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Bill Haithcoat

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I will be in NYC in mid-August.

I have always stayed at the Paramount(formerly Century Paramount) in Times Square and love it and the location. However, I must save as much money as possible since I hope to travel across Canada next year.(and just possibly may have to pay for it this year)

By looking at Hotel.com I have discovered the Pennsylvania Hotel, very near Penn Station. It is at 401 7th Avenue, between 32nd and 33rd Streets.One can get a single unrefurbished room for $85.95. What a deal! But is it too good to be true? Is it, perhaps, a "dump"? Anyone fill me on this hotel? Is it"ok"?.
 
Bill,

The Hotel Pennsylvania is a pretty decent hotel. The lobby is certainly classy and not indicative of a dump. The hotel sits directly across 7th Avenue from Penn Station. In fact one can actually reach the hotel without ever setting foot outside, simply by using the underground subway passages for the 7th Ave line.

I've never personally stayed there, however I have wandered through the lobby. The biggest complaint that I've ever heard with regard to the hotel is, that the rooms can be a little small. However, if all you need is a place to hang your hat (as it where) for the night, then it probably won't matter to you. The hotel has security and is located in a relatively safe area. I don’t know that I would suggest walking around at 2 or 3 in the morning, but otherwise you shouldn’t encounter any problems.

I'm not real sure what they mean by an un-refurbished room, as to my knowledge the whole hotel was redone a few years ago.

You can check out the hotel's website here.

One other quick thought: Just check out the policies of the on-line company that gave you that deal. Often they require payment up front, meaning that they will charge your credit card immediately. Also double check the cancellation policies. Make sure that you can live with the above. If you can, then I would say go for it! :)
 
Thanks for the advice, Alan....I will give it very serious thought. I will be arriving at 4.42 p.m(from Boston, not from Atlanta) so the idea of not having to deal with either a cab or subway(with luggage, that is) at that hour is extremely appealing.

Besides which, the rooms at my beloved Paramount are very small also.I will be staying three nights. Do you have any experience with the Paramout? Any thoughts on a comparison?I know it has spiffied up its lobby significantly in recent years.
 
Bill Haithcoat said:
Besides which, the rooms at my beloved Paramount are very small also.I will be staying three nights. Do you have any experience with the Paramout? Any thoughts on a comparison?I know it has spiffied up its lobby significantly in recent years.
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Bill,

Sorry, no experience with the Paramount. In fact, I don't think that I've ever even heard of it. Then again since I've lived my whole life within sight of NYC, if not in NYC, I really have no reason to stay at a hotel within NYC.

The only reason that I really know about the Pennsy, is that I checked it out for our AppleFest this past January for a few people who were attending and needed a room for the night.
 
I have stayed in this hotel (Pennsylvania Hotel), and find it a good value. The rooms are simple with nothing fancy or new, and a bit small. By "small" I mean funny things happen. You may not be able to open the bathroom door without it banging into the closet door, and you may have to plan your walk around the bed. It is clean, quiet, and convenient.
 
My aunt used to work in the Hotel Pennsylvania back when it was the Statler. Another interesting tidbit is that the Maury Povich talk show is filmed in the building. Haven't been in it in many years but it's location is ideal for Amtrak usage or MSG events.

The area isn't terrible even at 2 or 3 AM as I've walked in that area many times before at that hour. Things are more dicey further west of 8th Avenue especially at night.
 
I personally loved the hotel I stayed at when I was in New York last summer, called Hotel Newton. The rooms were very decently sized, had airconditioning (very important for a Floridian such as myself), and had a very friendly staff. It is right at the enterance to the 1-2-3-9 Subway Station at 96th and Broadway. They have rooms ranging in size from Twin rooms to Deluxe suites (my room) featuring two ueen beds, refrigorator, and a microwave. My only complaint, crappy cable selection, but then again hotel and good cable aren't two words you hear together very often. There is a great pizza place nearby (I'll be damned if I can remember the name of it), along with a McDonalds, several drugstores, and a laundromat. Check them out here.
 
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Broadway a couple years ago... it was very convenient the morning of our Silver Palm departure - just rolled the bags down the sidewalk for a minute or two, and walked into Penn Station.

I would avoid the hotel's in-house restaurant, though... it looked really greasy and unclean.
 
While we're on the subject, I know of a nice hotel with a good restaurant in the NY Area, if you want you could get off in Newark, NJ, and walk through the overpass to the Gateway Center, Accessible via the escalators to track 5 (You have to go down from the track you arrive on and head towards the Mc Donalds, the escalators are next to it), walk straight and down the end of the hall and turn right, you'll reach the Hilton Gateway Hotel, you can even go across to the station to do a little train watching in Newark Penn. Theres a restaurant called bentley's next to the hotel, very good restaurant, its where my family goes to kill time before catching the Silver Meteor. There used to be a NJ Transit "Transit Shoppe," but it closed on January 31. There shouldn't be a fare difference if you choose to head there. New York would still be only a stop away via NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor or North Jersey Coast Line.

Hoboken Terminal too is accesible via NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line (and Select North Jersey Coast Line) trains, again one stop and you could see where many lines terminate (including mine, the Morris and Essex Lines). It also gives you a chance to see Diesels, electrics, and some Metro-North Equipment, if you choose coordinate your stay that way.

Bill What Dates are you planned to stay in NY?
 
Amfleet said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe PATH also has service into lower Manhattan from Newark Penn Station.
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I'm sorry, at present you are wrong Amfleet. :) Since 9/11 PATH trains can no longer reach lower Manhattan. PATH trains can only run to 34th Street and 6th Avenue, which is technically mid-town Manhattan, from Newark.
 
