The Alex Hotel

What a disappointment. First, you can't control the temperature of your room - mine was unbearably hot and openning the window didn't help, but did make the room even noisier than it was before. When I complained to the desk, they said they would send a maintenance engineer up - this was at 7AM. When I returned at 5PM, no one had fixed it. After two more calls, at 6:30PM, someone finally came and said there was nothing to be done! When I asked the front desk why they didn't just tell me that in the first place, they couldn't say. They "generously" offerred to switch me to a cooler room that was smaller and on a low floor for the same price as my supposed "deluxe studio." The room lighting was pathetic; bulbs were burned out; no robes; no TV guide. When I asked to have these things corrected, it took three calls. Room service food was a paltry portion: the "vegetables" with my tuna were literally 5 chickpeas! This was for $35 with no beverage or anything else, just the entree. The room had a nice kitchenette, but the problem was the refrigerator hums all night. The shower is impossible to turn on without standing under it - totally bizarre. The staff was spectacularly unhelpful and indifferent (although polite.) I would avoid this place at any cost - even $150/night would be too much for this shoddy hotel.

Stayed at the Alex in late January on a stopover to New Haven. Arrived at the hotel late, and was offered an upgrade to a suite, since the other rooms were full. Room itself was clean and well maintained. The "blades of grass" decoration is cheesy, but everything else is fairly minimalistic and suits my style. Loved the Frederick Fekkai amenities. Excellent location, if you need to be close to the Grand Central. One problem I had was the room service folks got the wrong room and kept knocking on my door. This was at 2am in the morning. Luckily I was still awake, but things like that should not happen. Otherwise, the stay was pleasant, and given what I paid for it (~$190USD), was a good value.

We stayed at the Alex for 7 nights in Jan 2005. We experienced a lengthy delay with our flight and arrived cold and frustrated. The staff took such good care of everything and the room was just fantastic. I think we must have been upgraded as the standard rooms cannot be that spacious. A few small items were not working when we arrived but were sorted out very quickly. We did not eat in the restaurant as we do not care for Japanese food but we did order some room service which was quite good. The location is not bad - a few blocks from Grand Central subway in a reasonably nice area. If I had to pick a fault, I would say that the atmosphere in the reception/lobby area is a little strange - there was always 3/4 doormen all dressed in black which gives it a bit of a nightclub feel. I felt like I was going to be frisked and asked for ID. They were always very polite and I am just trying to be picky but it doesn't make you feel like hanging around. Overall we really enjoyed the hotel - a very trendy, comfortable haven and we would definitely stay again.

Let me assure you, the Alex Hotel is a true Gem in NYC. We stayed at the Alex from February 11-13. Upon our late check-in to the hotel, rather than running around to find an available room on a crowded night, the staff informed us that they had upgraded us to a studio suite. I have had horrible experiences with late check-ins before at other NYC hotels...but the staff at the Alex was extremely accommodating and friendly! We got to our room and it was AMAZING! The decor was modern, but warm. The room was immaculate. Very Large for New York hotel standards. The flat panel TV's in the bathroom and bedroom were a nice touch and the sound systems and DVD player was great! Every member of the staff that we ran into had a smile on their face and a welcoming hello. We didn't have an opportunity to eat at RIINGO, but the atmosphere in the bar seemed relaxed and fun later in the night. The hotel is within walking distance of everything. We were able to walk to the theatre district, Grand Central Station, Times Square and even Central Park. We had a later flight out on Sunday and wanted to see "the Gates" in Central Park. With an 11am check out, we would have to find a place for our luggage until our 3pm flight. The staff not only checked all of our bags for us, so we could walk around the city until our flight, but they went out of their way to store the food that we had brought back from our dinner the night before in their personal refrigerator! When we returned for our luggage, they had a taxi waiting for us to take us to JFK. I can't say enough about the staff, the room and our experience at the Alex Hotel, I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone!

Stayed at the Alex for a couple of nights recently. Was upgraded to a studio suite from a delux double which was nice. Problem was that the suite had a really loud noise coming from the fridge. I asked that someone come and take a look but when I returned to the room they had just turned the radio on. I asked to look at the delux double to check the size difference as the suite had a queen bed (very small) and the delux double had a king bed. It appeared that the only difference between the two rooms was that the suite had a fridge that we had to turn off because of the noise anyway. The staff were a little robotic and cold. The restaurant appeared to have no vegetarian options at all. All in all, it was overpriced. It seemed to be a hotel that was trying to be hip but didnt quite manage it. Oh and the brochure said that each room had a Dean and Deluca snack tray which myself and my girlfriend were really looking forward to. Problem was it came with a price list. We also went to Dean and Deluca and saw that the hotel had doubled the prices of everything. So I'm not quite sure what use the snack tray was. Certainly nothing to boast about. It probably would have been cheaper to call Dean and Deluca and ask them to send something up in a taxi.

My husband and I spent a weekend at the Alex in January and could not get over the bad attitude of the employees. I would avoid the Alex for that reason.

We stayed over the New Year. The room was on the small side tastefully furnished but nothing special. Lifts were convienient and quick. Unfortunately, we had a bag of shopping that went missing. They promised to investigate but we have heard nothing. Security does not seem to be up to much. The service was polite but clinical and the lobby was tiny. We felt that the Alex was far too overpriced for what it was. Very disappointing.

possibly the worst hotel i have ever stayed in. Falling to pieces. this is easily the most ridicuously over prieced hotel in new york. Staff are rude, rooms small and throwbacks from the 70's, had a double delux room and there was not enough room to swing a cat. Me and my husband are small people and the beds were tiny. stay some where else if you have the opertunity as staying here could ruin your holiday, avoid at all costs.

My college roomate and I decieded to take a short vacation to New York City after our final exams with my mother. We stayed at the Alex Hotel from 12/16-12/19 and we loved it. The hotel staff was very friendly and helpful upon our arrival to the day that we left. This boutique hotel is very modern, which I loved. The lobby was breathtaking. The rooms are very comfortable and give off a Japanese vibe. The bathroom even had a plasma tv on the wall!!! The hotel is within walking distance of Times Square and many other shopping districts. I loved my stay at the Alex and I highly recommend it to others.

Stayed for 3 nights over New Year. Nice reception area to greet you. Room size was pretty small and the enlarged 'blades of grass' photos stuck to the wardrobes were a bit tacky/dated. The queen bed was small. My partner is 6 foot and his feet dangled over the end. The air conditioning didnt work. Was very hot when we returned to the room everytime. I wasnt impressed with the front desk staff either. American Airlines managed to lose our cases and they werent in the least bit helpful. I asked them to make one toll-free call to AA to save us coming back to the hotel to check if the luggage had arrived but was told 'its not our policy to do that ma'am' Something tells me if Id been staying in a suite they would have been more helpful. Overpriced and not worth the money for the level of service or room. Oh, also sent 2 or 3 emails to their website before arriving and didnt get any response at all. On the plus side, the location is good and Riingo restaurant was nice.