Freehand New York

Very Disappointing stay, the rooms are very cold and the Bed is under the window with a very bad cold draught. There is no tea or coffee making facilities, we found the receptionist extremely rude and lacked good customer service a guy with a beanie hat on, gave us no information when checking in, on our last night no clean towels was left in the room extremely disappointing getting out the shower to find no towels! Not even an apology at reception, but we found the luggage guy extremely helpful and friendly and helped us with directions and taxis! To get to the bar on the 18th Floor you need to leave the hotel and go round the corner into the basement area to goto the top floor! Very strange considering the lifts in the hotel goto the top floor! As a regular hotel user I have found this hotel extremely poor, with generally poor customer service which I find strange for New York as most people are happy and friendly! Disappointing visit for New Year!

Firstly on arrival, the welcome was gruff to say the least… I would say the reception staff are so “cool” it’s verging on frosty! The $40pn facility fee is non negotiable, not explained and felt like a heavy handed rip off. Having since got home and read other reviews it appears that we would have been entitled to complementary bottled water every day but this was never mentioned. One receptionist told one of our party that it was a tax, another receptionist told us that it was for use of the gym and the Wi-Fi. Either way you’re going to have to pay it so factor that in if you have booked via a third-party like we did. Once we had made our way through the unwelcoming reception experience, we got to our rooms we were all on different floors so all had different experiences. Those on the 17th floor had a very small room that was directly under the rooftop bar so that meant getting to sleep anything before midnight was fairly impossible, their double bed was pressed against the wall so one of the party had to shimmy in and out through the end of the bed. They did however, have a great view. We were on the 10th floor and the room was nice and quiet but had zero view. All of the rooms had very limited storage facilities, just one small wardrobe so we had to live out of our suitcases, and our room on the 10th floor had no mirror in the bedroom only a mirror in the bathroom which got steamed up as there was no extractor fan. Some rooms the Aircon worked some rooms it didn’t. We all agreed the bathrooms were nice if very small. Housekeeping do a great job. However, the carpets in the room rooms are black and look a bit worn but that’s not housekeeping’s fault! We went to the rooftop bar which is very hard to get to because you can’t get to it from the internal lift. It was incredibly noisy and the drinks were unpleasant. On another evening we went to the bar on the second floor and this was much better. There are no tea and coffee machine making facilities in the room, but there is a great coffee shop on the ground floor. All in all, it was okay as a base, but I wouldn’t stay there again. The guys who helped us with our luggage on the final day were lovely, maybe if the receptionists could cheer up a bit that might help!

We paid over £500 per night to stay at this hotel and accepting that NYC is expensive, this is not good enough for a claimed 4* hotel. The not-so-good-things first. The absolute worst thing is the $40/day “Facility Charge” which is nothing more than a rip off. All this gets you is access to the bars which anyone off the street has anyway. It’s not noted anywhere and is only charged when you book through 3rd party sites such as Booking.Com or Expedia and not mentioned on their sites either. If you book direct, the prices are higher to include this. It is a blatant attempt to disguise the price, and the hotel is too expensive as it is. The room was worn and tired. There were two flickering lights. The air-con did not work so we had a regular fan heater in our room. There are no tea and coffee facilities in the room (we asked for a kettle, and they gave us one but no cups or coffee or even spoons!). There are no cupboards whatsoever. There is a wardrobe with four coat hangers and that’s it, so clothes and things had to be put around the room. No cups in the bathroom. The toilet is very low and small! The lighting is appalling and very dark until daylight. The rooftop bar was uneventful and lacking in character and the staff were more interested in talking to each other and drinking their own cocktails! NOW the good things Great location with easy access to walk or cab to all of the major tourist sites and some nice bars and restaurants locally. We had a corner exec room which was very spacious. The shower was really nice, and the room was very clean. Massive TV with loads of channels. Bed was comfy. We had great views from the 14th floor.

Booked for work via work 3rd party and because of that was out in not the room I booked but a room with bunk beds. No outlets in the bathroom, thermostat was in operative and kept flashing Error, lights very dim. Also VERY expensive. Never ever again.

Very Disappointing Stay – Not Worth the Price Probably one of the worst hotels I’ve ever stayed in, especially given the price point. I stayed for a week in a queen bedroom, and the room was tiny—barely enough space for one person, let alone two. I could hardly open my suitcase, and the bathroom was so cramped there was nowhere to place a toiletry bag and there wasn't even a glass for my toothbrush. No coffee or tea facilities either, which is surprising for a supposed 4-star hotel. The room had a dark, worn carpet with visible damage, and the heating didn’t work. Instead, they placed two portable electric heaters in the room—again, not what you’d expect from a 4-star property. The hallway and elevator constantly smelled unpleasant, which made coming back after a long day in the city really unwelcoming. I’m generally not picky and I understand New York hotel rooms tend to be small, but this was exceptionally poor—especially for the price. There are definitely better options out there, and I’ll be choosing one of them next time. The only positive mention goes to the staff handling the luggage storage—they were genuinely lovely and helpful.