kathy504's Reviews

Wonderfully Welcoming

The Inn on 23^rd was a welcome New York retreat! You cannot help but feel right at home as soon as you walk in the door. This is no stuffy Manhatten larger than life hotel. From the whimsical décor to the floor to ceiling bookshelves in the library, you actually forget that you are at an Inn, and feel like you’ve come to stay at a friend’s house.

We stayed in the Maritime room, which was quite roomy! There were 3 of us in our party, and we didn’t feel cramped at all. It had the most comfortable Queen sized bed that I have ever slept on at a hotel, and a single murphy bed. A full sized bathroom with a full bathtub and jumbo shower head completed the room. The hotel has 14 rooms, all with different themes. Ours had various “sea” references, hence the name Maritime. We were also joined, at time, in our room by Dorothy, the resident cat. She would follow you into the elevator and walk with you to your room, making herself right at home. She’s quite the affectionate one! Just a tip, if she does decide to “crash” in your room at night and decides to leave before you, don’t just let her out or she’ll be stuck in the hallway (she hasn’t yet figured out how to push the elevator buttons!). The room featured black out blinds and a white noise machine to drown out any unwanted street noise (which really wasn’t bad at all). There was also a small space heater, which, although there was a central heating system in the building, it was unseasonable cold outside! We also had a tv with digital cable, for when we were taking a breather in our room from a hard day of shopping!

The breakfast offerings were plentiful, with fresh fruit, bagels, hard boiled eggs and the cooking school treats of the day served with fresh preserves. We enjoyed lemon cranberry muffins with crumble topping and cinnamon coffee cake the first day, and the second it was blueberry coffee cake with apple cinnamon muffins with a sugar topping. Yum!! There is also all the coffee, tea and hot chocolate you could want, along with pop, beer, wine and liquor and salty snacks, all on the honour system, available 24 hours a day.

The staff was extremely helpful in giving directions and supplying maps. We got a great restaurant recommendation for the Carnegie deli and were glad that we took up the suggestion to split one sandwich and order extra bread! (tip, go there.. it was great!!)

The library upstairs had a computer which had free internet access to check mail, check flights, etc… Also, there were several reference books on New York in the library, many of them brand new and right up to date. The Inn was very conveniently located, and was only half a block away from the Subway, which took you easily to the major attractions in New York City.

Checking in was a breeze. We had an early plane and had advised that we would be arriving early. To our delight, our room was ready when we arrived in the morning! Check out was at noon. They hold your bags for you in the lobby and even made arrangements for a private car to bring us to the airport.

Overall, we had an excellent experience at this wonderful hotel. It will be the only place I stay now whenever I venture to New York.

Reviewed on: December 06, 2007