Great Hotel!

We stayed at the Riverside Tower for a weeks holiday in november 2003.

We thought the hotel was in a grat location(near subway and many restaurants, shops and cinema) in a quiet residential area. The room was small but clean and the ensuite bathroom was lovely and tidy. It was well worth the price (approx 89 dollars per night) and I would recommend it to any travellers on a budget!

Room 127 beautiful view of the river!

Well, i have stayed at alot of hotel chains all over the world, from Motel 6 to the Intercontinental chains and i didn't know what to expect at the Riverside. The front desk was helpful before and after check-in. The room was very small , i mean pretty small! The dimensions were about 7 x 10' with a full side bed No (headboard) a very old desk from the 50's. a lamp, 13 inch tv color (no cable) a microwave and a small frig. Small quarters for my wife and i but we like each other so it wasn't a problem:-). the bath was shower only. The room needed some paint but when the lights are out who cares. The room and the bath were very clean! The water was hot and had great pressure, clean linens, blankets, pillows. My pet peeve is when the stopper in the bathroom sink doesn't work but it worked! We felt safe in the room and in the neighborhood. Two blocks up the Subway, Zabars and H & H bagels among other shops. If you are going to ride the subway buy a one day pass $7.00, In a 24 period you can ride as much as you like and it is good for the bus also, there is also a weekend pass too. After after 3 days of shopping , visiting family and friends, sightseeing i can honestly say Riverside Towers was a great little find for 85.00 and we will stay there again! Small yes but you can break the bank and spend the extra 10 dollars for the suite! Hey,you can always stay at the Waldolf! Enjoy, T & T Turner

The original roach motel

They have to be kidding. This is not a hotel, its a rooming house, of the worst kind. Yes, the place is filthy; yes, there is no space; and yes, there were roaches. The only good thing that I can say about this place is that they refunded our money when we said we could not stay there.

Mistake from hell.

Located in a residential community where you get uiet enjoyement.

You're located in the middle of nowwhere, where in cold nights, you dont want to get out once you get into your hotel room because its too far to go anywhere. They offer you a lobby, but its only for looks, as there is nothing inside to do but sit. When you go to check in, you have to go up 2 small stairs which were covered in ice. The doorway is tricky because you have to go through 2 doors before getting in. So if you have luggage, the chances of you falling are high. WHen you check in to the hotel, quicky look to the left, that will be your lobby, a 3x6 area (one person at a time, please). The elevator is 2x2, and you have to push the Close Dorr button otherwise the door will not close.

When the door opens, you have to be carefull because the hallways are only 2 feet wide. And when you get to your room, dont expect anything in there. Its a 4x4 room, when you open the flimsy door, the bed is to your left. You share a bathroom, so if your female, dont stay here. You only get 3 television stations. On the up side, I was on the 5th floor and was able to open my window since the heat was turned up super high and only functions of full blast. OVerall, if your into safari and adventure trips, this is your hotel. The only good thing about this place is that the check-in staff was very friendly.

The Riverside Tower is the only place I stay in NYC

Bottom line: The Riverside Tower Hotel is the best-kept secret in New York. It is an incredible value in every way: budget, location, view, comfort.

I understand how some persons would be disappointed in their stay.

These are the types of people who live life with blinders on, hoping for the best and expecting the worst. They are the types of travelers who go to Europe expecting America.

For those of you who understand that a bed is a bed and that you get what you pay for, the Riverside Tower will exceed your expectations and charm the pants of you.

I felt like I had won the lottery when I discovered this place. I truthfully do not stay anywhere else when I come to NYC. It is "my" hotel.

Love it, LOVE it, LOVE IT!

I'd rather not

I stayed here with my daugher in May 1999. I felt lost staying all the way on Riverside Drive and our view was of the Hudson River (boring). We felt safe in the residential neighborhood (while heading East not West - and not on Riverside Drive). The bathroom had a shower (no shower curtain) but the drain was so plugged up with hair and other grime that the water came up to our ankles! There was a refrigerator which came in handy. They offered us a hot plate (2 burner-seemed dangerous) with a nasty pot to cook in and a couple of bowls and plates. This was ok...only. It wasn't much different from not having these items at all. There were guests on our floor that were so loud (for hours-late at night) that my daughter and I couldn't sleep. It sounded like they were having a party with their door open. I would've compained but I was a little scared to do so. The room was small...but I have stayed at smaller. The price was good (fine for BUDGET). The staff (we only encountered the front clerk) was very friendly. However, we will not stay here in the future.

