Saturday, August 24, 2013

Hotel Roosevelt

Never have stayed here at the Roosevelt, but attended a number of meetings in function rooms over the years...looked to me like the place required a lot of maintenance and I wonder if they have kept it up and how it is now, price-wise

Ho-ho...some people like the "vintage" atmosphere, others find it tacky

The Roosevelt Hotel

2.5 star rating
236 reviews Rating Details
Categories: Hotels, Caterers  [Edit]
45 E 45th St
(between Madison Ave & Vanderbilt Ave)
New York, NY 10017
Neighborhood: Midtown East
(212) 661-9600
Nearest Transit Station:
Grand Central - 42 St. (S)
Grand Central - 42 St. (4, 5, 6, 6X)
Grand Central - 42 St. (7, 7X)
Price Range:
$$$
Accepts Credit Cards:
Yes
Wi-Fi:
Paid

Review Highlights   What's this?

  • "Excellent location, just a block from Grand Central." In 51 reviews
  • "...I needed the exercise after all the amazing eating we did in NYC." In 45 reviews
  • "...Central Park, theater district, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, etc." In 29 reviews
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235 reviews in English

  • Review from

    • 12 friends
    • 70 reviews
    Humble, TX
    7/9/2013 1 check-in here
    Hey, sitting in the dark bar area, drinking a bourbon and coke under a picture of Theodore Roosevelt that sits above the mantle.  The only way that could be better is if I were allowed to have a big ole' stogie and be planning a safari!

    BULLY!
  • Review from

    • 27 friends
    • 5 reviews
    Sherman Oaks, CA
    7/23/2013
    I never complain about hotel rooms but this was so awful.  I imagine most rooms at the hotel are better than this one, but they over booked and gave us I think the only room left in the joint.   I think it was the worst possible room.  Directly across from the elevators on the 3rd floor.  Room 302.  Gasp!  The floor smelled of smoke.  The ice machine was broken, the room was small, and the view was of a rooftop, but all tha is fine...it was THE BATHROOM.  It made me sad like I was in a hospital dying of a terminal illness..I'm not kidding.  It was clearly for a disabled person, it had rusty hand rails and a drain in the middle of the floor...duct tape and a toilet type seat in the shower.  It was so awful.  My boyfriend joked that he didn't know I booked us at Attica prison.  The floor flooded each time we showered.  I was on my hands and knees trying to swish the water to the drain with towels..gag.  We had to walk in 3 inches of flood ...It smelled of a convalescent home.  We tried to change rooms but they were sold out and so rude to us.  The bed was also uncomfortable and the room smelled of cigarettes.  So disappointing.

    Lobby was pretty nice, I think there is a cool roof top bar and the location is good.  Price was good too...but we got the shaft on our room choice.
  • Review from

    Austin, TX
    6/20/2013 1 photo
    So I'm just going to get right to the point & list how I feel about this hotel. I stayed here June 2013 in room 1426.

    I will preface this by saying I've stayed at many many hotels in 2013 alone as I travel frequently for my job. 16 trips & hotels to be exact. So I'd say I'm qualified to pass judgment on a hotel.

    The good:
    -location:very close to 5th Avenue & a quick walk to Times
    -lobby: charming

    The not so good aka bad:
    -the lady at check in just seemed like she hated life. She was not personable and really didn't belong at the front desk where she is the first person I talk to
    -ok people please stop confusing charming & traditional with outdated and in need of repair and a bad touch up job
    -my bathroom was in need of being replaced especially the bathtub/shower area. One too many cover up touch up jobs gone wrong. It was the first time I had to think long and hard about whether I even wanted to shower. Don't worry I decided to shower
    -I think the room was smaller than my college dorm room. My goodness. The only way I could fully open my suitcase was if it was on the bed.
    -no dresser to unpack
    -small small small bathroom with pedestal sink aka where in the world am I supposed to put my toiletries
    -it is 2013, why are you charging for internet but if you have to charge why must you charge per device!
    -6 elevators so why am I waiting 5 minutes for one
    - the worst part: I didn't have an inside facing room so anytime I was in the room I was involuntarily subjected to an unpleasant melody of vehicle horns including a nice round at 1am! Where's the sound proofing
    -I think the floor A/C heating unit was original to the hotel. I prefer central air

    I only stayed here because it was very close to my event venue. The entire time I just wanted to be at the hotel brand where I am an elite member.
    Never again never again.
  • Review from

    Hicksville, NY
    8/1/2013 1 check-in here
    The Roosevelt has that old decor  Yes, it is very historical and has beautiful architecture.  The lobby and ball rooms are very beautiful. We had breakfast the food was very good. but the service was awesome. we had a waiter called Thomas he went out of his way to make us happy.  They are very lucky to have staff that cares about making the customers happy.
  • Review from

    Hartford, CT
    5/28/2013
    What a gorgeous hotel. The location is perfect (a stone's throw from Grand Central), the lobby is dramatic and opulent, and the in-house bars and lounges are lovely.

