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I felt some trepidation about booking two suites here for my family's weeklong visit to New York. There were seven of us, my wife, son, daughter-in-law, and three grandkids. But there was no way I could afford accommodations for this long hoped for trip to my old home town at any other establishment I could find on the internet. But from the first moment of telephone booking to the morning we left, every bit of the experience was terrific.\r
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The location, as stated in all the hotel's publicity, is unbeatable: adjacent to Riverside Park and the Hudson River in a tall building that stands by itself in a classy neighborhood, the block a special historic architectural district, the amazing restaurants on Broadway and subway stop a five minute walk. The building dates from the 1920's when it was constructed as a Columbia University dorm and thankfully has never been redesigned though it has been updated in essentials like windows, showers and elevator. The fact that it's old, the paint is thick, the pipes and radiators are visible, and the rooms are minimal size makes it not only an authentic New York antique, but serves as a model of modest, sustainable habitability in which every square inch of space is functional. The building's design seems to me unique and classic--it occupies a small horizontal footprint and gains its volume from vertical rise. That means that every room provides unobstructed and beautiful views. The tall graceful proportions of the structure are intensified by the eccentric angle of the southwest corner, apparently designed to accommodate the requirements of the lot-lines laid out by Frederick Law Olmstead when he designed Riverside Park.\r
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The rooms were very clean when we arrived and kept that way by first class maid service before we returned every night from our explorations of the City. The beds were comfortable, the microwave and fridge handy, the closet and sitting space small but sufficient. The lobby staff, on duty and friendly round the clock, represented a rich ethnic, national, and age cross section, as did the largely international clientele of guests.
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