Hotel as advertised

My mother and I stayed in the Riverside Tower Hotel for a week during the (2002) Christmas holidays, based on its website and the one review I was able to find online. I found that the hotel lived up to its representations on its website. The rooms are small (smaller than you might think from the photos). However, they are clean and cozy enough. The beds were comfortable. We stayed in a "suite", which means two bedrooms and a bathroom in between connecting them. No, it isn't the Four Seasons (which last time I checked started at $375 a night) but if you are accustomed to European hotels than you will be comfortable here. (There were lots of Europeans here during our visit.) The main attraction of the Riverside, besides low price, is its location: 80th and Riverside, two short blocks from Broadway, perhaps 125 yards from the 79th Street subway station and within reasonable walking distance from the West Side museums. If you prefer taking the subway to taking taxis (as I do), then you are a very short ride from Lincoln Center, Times Square, and Columbus Circle. And your breakfast needs are nicely met at Zabar's, New York's most famous delicatessen, two blocks away! A good cup of black coffee and a world-class pastry can be had for south of three bucks.

If your idea of a hotel room is a place to spend the night after you spend the day wandering around NY, the Riverside Hotel is for you.

Warning about the owner

Before booking a room at this hotel, you should read the reply I received (below) from the owner. I cancelled a reservation at this hotel on time, but was mistakenly charged nonetheless. When I called to have the charge removed, the man on the phone was extremely rude because I was unsure of the date the hotel had charged me. I e-mailed a mild complaint that the man I had spoken to had been quite impolite.

Below is the reply I received, along with my original complaint:

From :

"rivhotel"

I was the one that spoke to you and spent an excessive amount of time in order to drag out of you the necessary information to give you a refund. You were totally unprepared to provide the facts needed for solving what you

wanted. That you would conclude that this effort was somehow impolite is outrageous and ridiculous. You simply don't know how function in a normal world. Do me a favor and don't ever reserve in the future at this hotel. You are a problem that we neither need nor want.

Don Lewis

Owner

To:

I had a reservation at your hotel during the dates below. However, as you can see, I had to cancel my reservation. The first night's charge showed up on my card nonetheless. This was no big deal-mistakes happen. However,

when I called to have the charge removed (on Weds 9/18), I dealt with a very unpleasant, condescending man who refused to allow me to complete a sentence or explanation before interrupting. He seemed to regard the task of removing the charge from my credit card to be a favor to me that he

resented doing. Given the fact that the mistake was made at your hotel's end, I found his attitude completely uncalled for. I have always had wonderful interactions with hotel employees in your city. Apparently the only thing I did to provoke this man was my inability to locate the exact date of the original charge. Despite the minor mistake of the charge on my credit card, I was considering staying at your hotel during a trip during November, due to its location

and reasonable rates. I believe instead, however, I will pay a bit more and stay at one of the other hotels that I have previously visited, where even minimal customer service was not considered such a burden by the employees.

Definitely Budget Accommodation

We took a chance and booked this hotel on the Web and boy were we dissapointed! Things began ominously when the cab driver confessed to never having heard of it! We eventually found it,swathed under scaffolding, and from the outside it looked not too bad. Even the reception area looked fine, but once we had got up to our floor it resembled the kind of cheap hotel you see in bad 1970's TV cop shows. We had two adjoining rooms which were uniquely linked by a shared bathroom. Very odd!!! There was no lock on the door so you had to be a very good singer if you wantd to preserve your dignity! The shower and bathroom fittings were old and cracked and didn't exactly make you want to linger. The furniture was extremely basic and the bedding and linen was gray and washed out.

The best thing about the place was the location.

It seemed an OK neighbourhood and you are close to a subway station.

I didn't expect the Hilton but I did expect much better. In my opinion it's really a backpackers type of place, one step up from a youth hostel, and fine if you don't mind slumming it.

Riverside Tower Hotel

When looking for a reasonable (budget) accomodation in NYC I came accross this hotel on several web sites. I booked it anyways, although being quite skeptical about it (4 nihgts in May 2002). The hotel is everything it claims to be: it is clean, it is in a nice neighbouhood of Upper Manhattan, you get a small room with your own private bathroom, you get a very nice view of the Hudson river and you get a great price. Some unadvertised suprises: good water pressure in the shower/bathroom (even on 11th floor), daily room service (towels, sheets), It is 3 minutes from the 79th Street Subway station, it is walking distance from the Central Park, parking on the street is free, but you must obey the local signs (no parking during certain days and hours). We saved on parking, so we would subway it to Downtown Manhattan each morning ($4 for subway ride-all-day ticket), if parking is not an issue, then this hotel may seem little bit away from the main NYC attractions. What took a little bit of compromise was: size of the room was quite small, it took a little re-arranging each morning and evening to fit all the luggage and beds in order; the carpet and walls were little beat-up, but still livable; elevators also small (can only fit 4 people max.); TV didn't have cable channels, so I missed a coulpe of Maple Leafs hockey play-off games, but there were about 10 good channels. But for the price, it was well worth it. I'd stay there again, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a clean, budget hotel in NYC.