Sheraton LaGuardia East Review »
We booked a recent trip to New York because of a great rate ($49 each way). Unfortunately, t turns out that we went on the same weekend as the New York City Marathon - which means that very few rooms were available in the city, and those that were available were not cheap by any means. So we decided to look outside the city. Eventually we settled on the Sheraton LaGuardia East hotel, because it was well located (perhaps half a block from a subway stop) and the price was right. Throw in a AAA discount, and it worked out beautifully.
There were some downsides.
The first is that the hotel is located in Chinatown. This isn't to say that Chinatown is bad, just that you need to be aware of it. This means that the options for eating are somewhat limited. If you like that, then you're set. If not, you're going to have to leave the immediate area. There are some chain restaurants, but not many.
It's also at the very end of the 7 line, meaning it's a good 30-40 minutes into Manhattan. We were there for a vacation trip, so this wasn't a big deal, as it gave us time to plan what we were going to do, and we weren't on any particular schedule. But if you're on a tight schedule, and have a problem with the trains specifically, that might be bad. Heck, if you need to take a taxi, that could kill the benefits of a cheaper hotel room right there.
Other than that, the hotel itself was fine. The only other issues came with the service.
The restaurant is currently undergoing renovation (to be completed by December 2006). This means there is no on-site food service, though they do have a morning breakfast buffet. This buffet is pretty bad. We had it one morning as a complimentary service for other considerations (more on that shortly), and it was barely worth it. They had cereal but no fresh milk. The pastry selection was pathetic. The food that was there was cold. It just wasn't good.
We had two rooms. In one, the air/heat unit wasn't working right. It would blow air or heat, but not both. If we asked to get the heat working, they would fix it, but then the air wouldn't work. If the air worked, the heat wouldn't work any longer. At this time of year, you may find yourself needing both - to cool things off in the day and heat them up at night. In the other room, one of the two phone lines (the main one) didn't work, and it wasn't until the last day that they told us how to dial the second line directly. One of the televisions didn't work and they couldn't replace it. This wasn't a big deal, but it would have been nice.
Due to all the problems, they did give us a free breakfast, which they didn't have to do - but it was a series of difficulties that just never seemed to end. The staff was gracious throughout. It's just better if it didn't happen is all.
On the plus side, the hotel is perhaps five minutes from LaGuardia airport and they offer a free shuttle that runs every thirty minutes throughout the day. It's nice not to have to worry about a taxi or other airport transportation.
