We just stayed at the Refinery Hotel New York in June 2018, just for a night on our way to Boston. Overall it’s fine for a one night or short stay but don’t think I’d want to stay here for much longer than that. Not really what I’d call a family hotel but nothing too major to complain about and it’s an okay stay if you’re looking for something quite convenient and a little bit upmarket without being over the top.
Location is pretty good, about 10 minutes walk from Times Square, close to the New York Public Library, Grand Central Station, Penn Station (all in various directions) and in between 6th and 5th Avenue on 38th Street. There’s a steak house next door at another restaurant which seemed popular and a few food options nearby. Not loads of options, but enough to fill a gap in your tummy. There’s an Australian Pub about 100 metres away, didn’t try that but should have.
On the 31st we’d been up since about 3:30a.m, went downstairs at 530a.m in the morning and asked the guy at reception what time breakfast was, and he wasn’t a happy chappy at all. I presume because I interrupted his phone call with his friends, which was obviously way more important than attending to a guest which had the very difficult question of “what time is breakfast?”. This pretty much sums up the attitude of most service staff we encountered at the two hotels we stayed at in New York.
After he kept me waiting a few minutes while he had a nice conversation with his friends, he hung up, no good morning or hi, or how can I help, I said to him morning, what time is breakfast and he snapped back at me 7a.m and gave me the “what the fuck else do you want face”. Normally I’d have given it back to him about working in the service industry but Grobbler was with me (which made it worse), so I bit my lip and didn’t say anything, until now!
The other staff there were very friendly, particularly the door and lift guys, so I think it’s just that one guy who might have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. A shame, because if it wasn’t for that one slapper at the Refinery Hotel New York, I would probably be more positive in the review. I guess there’s always one bad apple in the bunch, and in New York, this has proven very true.
The beds at the Refinery Hotel New York are pretty comfy, shower is nice and all the amenities are fine and what you’d expect paying this much money. Tiny mini bar with a sign saying something along the lines of “do not put your personal items in here or you will be charged. If you have personal items we will provide a fridge”. Not sure the reasoning behind that but never heard of such a thing. Perhaps it’s an American thing and is common. I can see the reasoning, but it’s still a bit silly to me, Room size was quite small, but the actual room itself is well done and not much to complain about.
There’s a roof top bar at the Refinery Hotel New York which appears to be very busy with people lining up outside the street to get in. Not sure if this is a daily occurrence or they had something one, but no big deal and probably worth checking what all the fuss is about. The lifts, being a bit older, are a bit slow. Again, no big deal but if you’re one of these people that likes modern hotels and all the latest gadgets, the Refinery Hotel New York is not for you.
Would I stay at the Refinery Hotel New York again? Yeah probably, but wouldn’t be in a rush to go back. If someone said they are planning to stay there, that’d be fine, there’s really not much to put you off. Not sure I’d go overboard recommending it, but overall it’s more than fine and is tastefully done. The vast majority of people I know would be more than happy to stay here, it’s just not blow your socks off good and that one space bar at the front desk kind of put a sour taste in my mouth from the beginning.
Breakfast at the Refinery Hotel New York was ok, it’s served in an adjoining restaurant. We ordered a couple of poached eggs, scrambled eggs with some bacon, toast and Crushed Yukons. Painfully slow taking over half an hour. When it finally did come it was alright, not great, not bad, nothing more. We only spent a night here before taking the train to Boston (link here), so didn’t eat anything else.
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