Hotel Carter in NYC

Yeah...I had booked it for my trip in 2 weeks. I told me friend who was very upset about it. Apparently it's the worst hotel up there. Needless to say I cancelled my reservation and as of now, I'm staying at the Millenium Un Plaza. Can anyone tell me a good, cheap (150 a night or less) hotel that is clean?

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Check out the Hilton Garden Inn (48th & 8th). A friend of mine stayed there in July, after finding a $149/night rate on one of the hotel discount sites - with Orbitz, or Travelocity or Hotels.com

She said the room was terrific, with a microwave and small fridge - she recommended it highly.

Obviously a great location for theater-going!

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The carter is the hotel you see in movies, bugs, hookers, drug dealers! The most UNSAFE I'd ever felt in NY -- EVER.

Try any of the discount sites: Hotwire, expedia etc. BUT before you book it through them...once you find a few that sound good...go directly to the hotels site...sometimes cheaper!

A friend just booked a room one of the Sheratons for about 150. I'm at the Milford for 130...but we booked it months ago and got an early bird special.

Good luck....you shouldnt' have a problem.

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I LOVE the Milford, stayed there 3 times in the past. Anywho, I've booked (for now so I don't end up hotelless) the Millenium Un Plaza. anything about it?

dramamama611 - I booked the Milford about 3 months ago and they still were going to charge me almost 240 a night.

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That's a GREAT commercial! And if you notice, there's no expiration date on that ad so I'm going to go and argue that they need to honor it.

I stayed at the Hotel Carter in 2005. I never felt unsafe. It really wasn't that bad. Not to me anyway. The carpets were dirty, but I asked for a vacuum and cleaned them myself. Other then that the plumbing worked, the air conditioning worked, the sheets seemed clean and I had a roof over my head so I had no real complaints. And back then it was only $100 dollars a night so it was a real steal. Plus Chitty was playing next door so I'd go to bed dreaming about Raúl Esparza.

Tell you about it? Immaculate, pretty fancy digs, comfortable. Usually pretty expensive, so excellent patrons.

I'm not sure what else to say.

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First, I'll second the Portland Square recommendation. It's VERY no-frills. But it's always been cheap, convenient, quiet. I've stayed there about a half-dozen times and, next time I need a hotel in NYC, I'll stay there again.

As for the Carter...I've posted about that dump before. I had to stay there because I needed a cheap room on short notice and it was Memorial Day weekend...most places were booked.

Here's a rundown of the problems...aside from the garish purple neon and chrome lobby and creaky elevators.

First, on the elevator ride to my room, I met a man in the elevator who'd just checked in, gone to his room, and found the sheets were not changed. We're talking they smelled bad and had what looked like blood on them.

Once in the room, I went to find an outlet to charge my laptop and phone...and got my hand stuck on one of those adhesive rat traps. There were probably ten such traps in the room.

The bed...well, it looked clean, but it was basically a big cardboard box like the fake beds used in displays of comforters and pillows at a department store.

Large flakes of paint were coming off the ceiling and one corner had a pile of them. At least no chunks of plaster came down...I know that happened to an acquaintance who stayed there.

In the bathroom, there were about 6-8 different knobs and handles for turning on the shower and tub faucet. After testing everyone, it was obvious the only ones that worked (barely) were the hot and cold for the faucet. No working shower and I had a difficult time shampooing under the little faucet.

But the worst of it? The smell. I can't begin to identify the smell, but the entire room was permeated with a horrible, horrible smell. Even after three years, it's still revolting to recall. The worst smell I've ever experienced. Simply foul.

I've said it before, but I wouldn't recommend that hotel to someone I completely despise.

I have used the Murray Hill East Hotel on 39TH and third ave. It is a little bit of a walk to Broadway (about 15 minutes). 3rd Ave though has many restaurants and bars. Rooms run from the low 150 s a night. The rooms have a kitchenette and are pretty well kept though a bit dated. You can also get a good rate from them sometimes when they have specials.

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The carpets were dirty, but I asked for a vacuum and cleaned them myself.

It didn't bother you that you were paying money to stay in a hotel where YOU had to do the cleaning? I find that incorrigible.

Not really. At that point I realized that I could have paid more somewhere else and had one of the housekeepers do it or just vacuum myself. I was fairly certain that if I'd asked someone it wouldn't have gotten done otherwise they would have just cleaned the floors before I'd arrived. It was a small room. It wasn't really much of an inconvenience. Reading some of the comments here it would seem that I got one of the nicer rooms for some reason. I don't remember any cardboard beds, bloody sheets or crumbling walls. Although, I do remember the creaky elevators.

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Updated On: 8/9/09 at 07:42 PM

I have a friend who swears by the Pod Hotel in midtown. She's stayed there two years in a row while visiting from Australia.

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