The hotel came recommended by a cousin, who knew it as the Lola, but by the time we arrived in Manhattan, it had changed management and its name, and become the King & Grove.
The location of the hotel is great – 29 E 29th Street – so just about all the major touristy stuff is walkable, be it 20 blocks north or 20 south. So from that point of view, location, location, location = outstanding.
But.
I don’t think I have ever seen smaller rooms. The word shoebox springs to mind. With not even a kettle in the room, it was all pretty basic. Clean, A/C, teensy safe for passports, but that was about it.
As I said, no kettle.
Cheap and nasty plastic drinking cups, those disposable ones.
Given that we were staying for about 10 nights, we asked if we could perhaps have a bigger room, so they duly moved us, to one that was infinitesimally bigger, but still no room to swing the proverbial cat.
The darkest, longest lobby imaginable, with a corner bar that didn’t seem to function (why waste the space ? Why not serve morning tea and coffee there, perhaps ?)
I happen to dislike dark interiors, and walls which have curtains in front of them (why ? what are they hiding behind the curtain ? peeling paint ? rising damp ?) which is unfortunate given the décor of King & Grove :
There’s the curtain (above)…
…and the unused always-empty bar in the lobby (below)…
Staff perfectly friendly.
But other than location, the King & Grove really doesn’t have a whole lot going for it.
We did, however, a good discounted rate, so can’t complain.
www.kingandgrove.com
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