Strange Days

Stayed at the Carlton over 12 years ago and still remeber it vividly! What a unique experience. I stayed almost 3 weeks - it felt like home... a very, very strange home. My room was called "car crash with roses" if that gives you an idea of the hotel. My room also had a fabulous huge claw foot bathtub. Makes me want to hop ona plane just thinking about it.

No frills, great for the price

Located in mid-town, close to the train station. No frills but for the price you cannot beat it in NYC. Staff was very nice and the artwork is great! If you are looking for something unusual and inexpensive this is it.

Funky, bad and UNUSUAL

I stayed in this hotel in 1990 and 1991. I have to admit that when I first entered this hotel, it's unusual character really put me off at first. Me and my travel buddy weren't so sure we had made a good choice of a hotel as it was WAY different from any hotel we had ever seen before. We walked up the steps, looked at the murals on the walls and the pictures, each of which featured a scar, came up to the fogged bullet-proof window where the receptionist was, were given two keys and told to go look at the rooms and see what which one we wanted. We entered the first room, which had a collage all over the walls, and the ceiling had the shadow of the lamp hanging from it painted on it (evidently the artist had just traced the real shadow of the lamp) and it had a general green color. The other room was white, and I can't remember much of what it was like. But me and my travel buddy chose the other room, paid our fee for a few days' stay, then walked back down the stairs, still unsure of our choice. But the hotel's character grew on us and as soon as my buddy reached the end of the stairs, he turned around to me and said, "I LIKE this hotel!" I agreed with him immediately. I stayed in that hotel again later on when I visited NYC again, and I'd recommend it to anyone. It's a TRUE NYC experience!

Best Hotel Ever!

Just got back from a long weekend at the Carlton Arms. This hotel is so New York! We stayed in the Atlantis/Submarine room and enjoyed every second of it. If you like hotels with all the services, this isn't for you. But if you want a hotel that's clean, cheap, in a good neighbourhood with character then go to the Carlton Arms. Be forewarned - no elevator, no televisions in rooms, no phones in rooms, no air conditioning. But wonderful art EVERYWHERE, the staff is cool, relaxed and friendly and the atmosphere is very very cool. My 8 year old son said he never wants to stay anywhere else again when we go to New York. Definitely worth many repeats!!

Funky, fun & wonderful

My mother, daugher, I came to New York from a tiny town in Montana. My daughter is going to school in New York. My cousin, who is from Arlington, Virgina, saw information for the Carlton Arms and said we MUST stay there. What a kick!! My grandmother would have had a heart attack, but the four of us had a wonderful time! My mother is an artist, so she especially loved it. I recommend it to travelers, however not the faint-hearted. As the sign says, It ain't no Holiday Inn!!

Carlton Arms Hotel Is A Stunner!

For those of you who have ever dreamed of a genuine artist & state-of-the-art Museum/hotel. A laid-back staff ready to provide you with any info on NYC you need or alternatively cleaned towels with a smile(as there's no room service!). As soon as you'll arrive, while steppin on the stairs, you will have a stunning but poignant first impression : a pre-Giuliani environment you've always looked for in NYC nowadays, and never quite experienced before in a hotel, something like you've always looked for and never found: Brightly painted walls, A TV fish bowl in the hall, a cute kitty looking at you from the upper stairs, peculiar articles & photos pinned to the wall, etc... You can take a tour (take your camera along with you) of all the vacant room and choose your favourite..!This hotel has personality, charm and mystery too... Think of all the people who stayed there and left their colourful mark on the walls. A memory too then. The unique rooms are as unique as the feeling you'll have when admiring the wall & corridors brightly painted by international avant-garde artists. Take a shower under a bright red light, stroll in the floor corridors... and immerse yourself in this amazing manhattan arty hotel! Jenn

Loved it. Our room had a naked man collage on the wall

It is a good hotel. You get to choose your room. The rooms are mad. It's in a good position. The lobby is nice. They have a tv fish bowl and nice cats. The reception staff can be a bit grumpy/off hand - but it's all worthwhile.

Great Idea...

We loved the idea of the Carlton Arms but the execution wasn't so hot. This place has all the ingredients of being a real jem, but our room had the door hanging off, the linen on the bed was fit to burn and the window to the fire escape couldn't be secured. The whole place needs a refit and no amount of stylish paint can paper over that. On the upside, It's in a good area, is in easy reach of public transport and the staff are cheerful.

A Walk on the Wild Side

If Michaelangelo had discovered Columbian Marching Powder while painting the Sistine Chapel, the effects might have been comparable to the splendidly over-the-top visual extravagance that is the Carlton Arms Hotel. Not a surface is left uncovered - the sequins on my lavvy seat being a perfect example - and the hotel is a treat you shouldn't miss. Despite it's charming eccentricities, it's a safe, friendly and bargain-priced hotel. The people who run it are very helpful and congenial and the cats in the lobby are surely the most contented felines in all NYC! Set in an equally safe but lively neighbourhood South of Midtown, the Carlton Arms is perfectly located for everything. However, if you like your hotel to have all those bland conventional trimmings like phones and TV in over-heated corporate-style bedrooms or fluffy carpets and room service then DON'T stay at the Carlton Arms. You won't like it AT ALL - and you'll take up space that us Carlton Arms afficionados need!

Fun experience, friendly place

I have stayed at the Carlton Arms several times and am planning on staying again. The hotel had a different artist design each room. The entire building is decorated with murals and sculpture. I have stayed in a room surrounded by schools of fish, the lost city of atlantis and amist crashed cars and roses. The one room I dream of getting is one with a huge four-post, canopy bed.

There are rooms with private baths which are not too much more than rooms with shared baths, although I never had a problem sharing the bathroom. There seems to always be young European travelers, and everyone is very friendly.

This is the best deal in New York, for a great, safe location. Tea shop downstairs and bar on the corner. I almost don't want to expose this place to more travelers, but they deserve to be booked year round.

Don't expect the Ritz- the Carlton has the atmospere of a hostel, without the shared rooms. They also have old loud heaters, which aren't a problem in the summer. Do expect a funky, unconventional and interesting experience. Reserve well ahead of time, although I have been able to get a room last minute. Its worth a try. Have fun!