes because I know they are clean. In this hotel, the fishy smelling towels made for an interesting toweling and wet dressing. When I called downstairs for more towels, the person at the desk told me to come down to the basement for more towels. Not likely...
The people at the front desk were pleasant during check-in and check-out. The problem with the staff occured when we appeared in the lobby for the supposed 24-hour shuttle at 4AM (when LaGuardia officially opens for the day). We had already received out 3AM wake-up call and were prepared and in the lobby by 4AM. The person at the desk pointed to the sign and informed us that they did not leave until 4:15AM. Fair enough, we'll help ourselves to some coffee...at 50 cents per cup. Oh, and even though the shuttle starts early enough, the diner across from the check-in desk doesn't open until 7AM.
Unfortunately, some native speakers of other languages fail to consider that those they are speaking about in their native tongue may actually understand and even speak their language. For 20 minutes, I listened to the two people behind the desk (one the shuttle driver) badmouth us, the management of the hotel, and even other guests. It wasn't until one recited a dirty joke and I laughed that they understood that not only could we hear everything they were saying but that we also understood it all did they stop speaking altogether.
Finally, it was time to leave. Our van was parked in a lot connected to the hotels' driveway and there is a live-in trailer on the lot with supposed 24-hour security. The high-walled lot gave me no measure of comfort as to our vehicle's safety until we returned and found it exactly as we left it. The driver of the shuttle loaded up our luggage and took us five minutes away to our terminal. I think to make up for his previous bad comments he went and found a skycap for us...I thanked him in his language and wished him a happy holiday...his face couldn't have been redder!
On our return, using the reservation line in the airport by the baggage pick-up, the shuttle was summoned to the airport to take us back to our vehicle. Unfortunately, the shuttle doesn't pick up at the baggage claim area; you must schlepp all of your luggage upstairs to the ticketing area. When you finally de-planed at midnight but landed at 10PM, that is not an easy task...especially with three tired and cranky children.
The driver loaded all of our luggage after telling us to have a seat and then took us the five minutes across the street to our minivan. He helped my husband unload and load our luggage into our own van and my husband actually tipped him. I went into the trailer and paid a King's Ransom for the parking despite the discount and supposed park&fly savings package. You see, we were charged for the parking day that we arrived so that our total bill came to more than only 4 days of parking.
Overall, if you must travel out of LaGuardia and can stand getting up at the crack of dawn and don't mind airport shuttles from the long-term parking lots, then do so. Otherwise, send your dreaded relatives here for a surprise...and listen to their pleas for mercy.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
thriftymommy
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Member: April
Location: Home of the Hindenburg Disaster, NJ
Reviews written: 90
Trusted by: 49 members
About Me:
The number of people below the official poverty thresholds numbered 36.1 million in 2005.
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