Flatotel International Hotel - Page 1

Trendy, modern hotel. Lobby is very unique with stylish modern furniture. Location is very good - a few blocks from Central Park, Times Square, 5th Avenue. Not exactly family friendly, but excellent for business/couples travel. Nice bar and restaurant attached to the lobby - though prices are expensive.

The Flatotel is a nice hotel for the money. The decor is trendy and upscale looking, and the basket of apples is a really fun touch. The 24 hour roomservice is good, and the 3am pizza is a real lifesaver. The bar is the centerpice of the lobby. If you can book, or get your room upgraded to a suite, it is one of the best places to stay in NYC and the upgraded rooms are great to use as hospitality suites and business meetings. the JR suites are large, and some have large balconies. The 2 bedroom suites are vast. An issue here is that the suites have different layouts, so you don't really know what youre room is like till you open the door.

They need to address some longstanding maintenance issues. The wiring in the hotel is consitantly a problem and it is not uncommon to have to get the breakers reset for the bathroom after attempting to use the supplied hairdryer. The elevators are as slow as hospital elevators. The top floor fitness room is full of old and broken equipment and it is a tragic waste that this really cool space (with its rooftop balcony) hasn't been turned into a bar and patio for guests.

There is no concierge/club floor. They also really need a frequent guest programme as I have stayed there about 20 times this year and still am not recognised by the desk staff.

I was somewhat wary of staying here after reading a few negative reviews, but this hotel is actually very nice for a NYC hotel. The service is very good, the staff is friendly and attentive (if a bit misinformed about things like post office schedules, they need to develop a better concierge knowledgebase), I stayed in a deluxe renovated room with a queen bed, which was very comfortable. The a/c was not working but an engineer showed up within minutes after my call and fixed it in no time flat (just a thermostat reset issue). The decoration is nice, the bathroom is HUGE and well equipped, though they forgot to stock it with shampoo. The small kitchenette is basically useless except to do things like warm milk. There is a nice SubZero small fridge, which was a nice touch. Jazz band in the bar in the evenings was very good. I did not order from the restaurant, but it was packed almost every evening, apparently it is very popular (Moda). They also have a huge basket of large, fresh red and green apples in the lobby every day. Security is good, they have a big, well-dressed guard near the elevators checking to make sure everyone going up has a key and belongs in the hotel. The Internet is free but it is wired only, 10 mbps and two slow during the day and early evening, but usable. All in all, a pleasant stay, I would definitely stay here again!

I checked in and found that the toilet didn't work and one of the dresser drawers was missing a runner, so it wouldn't open or close.

On my way out to dinner, I notified the front desk. I came back 6 hours later; and no one had ever come to the room to fix the problems. I called down again; a half hour later a plumber fixed the toilet, but no one fixed the dresser.

The next morning I turned on the shower, and the handle popped off. And the showerhead was broken and wouldn't spray any water. I called down to the front desk and told them I was in a hurry as I had a meeting to get to. 15 minutes later I called down again, "You are going to get me fired. Pick another room for me to shower in until you can figure out how to get someone up to my room to fix the shower." I showered on another floor while the problem was supposedly getting fixed. I came back to my room after the meeting to find that the shower was still broken.

Other delightful amenities at the Flatotel include un-insulated windows (there's some newspaper crammed into the crack in my room 1003), so you have to have the heat on constantly, plus you hear the howling wind through the crack all night.

I travel a lot for business, and this is the worst hotel experience I have ever had. They have bad lodging and even worse customer service.

The location is perfect and the reservations manager outdid himself to accommodate our needs.

This hotel made me feel welcome: Everyone was very friendly and helpful.