HotelChatter

Milling around the entrance was a bunch of shady salesmen selling fake bags and other knock-off items. It's not the welcoming a weary travel hopes for. But this sight is not uncommon for this block as it's right on Canal Street, aka Counterfeit City. So perhaps they should call this hotel Canal Blu instead of "Tribeca."

When he walked inside, the front desk clerk was on the phone and instead of hanging up his call or even placing it on hold, he silently directed our friend to the iPads on the wall for check-in. Except the iPads were broken. So our friend had to wait for the clerk to finish the call before he could get checked-in.

Exhausted, our friend trudged up to his room and even though the small room size had put him off, he rationalized it, as most guests do in NYC, by saying he wasn't going to be in his room much. But the tipping point was that there was absolutely no food to be found in the hotel aside from a bottle of Nestle water next to the bed. He then realized he was paying $209 a night for this "experience." Not cool, especially when other real hotels in the area could be found on HotelTonight for just $40 more a night.

He picked up his bags, went back downstairs and asked for his money back. Then he decided to go balls to the wall and stay at the Bowery Hotel for the night. Rooms there start at around $335 but they include gorgeous bathtubs, a carefully curated mini-bar, free WiFi, closets for your stuff and a better neighborhood. For our friend, the switch was well worth it.

What do you think? Is $209 too much for a hotel room with no room service, no food, and even no closets. Or is that about what you'd expect for NYC? Sound off in comments below!