Thanks guys for all the suggestions. Ii will probably make my selection in about a month..

Viewliner, you mention using Newark as a terminal.I appreciate the suggestion but that would not really work for me since I will be approaching the city from Boston, rather than Atlanta.Besides which my rail reservations have already been made. But I WILl take you up on suggestions about visiting the scene in NJ and perhaps eating at Bentley's.

You asked when I would be in NYC---my itinerary is as follows:

Aug. 10, leave ATL standard bedroom

Aug. 11, ar. WAS

Aug. 11, lv WAS Acela first class to Boston

Aug. 11 ar. Boston

Aug. 13, lv Boston Acela business class

Aug. 13 ar. NYC

Aug. 16 lv NYC deluxe bedroom

Aug. 17 ar ATL
 
How can you go wrong with the hotel that Glenn Miller stayed at and played at! Anyone else remember a little ditty called "Pennsylvania 6-5000" introduced by the same great swing era band that gave us "Chattanooga Choo-Choo", one of the greatest rail songs of all times? (No, I'm not really old enough to have heard Glenn Miller live but I do love his music! :D )

seajay
 
Many thanks for pointing out this connection,Seajay, to me as a native Chattanoogan. I ever so vaguely think I remember the Pennsylania phone number song you cite, of course I grew up hearing "Chattanooga Choo Choo" constantly. I did not know about this connection. I think that pretty well cinches that I will stay there. Thanks again.
 
Bill,

I'm looking at staying one night in the Hotel Pennsylvania and would be curious to know what your experience was. You can't beat the reasonable price and convenience to Penn Station.
 
National,

While I'll let Bill tell you more about his experience and his overall impression of the hotel, I can tell you that Bill stayed in the Pennsy during the great Blackout of 2003.

While I certainly hope that such an experience is never repeated, Bill was lucky enough that the Pennsy still has windows that open, unlike many Manhattan hotels. So while he had no elevators, basically no water, and no A/C during the heat wave, he did at least have the luxury of that open window. The Pennsy was also one of the few hotels that didn't kick their guests out into the street that night.

I don't know if the above is actually a great selling point or not, but I figure that if Bill survived that night, the hotel can't be all that bad. :)
 
National Limited, Alan said it very well for me so far as the blackout experience is concerned. Thank God it was enough of an oldie goldie to have windows that open. What an ordeal. None of it, of course, the hotel's fault.

I recommend the hotel without hesitation, though it is not fancy and the rooms are sort of small. It does not have a full service restaurant but world-famous Lindy's is next door and NYC is full of eating places so who needs it in the hotel. .....I urgently suggest to check out the various websites like hotels.com, expedia, travelocity, etc to get really good rates. I paid only $85 per night, a genuine steal in NYC(and most other cities as well).

They refunded us one night's difference due to the catastrope. Since I had booked online through one of the above, I had to get my refund by contacting the dot.com people not from the hotel directly(since I had not paid them directly). But hopefully you will not have to endure such a thing.

The proximity go Penn Station makes it a winner handsdown. You cannot go wrong.

I will be staying there again to and from Canada this September. I cannot wait to see what it is like with lights, TV, telephone, toilet, bathtub,elevator, air conditioning, halls that you can see it to walk in, people you don't have to walk into in the dark and scream like a panther(each of you), :lol: :lol: :lol: :p

Actually I did have one good night there before the blackout and things partially came back on the night before my departure. Alan stayed in touch with me about what Amtrak was up to, and, as it turned out my return trip home was completely unaffected. That shower I took in my deluxe bedroom was the first I had had in two or three steaming hot days--and the food--what a relief.

If you read the earlier posts on this forum, my old time favorite NYC hotel for various reasons was the Paramount....won't go into all that.....but my hotel of choice from now on is the Penn, partly because I intend to do more commuter train riding in the future than ever in the past, so needing to be near the station during the course of my trip is helpful.

And if I had stayed at the Paramount, my old favorite, I would probably have had to spend the night on the streets, as Alan pointed out.

Yup, if you don't mind climbing 13 stories(or more, for some unlucky people) in the dark (I was in room 1319, have not forgotten that) the Pennsy is your deal. :lol: :D (Who EVER remembers their hotel room number?)
 
Ooops--National Limited, I re-read your original post and see that you have already been quoted a reasonable price. But, if reservations have not actually yet been made, do check the dot.com services just to be sure of the best price. Perhaps what you already have been quoted is good enough.
 
I believe OBS Employees have now made the Hotel Pennsylvania their layover hotel after coming in on Silver Service. From what I've heard everyone's had good things to say about it, no issues at all, and a very freindly, helpful staff.
 
I was going to stay at the Hotel Pennsy a few months ago but a relative warned me that when he stayed there it was a $100 deposit on the use of a room telephone and if you wanted a smoke detector in your room then he had to rent one for $10/day - now I can't prove all of this but it swayed me not to stay there.
 
If what you say about the "rental" of a smoke detector is true I'm sure the NYC Fire Marshall's office and the Building Department would love to know this information considering that smoke detectors are required by law in all hotels.
 
AlanB said:
Amfleet said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe PATH also has service into lower Manhattan from Newark Penn Station.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry, at present you are wrong Amfleet. :) Since 9/11 PATH trains can no longer reach lower Manhattan. PATH trains can only run to 34th Street and 6th Avenue, which is technically mid-town Manhattan, from Newark.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but this information is outdated. PATH trains began running again to lower Manhattan last November.

PATH train schedule, effective 23 Nov 2003 :lol:
 
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