Day One in NYC

During our three day, two night stay in New York City, Lena and I stayed at the Hudson Hotel at 356 West 58th Street. The hotel does not look like much from the outside, but inside it is amazing. The escalator just as you walk through the front door takes you up from street level to a large reception area. There the room is decorated with dark brick walls, dark wood flooring and a large chandelier hanging over the center of the long dark wooden reception counter where the staff is very friendly and egger to help with any thing you need. High above your head is an ivy covered trellis and the room is filled with accent lighting in just the right places. The hotel décor inside is on the dark side, so if you’re looking for a well lit, bright sunny place, this is not the hotel for you.

We had a room on the sixth floor with a window that over looked the center court of the hotel, or as they called it, “The Private Park”. The room was very clean, and just the right size for us. To most people, the room probably is very small, but we are only there to crash at the end of the day, not live there, so it was good for us. It consisted of the main room with a standard queen size bed, a small desk table and chair with a lamp at the foot of the bed, two small night stands at each side of the bed, a small cabinet with a radio and other stuff you have to pay for if you use them, and a wall mounted flat panel TV. The bath room was also just big enough with a small sink, toilet and a good sized shower, no tub which was fine for us.

I had three complaints about our room, the first was it smelled like smoke. We are not smokers, so it was a bit stinky, but a nice scented candle and having the window open all night and every day took care of that. The second was, the window which we had to leave open the first night, was over looking the center court yard, which is one of the three bars of the hotel called “The Private Park”. The noise from the large crowd below our window and the music, made it difficult to get a good night sleep the first night there. The second night, I closed the window and turned the air conditioner down to about 55 degrees. Remember, my wife is Swedish and I’m from Wisconsin, so we like the air temp cold with the use of blankets and our natural body heat to stay warm at night :]~ The second night sleep was much better with the well insulated window closed. The only other issue we had was what we run into at all hotels; down pillows. My wife is allergic and I just can not sleep on something that soft. The hotel staff did bring us some regular pillows right away and all was well.

We did not eat at the restaurant here at the hotel, so I can not comment on the service or quality of the food. We did look over the menu, and decided this town has lots of places to eat, so let’s go else where.

The hotel has three bars, two on the main floor, and one on the 15th floor. We spent some time on the 15th floor outdoor terrace which is a large landscaped terrace with a view of the city and Hudson River. We found it very nice and quite. The weather was perfect, so sitting outside was very nice. The only issue we had was they stopped serving food at 5:00 pm, but our very attractive server did suggest two restaurants near by.
We also used the large outdoor bar area they called the Private Park a few times just to sit and chill out after walking all day. This “park” is surrounded by the building itself, and sits below our room window, along with many other room windows. The “park” is half covered by a 45 foot high ivy covered wooden & glass roof. The brick walls are also covered in ivy. The “park” is decorated like someone’s outdoor patio with many comfortable chairs, couches, benches and small tables.
The third bar is very modern and artsy looking, with lots of glass and a hand painted ceiling. We went in here once for a quick drink and that was it. We didn’t take part in any of the night life here just because we wore ourselves out walking the town all day.

This hotel also has a very nice library which reminds me of an old English club or drawing room. There is a pool table, a few chess and checker boards set up, a very large fire place, and of course many books to read if you so desire. This is a very cozy place to sit, hang out, and have a drink.

The prices at all the bars in the hotel were very, very expensive to us, but it’s New York, right?
The entire staff was very friendly and the concierge was very knowledgeable and a great help. If you get in early before check in, as we did, you can check your luggage at the hotel and they will hold it for you while you wait for your room and check out the city. The same is true at check out time. Our train didn’t leave until 9:00 pm, but we had to check out at noon. There was no problem for them to hold our luggage until we were ready to leave for the train station. We even needed to change clothes at one point, so we got the one bag we needed, changed, when gave them the bag back and continued with our day.
The only reason I gave the value rating a Good and not an Excellent is because of the prices of the drinks and food. The bed rating was also only a Good because of the down pillows, but that is at most hotels. The mattress was firm and a good size, but it was close to the floor, but I spent many years on a mattress and box spring just on the floor, no frame, so it was like old times.
The hotel itself is conveniently located to the A,C & B,D subway station at the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle, Central Park, and easy walking distance to Times Square and the Broadway Theaters. We enjoyed our stay here, and unless we find someplace less expensive, but still conveniently located, we will stay here again.