The Gatsby Hotel

Location: Highly praised for proximity to New York University, the Isle of Man, and a 1-block distance to the nearest metro station, making it ideal for budget travelers.

Extremely Disappointing Stay – Would Not Recommend I had an overall poor experience at this property and will not be returning. I chose this hotel solely based on its proximity to where I needed to be. The total cost for a 3-night stay was $1,156.22, with an additional $51.63 charged at check-in—referred to inconsistently by staff as either a “hotel fee” or an “incidental hold,” depending on whom I spoke with. I will return to this point later. Upon arrival, I found the entrance confusing and poorly marked. The automatic doors were locked, requiring guests to either use a key or press a call button and hope for a response. After waiting several minutes, I was eventually let in. I had booked my reservation through American Express Travel, linked directly from my AMEX card. During check-in, I was met by a front desk employee named Samantha, who proceeded to lecture me about the drawbacks of using third-party booking sites such as "Experian" (presumably she meant *******), claiming that reservations made through such platforms are not cancellable. My printed reservation confirmation clearly stated that it was fully cancellable, but I chose not to engage as I had no intention of canceling. After a long day of moving a family member into a new apartment, I simply wanted to relax. Upon entering my room, I discovered the following issues: The television did not work. The hotel phone was inoperable. WiFi was extremely unreliable. The main light bulb in the room was burnt out. I returned to the front desk to report these issues. Samantha offered to move me to another room, but I declined due to exhaustion and instead asked that maintenance address the problems the next day. After troubleshooting with my husband (an IT professional), we concluded that the error message on the television suggested the property had not paid its DirecTV bill. The next morning, I spoke with another guest in the elevator who confirmed that his TV and hotel phone were also non-functional. I stopped by the front desk to report the ongoing issues again, and staff acknowledged that there were widespread problems with both phone and TV service, which they claimed they were "working on." That evening, I returned to find that the issues persisted. Again, no resolution. That night, my stay was further disrupted by a loud, unsupervised party involving underage guests running through the halls, slamming doors, and congregating near the stairwell adjacent to my room. I attempted to contact the front desk, but again—no functioning hotel phone, and repeated calls from my cell phone to the main line went unanswered. The following morning, I discovered there was no toilet paper in the room. I attempted to contact the front desk again by phone (cell and hotel line), but received no response. I was forced to go down to the lobby in person. It took an unreasonable amount of time for the attendant to locate a roll. When I asked for two rolls, he hesitated but eventually complied. My third day was

Inexpensive, CLEAN, super comfortable bed and linens. BEST location for East Village. Staff is lovely. Victoria is the best.