Eeeeew

I spent a couple nights at the Gershwin in November of 2002, and it was a series of disappointments from beginning to end. As I was unpacking, I found a disgusting magazine in a drawer--and I don't mean just a Playboy, Penthouse, or even Hustler, but something without any "artistic" merit whatsoever. A "substance" had been "spilled" on it. Ick. I called to change rooms, and while my request was accommodated, I barely received an apology over the incident. In addition, I have the same myriad complaints you'll find in other reviews: the shower wavered between scalding and deep freeze with nothing whatsoever in the middle, there was an air of something slightly less than clean hanging over the whole place, the computers in the "internet cafe" were hardly state-of-the-art (one shut down on me without warning, and I was unable to retrieve the remainder of the session I'd paid for), the greeting at the front desk was perfunctory at best, and the most helpful "tip" I received from the concierge was to see the comedy show at the hotel bar. She wasn't even able to offer assistance to get me, a single woman, a single last-minute ticket to any Broadway or off-Broadway shows. Oh, and when I called back a few days later to check if housekeeping had found a book that I thought I might have left in my room, I had to leave a voicemail message. However, they couldn't be bothered to return the call. I called again a couple days later and was told that they hadn't found it so they hadn't thought it was necessary to call me back. Nice.

Pleasant at times, with some disappointments

We got to the hotel new years eve 2002 having booked a superior room for 2 nights before moving to an economy room for the remainder of the stay. Mark (the aggressive) on reception, (who we had to call a week before arrival because he did not reply to our emails) was very obnoxious in dealing with the immediate problem encountered with the particulars of our booking. Neither did he seem to care that our superior room was no longer available. Having arrived before the hotel's usual check in time, we were asked to return to the hotel 2 hours later, by which time Mark had obviously left the building, leaving us to explain our predicament to another pigeon-english receptionist who was able to locate us in a superior room after all??....not what you want after a long haul flight... When we got to our room, it was suprisingly 'hollow' and dark, but being open minded, actually grew to like it, and grew fond of picasso's stupid face over the bed!...When we came to move into the economy room, we realised it shared exactly the same 'comforts' and furniture to the superior room but was about half of the size. This did not bother us, but what did was that we paid twice as much for nothing more than 6 addtional feet of space, and we seemed to get a nicer bathroom?!!....The pillows smelt as if someone had slept there the night before but hey, what the hell...The showers seem to have a mind of their own, catching me by suprise on a few occassions. We had to call room service to get a top up of toilet tissue on a couple of occasions. During our 10 day stay, the staff appeared to be varied increasingly polite, hardly seeing the same face twice. A big thumbs up to Victor on reception. We also booked the ride back to the airport. I'd advise not to do it and enjoy the cab ride for about 30 bucks. The van that took us back to JFK was a touch rickety to say the least!!..

Hated the Gershwin

Last minute trip to New York to see me husband's family. The Gershwin was the only place available at the last minute on new year's eve. They lost my sister in laws credit caed authorization, we had to wait for an hour in the lobby for them to find it. We left the room right after checking in came back a couple of hours later and housekeeping had already left an envelope for a tip. No new towels we hung them up as they had asked and they took them and didn't give us any more clean towels. Doors slammed all night long. The shower took 15 min. to heat up then was scalding when hot was completely turned off it was still scalding.Their shuttle to Newark cost as much as a taxi would have. This hotel was the worst and it was way over priced for the service and the rooms

DON'T stay at the Gershwin!!!!!

This hotel was a nightmare from start to finish. After standing in line for 45 minutes to check-in, we found that they had screwed up our reservation and spent another 45 minutes waiting in the lobby to get our room. It turns out that our paperwork was in the office and not at the front desk, so the front desk clerk gave us a half-hearted apology and sent us up to our room an hour and a half after we walked in the front door.

Our "superior" room was actually a tiny closet with a double bed. The shower was so screwed up that it was impossible to bring it to an acceptable temperature level. It was either scalding or ice-cold. The owners of this place clearly made trendy looks a higher priority than guest comfort. The room was noisy and uncomfortable as we could hear people's doors slamming down the hall all night, every night. The television had terrible reception, even on the local channels and this made it difficult to simply get the local weather report before we left our room. The single elevator made trips down to street last up to 15 minutes. The "concierge" was actually just a two-bit hustler who tried to sell my wife and I tickets on the shuttle bus to the airport for more than what a taxicab would cost. At most hotels, the concierge is there to make guests comfortable; at the Gershwin this woman with disgusting painted-on eyebrows did her level best to con us out of our money. The only positive moment at the Gershwin came when my wife and I checked out.

This place is a joke. Do yourself a favor and DON'T STAY HERE!

Don't stay at the Gershwin

Not worth the amount of money you might save staying here. The shower went back & forth on it's own between scalding hot and cold water---not a fun experience. Room was shabby..who wants to look at a stained old box spring under your mattress--even a basic sheet covering it would help. Not dirty, bot not spotless either. The "supreme" room was small, uncomfortable and had a double bed. A big let down...would never stay here again.

Dishonesty and Taking Advantage of Guests

The Gershwin does have the basics, but not much else. The rooms are tiny (but cheap). The room problems I encountered was an outdated heating system and electrical problems. The "internet cafe" consisted of two computers that were consistently not working. The most annoying however was the concierge service. One "concierge" could not direct us to two of the most basic things -- a food store and a liquor store. Also, on the last day of our stay the other girl lied and said that a taxi back to Laguardia would be $40 -$45. Getting there had only been $23 so we questioned her and she told us "it cost more to get back" and suggested we take the shuttle for $33 (which she is obviously getting a cut from). We used our good sense and took a cab -- Guess what? Only $23! I was her dishonesty and trying to take advantage of the guests that I found most offensive.

Inexpensive!!

If you are looking for an inexpensive place to stay in New York, this is it! Small but clean rooms at such a great price! I stay here all the time and use the money I save to visit the great attractions in New York! Recommended to anyone!!

Not at all average

I had gone there to N.Y.C. with my sister, it had been a first for both of us. We were quite shocked walking into the Gershwin, it's nothing like the web site or brochures. There is no frills, nothing is uniform as far as the rooms are concerned, I felt it could have been slightly cleaner myself. BUT, if you have a sense of adventure, a good sense of humor w/ a tight budget, the Gershwin isn't so bad. It's defenitly unique, and the staff was GREAT! would I pay to stay there again? NO! but, if they were to call with a complementry stay I would go back again. This is a hotel w/ a defenite twist, it almost seemed as though they allowed every starving artist a free night stay if they would decorate a room with nothing more then a paint brust and paint that was on clearance.

Freezing in February

Stayed at the Gershwin while in NY on an overnight photo shoot. The room was freezing, the service was terrible, bar was under construction, key to room failed every time I went in or out. I wouldn't recommend staying here, but merely walking past to see its red lacquer facade.

So Bohemian it had stains on it's stink.

If you're over 25 or simply sick of the loud, rude, sticky, small, bad art, flea market bed, type places, then spend the extra 20 bucks and stay at the Pararmount. Don't get suckered by the facade, name, and location.

We had reservations for two rooms and they screwed up both of them.

The 1 star is for the one nice lady serving the $9 continental breakfast.

Just don't want to know what that stain was on the "art" in our friend's "superior" room...or how it got up there.