We stayed at this hotel on a last minute business trip to New York and our experience was a real nightmare. From the moment we checked in, we waited 40 minutes to be greated by staff who are indifferent and even rude to customers. As per the rooms, they are old, dirty and there is that smell...

When we check out, we discoverd that we were charged more than $ 300 of phone calls to various states in the midwest, when we never used once the phones. Trying to explain to the reception lady that we did not place these call and that we did not know of anyone in Missouri, was truly a nightmare. After more than 40 minutes of arguments, the manager finally came and after a proper verification, they cancelled these long distance calls from our bill without even a word of apology.

You can find much better hotels in New York for $ 199, with good location and great staff. Avoid at all cost the Pensylvannia.

I stayed there on a business trip. The reception at the front desk was rude. I called in many times with my travel agent that I need to have internet access and it is high speed. When I arrived it was late and that the so called "internet access" for them is DIAL UP. I cannot believe it. I think they are MISLEADING. I made SPECIFIC instructions and requirement when making a reservation on my hotel stay. And this is the ONLY time when someone told me internet access DOES NOT MEAN DSL or Wireless, but DIAL UP. HA! Not to mention they DID NOT state this when I called and ask about DSL/Wireless. And of course they charge you when you make local calls using their "dial up" internet access. Besides this, the room has paints fall off, DIRTY and it SMELLS. The bath room has a whole in the ceiling and everything is not on what they described in the website. I complaint to the manager at the front desk and he told me to pay for an upgrade. I personally DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE TO STAY IN THIS HOTEL.

We stayed in this hotel a few years ago, but i was reading some of your reviews and felt I had to have my say.
The hotel IS cheap and nasty, and I wouldnt go back there, especially after watching a 'Top 10 Best' programme on the Discovery channel recently. The hotel wasnt the best in New York but it did come 2nd in the list as having one of the best bathrooms in the world-not for humans but for DOGS. Apparently the annual dog show is held there and the organisors book an entire ballroom just so the dogs can crap on the floor.
Enough said.

I actually stayed there twice, for four days/three nights the beginning of July and for three days/two nights the beginning of August, 2006.

I was not expecting luxury and was quite satisfied. I stayed on the fifteenth floor the first time and the sixteenth floor the second. The "views" from both rooms were not great, but I was not there for the view. The beds were adequate (even the folding bed that we needed the first night in August was comfortable, according to the young woman who slept on it), the sheets and towels were clean, as was the bathroom. The pillows are a bit thin, but they're soft enough that I was able to fold mine in half to get the depth I wanted.

Food in the hotel restaurants and coffee shop was good and probably average-priced for New York. When a bottle of Diet Coke costs $2.00 (the same as most anywhere else in the city), you can judge what other prices were.

I found the staff to be quite pleasant and helpful, perhaps because I was never trying to check in or out the same time as any large groups.

My friends and I found the hotel adequate for our purposes and absolutely excellent as a base for exploring the rest of Manhattan. Y'all gotta remember you're in the Big City, folks! If you want things just like home, don't travel!