HotelChatter

Room Reaction
The room was fairly spacious by New York City standards. We booked a king room and we had plenty of space to throw our things about. We even had a good old-fashioned closet which most hotels in big cities have started to do away with in favor of a free-standing cabinet. The high ceilings are nice, but not as impressive as we thought they would be.

The decor is modern and a little bit edgier for most Kimpton Hotels. The bed has white sheets (not as soft as we would like) with a deep red blanket and a matching headboard.

Aside from the bed, there is also a lounge chair up against the window so you can relax and watch city life go by or check out the purple billboard for Lace, a gentleman's club. There is a desk and a ergonomic desk chair too but they are on the same wall as the flat-screen TV so when you work you really can't watch the TV. The bathroom featured a stone-tiled shower and a magnifying mirror above the sink, but no bathtub. Oh and the towels were embroidered with the VU hotel logo.

We also loved the nightstands. Aside from having a proper nightstand lamp, the nightstands themselves lit up. So those of us who like to sleep with the lights on when staying in strange hotel rooms, ahem, they can use these nightstands instead of their Snoopy nite-lights.

Before our stay, we were tipped off by hotel expert Alexander Basek that Ink48 didn't really have any old-timey printing warehouse touches lying about and while we love the ink-splattered logo, a few printing artifacts or even old typewriters would have been a nice way to spice up the anonymously-modern decor.

Internet Connect
Internet is free in the guest rooms for guests who enter in a special email address, or so says the front desk clerk. We've been spoiled with our Verizon wireless USB card so we don't sign into hotel networks anymore. But as always, Kimpton's InTouch members get free wireless internet.

Amenity Madness
L'Occitane toiletries in the bath, the Kimpton animal print robe in the closet, gourmet honor bar snacks, and an iHome stereo system for your iPod rounded out the goodies.

We Forgot It and They Got It
Part of Kimpton's fave services is the "Forgot It? We Got It?" toiletry supply where guests can order up the basic necessities needed during their stay. We requested deodorant, a comb, use of the straight iron, toothbrush, toothpaste and contact lens solution. All of those were brought up to our room, free of charge. Typically, the deodorant, comb and contact lens solutions are extra charges but the hotel gave them to us complimentary as an opening perk.

We were then horribly embarrassed when the bellmen delivered these to us because we had no cash on us whatsoever and the nearest ATM was at a gas station nearby. We couldn't tip him and nearly a week later, we still feel horrible.

Bar and Dining Scene
This is still under construction. However, the hotel is offering complimentary breakfast to guests through October 15 on the 4th floor in a meeting room. Bagels, croissants, cereal and the all-important coffee were served. You can sit down at circular banquet tables that were set up for guests or you can take it back to you room. Guess which one we did?

What We Liked
The room size, the toiletry service, the large window, the animal print bathrobe and the stone-tiled shower.

What We Didn't Like
You can hear a bit of the traffic down below and the guest room doors are heavy, meaning they make a lot of noise when people next to you and down the hall close them.

Bottom Line
We paid $269 a night for our room and the total with taxes was $311. It's not ideal for our budget and for a new hotel in Hell's Kitchen, we sort of expected it to be a little less. Maybe $215 would have been nice.