I think this is my first tripadvisor review. I felt compelled to write one after my experience at the Ramada Long Island City. The location of the hotel is convenient. The block the property is on is not an aesthetically pleasing area, but it is safe and street parking is easy to find if you're like me and prefer to drive into the city. Just make sure you take the time to study the parking signs to properly interpret them.

We stay in Long Island City when we drive to NYC from Virginia. We just park the car during our stays and use the subway to get around. The subways are very conveniently located to the property. The closest station - Queensboro Plaza and about 3 blocks away - has the N, Q, R and 7 lines running through it. Queens Plaza (about another block or two away) has the M, the E and the R lines running through. So it's easy to get to any part of the city from this location.

As for the hotel itself, check-in was a breeze and the hotel staff seemed courteous enough. They do offer a very simplistic continental breakfast which I did not take advantage of during my 3-night stay. The room was small but roomy enough for my wife and I. Very cozy and sufficient for us. The carpeting, furniture and fixtures look relatively new and tastefully chosen. My low rating is due to quality issues with the room and my experience while staying in it.

When we first entered the room, there was a very pungent odor in the are - unlike any hotel I've ever stayed in. Turning the ac/heat unit on did nothing to ameliorate the situation. We checked in at 2 am, so we were too tired to request a different room. Also, we had a city view, so we were afraid of loosing that. The odor eventually subsided about a day later.

Another problem we had with the room was with the ac/heat unit. It was loud and problematic. The cover must have been broken because is shook and rattled like an old truck the entire time we were there. It made sleeping difficult, especially when the unit cycles on. But the main problem we had was during the third night. It was a windy night in NYC and there seemed to be a problem with the seals or weather strips around the window. The window was making this incredibly loud howling sound that at times sounded like a train horn. It was freaking loud and made sleeping very difficult. The only way to stop it was to open the window, but it was in the 30's outside - so that really wasn't a viable option

I recorded a video of the howling and showed it to the front desk staff during check-out. The person on duty insisted that I must have not closed the window properly or that the wind may have been seeping in through the ac/heat unit. No apology offered. He simply refused to accept that there could be an issue with the window. Needless to say, my wife and I did not get enough quality sleep during our stay.

The last issue I had was trying to get a government discount applied to my account. I got bounced around between an Asian call center, a customer relations center and the front desk. In the end, the discount was not applied. In the future we will stay away from this property and we'll make sure that our friends and family stay away as well. As a contracting officer for the federal government, I'll make sure that I don't approve any bookings for stays at this property by our employees or contractors while in NY for business travel. Instead, I'll recommend the Four Points property a block over. My wife and I stayed there last year and loved it.

If considering this property, try to get any room but room 707.

Not sure why others gave this hotel a bad review, it is a decent hotel. Safe for a female traveler. Clean, comfortable, plenty of toiletries and towels. Everything one needs ;} Next door to cafe's and convenient stores.