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Review: The Belvedere Hotel, New York, NY – Fine If You Like Cockroaches (Photos)

The_Belvedere

From April 5th – April 8th, 2013 my friend and I stayed at The Belvedere Hotel in New York, NY in Room 806. The hotel is located in the heart of New York City’s theater district and centrally located and close to many attractions. The price was also competitive for the area, $300 + tax per night.

Generally I stay in the SoHo area but chose The Belvedere because we wanted to see Tom Hanks in Lucky Guy on Broadway. The hotel was conveniently located close by the theatre.

The rooms at The Belvedere were an adequate size by New York City standards. However, the rooms were clearly in need of a refurbish. When we entered the room we thought that the room looked tired and not completely clean. The comforters on the top of the bed were in need of replacement, they had some pulls on them and looked worse for wear.

The first night at the hotel we went out to dinner, when we returned home we turned on the lights and to our shock and horror we saw bugs scurrying across the floor. We soon recognized them as cockroaches, ughh. We immediately called the front desk and complained about the cockroaches, and asked if the hotel currently had an infestation of the bugs. The hotel clerk, told us that our call was the first they had heard, and she swore the hotel did not have a problem with bugs. However they sent a maintenance staff member up to remove the dead bug carcasses.

When the man arrived he cleaned up the floor and told us he would send a member of the cleaning staff the next morning to give the room a thorough cleaning. One would think the room got a thorough cleaning before we arrived. He then told us that his apartment had cockroaches too and we should not really be bothered about them and he left. Needless to say, that did not
make us feel much better.

That night when we crawled into bed we were nervous about bugs crawling in the room and my friend had nightmares about it. It was not really a restful night. The next morning the cleaning staff came and said they would give the room a good cleaning.

We left for the day and when we returned we looked around for bugs and when we opened the drawer to one cupboard there was a cockroach. We called the front desk and they sent a member of housekeeping. The housekeeping staff came in and looked and said there was nothing there. She took a rag and wiped the floor and she sent the cockroach flying out and the women said, “oh look at that it is a cockroach!”  (photo below)

The rest of our stay we did not see any other cockroaches, but it left us nervous and stressed. It was not exactly the peaceful, stress free vacation we had hoped for.

If you choose to pay for the internet, yes you have to pay, don’t bother, it drops on and off. I paid for the internet for each day and spent more time connecting and reconnecting than working on the internet. I complained to the front desk and they assured me there were no internet problems in the hotel – of course they also said there were no bugs… but when I left the room that morning there was a man working on the internet problems in the hall – I asked him what he was doing and he said “working on the internet problems!”

When we checked out, I told the girl I had no intention of paying for the Internet service. The clerk agreed to deduct the charge from my bill.

My friend asked to speak to the Manager, the Director of The Front Office, Tina Smith came out and my friend told her about our cockroach experience. Ms. Smith told her that there were newer refurbished rooms in the hotel and we probably had one of the rooms that was not refurbished. She offered my friend a free night at the hotel to make up for the aggravation.

After my friend left to get her baggage I spoke to Ms. Smith and told her I was not pleased with her explanation. She told me she had given my friend a night in the hotel to make up for the cockroaches. I told her that I had stayed in the hotel too and there was really no excuse, the room was not properly cleaned, there were cockroaches, the bed covering were worn and the internet was not great.

Ms. Smith apologized and told me she had done all she could and all she was willing to do for us (One night in the hotel for one person for free). Then I mentioned to her that I was a travel blogger and I intended to write about this experience. Ms. Smith asked me if there was anything she could do to fix the situation and avoid the poor review. I told her I felt that I needed to let people know about our horrible experience.

The Belvedere Hotel
319 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036

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