Rooftop Restaurant Penthouse808 @ Ravel Hotel

After I booked the hotel I read the reviews and was disheartened to see that a lot were negative. Once I got there I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised. The staff were incredibly helpful, pointing out exactly how I could get to Manhattan, giving me maps for subways and Manhattan itself, and they have a large wall map and tourist section in the lobby with vouchers for discounts. They also have a shuttle service every half hour in the morning to take you to the subway. For guests that booked everything online, they have an iPad on a stand on the front desk that you can take into the lobby lounge to use to check-in for flights online and print boarding passes from their printer.

 

My room was clean and tidy, incredibly spacious and though it was on the first floor after ground, I could see parts of Manhattan from my window as well as the Queensboro Bridge. The room was well laid out and the en suite was bright and well maintained, except slight wear around the shower head fixing, though the water was good pressure and temperature. The room was serviced daily with fresh towels and linen.

 

The rooftop bar was also excellent and I didn't hear it once from my room at night, no thumping bass. Breakfast has everything you could want from continental to waffles and omelettes prepared for you by the staff. The only thing you can't get is a proper fry up, but where can you in the US? The view was great. Honestly I had to come to the conclusion that the bad reviews were from snobs or made under different management, because I left very happy. I don't see the website as deceitful, the pictures of the lobby and room that cycles on the main page were exactly how I found them to be.