After hearing about Leona Helmsley and her hotel empire – I had some fairly high expectations for this hotel. I didn't choose to stay there - my employer's travel agent did. I had originally chosen the Grand Hyatt but the Helmsley was cheaper and only a few blocks away, so corporate travel policy chalked up another victory against the rank-and-file employee.

First impressions were that the decor of this hotel (built in 1980) was sorely outdated and needed to be brought up to the 21 century. I felt like I had walked into a bad early 80's television drama. I just wasn't all too impressed. One of the tables in my room was wobbly and I didn't sense that Leona herself had ever been into my room with her checklist of 1002 details to fuss over. Now my complaints. When it came to visual appeal, everything, and I mean everything – the tables, lamps, wallpaper, curtains, etc., was ugly.

The room service was very good - the food was hot, well prepared and delicious. The price was less than I had expected, but on the other hand I wasn't paying for it either. The only problem I had was that there was no bottle opener for the beer I had ordered with dinner. After a call to room service and searching around the room - I finally found it - on the door jamb inside the bathroom about 2 feet off the floor. Interesting.

The bed was comfortable - well made with down pillows. There was a regular pillow in the closet (which I prefer) and I slept like a baby.

I had hoped that there would be high-speed internet so I could get some work done. But there was none. There was a dataport on the back of the phone - but with local calls running $1.00 for the first minute and 15 cents a minute thereafter, it would add up and since dial-up internet is not the most reliable (and too slow for my level of patience), I decided to relax and watch TV instead.

Despite the outdated and cheesy decor, the hotel itself is well appointed and seemingly a pleasant place to stay. The hotel staff were very friendly and courteous. The room was clean. I enjoyed the view of Manhattan and the Empire State Building from the spacious windows in my room on the 32nd floor. The shower had good pressure and the temperature of the water did not fluctuate. As for the little things that I look for, the clock radio was a decent Sony model – not a $9.99 Kmart special. The TV was fairly new but a few local TV stations did not come in clearly due to the proximity of the hotel to the Empire State Building where the TV stations have been transmitting from since the unfortunate loss of the World Trade Center. Not Leona’s fault – she’s not a television engineer and when the hotel was built it wasn't a problem.

There were no vending machines anywhere in the hotel - and around 11:00 pm or so I was thirsty. Rather than charge my expense account another 5 bucks for a bottle of Evian, I ended up walking around the block to a 24 hour deli and grabbed a couple of bottles of Poland Spring for half the price.

I guess my real complaint is with my employer's travel agent in not having enough "business traveller" hotels at their disposal.

Recommended: Yes