I have an office in Long Island City, but travel into the city often when I am there. This hotel is extremely accessible to and from the city, just a short train ride or a short cab ride.
The views are great. I was fortunate enough to get a room with a balcony; there are only 6 in the hotel. The room was extremely efficient, not very large but certainly large enough. The way the furniture is designed, with desk extensions that fit under the desk, ottoman/seats that fit under the night tables, etc., they have made fantastic use of the space. The TV also has connections for VGA, DVI, etc., so that you can work from your laptop, or view movies from your tablet, etc. Very nice touch. The bathroom was a bit small but again, perfectly functional. The shower itself was a nice size and had convenient dispensers for bath gel, shampoo and conditioner. There could have been a little more shelf space, but it was functional. One aspect I did not like (and this hotel is not alone in this issue) is that in order to turn the water on in the shower, you need to reach past a glass shower wall and turn it on, meaning that your arm will get soaked with cold water, unless you have moved the (rather high) shower head the time before so that it didn't spray in that direction.
I am a Starwood preferred and I am not sure if that is why I got free wifi, but it was very fast, better than most any hotel I have stayed at (and I stay at about 40 - 50 hotels a year). Breakfast was also free with a coupon, but I think that has to do with being Starwood preferred as well. In any case, I never had time for breakfast, but I did see that it was a full served breakfast and not a buffet.
Long Island City and Astoria are great areas; for people who have not been to NY, this is the place to be. It's much "cooler" than staying in NYC (and less expensive, for the most part) and it is really, really convenient. In terms of travel, it is closer to midtown than if you stayed downtown in the city. Closer than say, Greenwich Village is to midtown. Don't let the fact that it is across the river fool you, just think of it as a big boulevard.
Parking is $25 per day in an underground garage, but I was able to park both days on the street. There is alternate side of the street parking on Thursday but you should be fine on other days.
While not inexpensive, this is still a great deal compared to comparable hotels in the city. You can get a hotel midtown for the same price, but it will be of lesser quality.
The hotel staff were extremely friendly, recognized me from my last stay, and were very efficient.
Try and get a balcony room. The front desk told me, when I tried to book in advance for my next trip, that they often offer better deals on the web. I appreciated her honesty.
Room Tip: Try to get one of the six balcony rooms for a fantastic view.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.