    I booked a room here for my sister's bachelorette party last weekend - just two double beds for 4 occupants (since the rest of her party lived in NYC). I have obvious issue with the hotel overbooking with a huge conference so the room we paid for online wasn't available. The staff was so nice and tried to accomodate each frustrated customer in a line about 20 deep, which took a longggg time to work through.

    I overheard the family in front of us, who booked a double bed room, and they were given one queen bed and some cots as a sorry substitute. Naturally, I, too, was exasperated once it was my time to check in and learned that the room wasn't available. I tried not to lose my cool and kill the messenger with my impatience (it wasn't this particular gal's fault that the hotel was this sorely overbooked).

    Well, it pays to be nice. They searched around for another room so we wouldn't have to deal with a bunch of cots and lo & behold, we were upgraded to The Roosevelt Suite - a lavish 5 room marble suite with three bedrooms, 3 baths, quite a view, plus a formal dining room and kitchen area.

    Delightful! Still have to balance out 1 star frustration with a 5 star outcome, so 3 it will be.
  • Review from

    San Francisco, CA
    5/29/2013 1 photo
    The Roosevelt has that old world charm to it.  Yes, it is very historical and has beautiful architecture.  The lobby and ball rooms are very beautiful.

    I found a deal on hotwire so stayed there for one night.  If I could describe the rooms, it would be old and tiny!  My room was on the 4th floor and it is what you would call New York living....tiny tiny space.  The room was cramped with a king bed and desk.  We could barely find room to walk once we put our luggage inside.  The window was small and we had a great view of a brick wall.  The closet and bathroom doors open into each other, so you couldn't really have both open at the same time.  Bathroom was very very small and outdated.  There's no counter space but they put up some glass shelves on the walls.  The grout on the bathtub was chipped off and there were lots of scratches that they tried to paint over with caulking.  Luckily the flatscreen tv was mounted on the wall to save some space.

    The gym was decent and they had a basket of bananas and apples in there.  We got to chill for a little bit in the lobby which was nice.  The location is pretty good since it's close to Central Park and 5th Ave.  It was just OK for me, but I wouldn't stay there again.  It's not cheap.  Also no free wifi.  I'd prefer a larger space and something a little newer.
    • nice lobby but the rooms are not as great

  • Review from

    Chicago, IL
    4/28/2013 1 check-in here
    Not sure if I wanna call this place a dump or just a vintage hotel

    Pros:
    Nice historic scenery
    Nice bar on the inside
    Very nice customer service/staff
    centralized Midtown Manhattan location

    Cons:
    Old ass broken down iron that leaked water all over my shirt
    Elevators that take forever to close or open
    Old sinks & tubs that need to be replaced
    No one answering the wakeup call request after hours
    Over $200 a night

    Ok spot to stay in if in NY for a short amount of time
  • Review from

    • 0 friends
    • 5 reviews
    Broken Arrow, OK
    7/12/2013
    Planned a business trip to NYC and the Roosevelt was closest to the location of my meeting.  After reading the reviews here I was somewhat nervous about my stay.  I stayed in one of their "Cozy rooms", which are cozy but for one person it was just fine.  Yes, it was small but again for one person it was fine.  I had no issues with the staff or my key card as others have mentioned, nor a long wait on the elevators.  My room was very clean and very quite.  No traffic or noise from other rooms.

    You cannot beat the location of this hotel, close to time square, Empire state building and Broadway.  But be prepared to pay for things you might be used to getting for free, such as breakfast, paper or internet.  Their Business Center did allow you to check in your flight and print off your boarding pass for no charge.

    Prior to staying I did call and ask if they had a shuttle service from the airports, they stated no, but recommended Air-link, a shuttle service which was only $54.00 round trip.  This service goes to surrounding hotels to pick up other people traveling but I did get to the airport in plenty of time to make my flight back and it took about an hour and a half to arrive at the hotel.  If you have the time to allow this, it is a good money saver than taking a cab or car.  The shuttle van was clean and smoke free.

    Yes, I would stay there again.  You just need to be aware of what you will or will not experience at this hotel.
  • Review from

    Joliet, IL
    5/28/2013
    The first time I stayed here the room I stayed in was beautiful.  I was convinced I had landed a 5 start hotel on accident on priceline.  My room was clean and my bed was plush and amazing.

    The second time I stayed here it was obvious that it wasn't quite a five star.  Our AC was broken and then we had a leak from a room above and had to transfer to a different room a few floors up.  Which for whatever reason was even smaller than our original room.

    The plus side is that the staff is pretty helpful and if you check in on foursquare you can get free internet access for the duration of your stay... which would be crack prices otherwise.

    I would stay at the Roosevelt again mostly because it it one of the cleaner hotels I've had the privilege of staying at...although it's Midtown...so that helps.  It was right around the corner from my class at the Redken Exchange which was ideal.
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