When I first began my current job back in May 2011 I had no idea how much I'd be traveling for work. I must say, it has been one of the most pleasant surprises of my professional life.
Back in May I spent a week working in New York City and stayed at the Gramercy Park Hotel (read my review here). GPH was the one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen - hotel or otherwise. I felt like Belle living in the Beast's stunning castle.
A few weeks ago when I found out I'd be returning to New York, I don't know what possessed me, but I decided to look the gift horse in the mouth and try another hotel. This time I booked myself a room at the Ace Hotel, which I'd heard from friends was a popular hang out for young professionals, early adopters and had a "see and be scene" vibe. I though to myself, "I fit that description, why not!"
When I arrived in New York last Monday I exited Penn Station, walked out on to 7th Avenue and thought, "home again." God, I love New York.
From Penn Station I walked the few blocks to the Ace which is on the corner of 29th Street and Broadway. The hotel is just a few streets below Herald Square and Korea Town.
I spotted the hotel from a few feet away because it's sign was illuminated with old school, paparazzi-like light bulbs.
The doors to the hotel are stamped with its name:
After I passed through the first set of doors, I noticed the star shaped light fixture in the entry way. How cool!
When I entered the lobby it was 8:00pm and the place was hopping! Yes folks, the lobby was crazy! There was a live band and people were everywhere. In fact, I couldn't even find the check in desk, I had to ask a hipster to point me in the right direction.
The check in counter looks a ticket booth at a concert hall:
An uber hipster, hotel staff member checked me in and pointed me towards the elevators. Thank goodness she did, I never would have found them through the crowd.
When I got out of the elevator and stepped onto my floor (the 9th) the first thing I noticed was the giant sign pointing to the floor's amenities.
On my way to my room, I passed one of the hotels many computer labs. Above the computers it says "In a cloud" which I'd like to think is a play on words for cloud computing, but that may just be the digital media geek in me. Though it's nice the hotel has a computers, they don't have printers! You've been warned.
There was a light next to my door with the room number on it that reminded me of the lights you see in older train stations.
When I opened the door to my room I was stunned into silence. The room was tiny! I know this is New York City and real estate is a different game in the Big Apple, but my hotel room at GPH was literally four times the size of this. Had I just been staying for one night, or even a weekend, it might have been fine, but immediately I knew that after six days, I was going to feel cramped.
Speaking of cramped, the room didn't have a closet. It just had a poll sticking out of the wall that you hang your clothes on. It did however, have hangers with a cute message on them:
The ironing board also had a cheeky note on it:
There were two doors on the right side of the room that I thought lead to a closet, but no! Those were the bathroom doors!
Behind the doors:
The bathroom was actually quite beautiful. It felt very Parisian. The shower was enormous!
The mirror in the bathroom had a sweet message across it, "Love is meant to make us glad." What a nice thing to look into every day!
Back out in the bedroom/living room my bed had a black and gray flannel blanket. The bed was wedged in between three walls. There was literally no room to move near the bed. Had someone been staying with me in the room, I would have killed them from lack of personal space.
The room had a long desk covered in mini bar treats, an Ace Hotel survival guide and a Polaroid camera. The film for the camera was a mini bar item (translation = costs money), but what a cute idea!
On the same wall as the desk was a piece of art work that looked like carnival or swim meet streamers. In fact, the art work reminded me of the art work at the SoHo House (see photos here).
For the entire six days I stayed at the hotel I felt cramped in my room. It was simply too small.
Each morning and every night when I would come and go, the lobby would be packed. In the morning, young people with their laptops perched on every piece of furniture and in the evening those same young people with their laptops were still camped out, but by this time, they were all drinking and ordering french fries.
On my last day in the hotel, I noticed a giant letter A on the wall, looking down on the entire space. Though the people in the lobby rubbed me the wrong way, I really did love this A.
Should I be returning to New York for work, I will not be returning to the Ace Hotel. Though there were many amusing, small touches, nothing could overcome the room size. It was also difficult to stay in a place with a lobby that isn't really meant for guests, but instead for the office-less hipsters of New York City to squat in.
Have you ever hung out at the Ace? What did you think?
