After looking at over 50 hotels, I ended up staying at the Inn at Union Square based on the reviews. Upon walking into the hotel, we were met with a powerful stale odor that smelled like old cigarettes. This was supposed to be a non-smoking hotel; however, it seemed like they took over a building where smoking was permitted and done so heavily.
Because we have insomnia, I specifically asked to be placed in a room that was away from the elevators, stairways, lobby, and street. Somehow, some way, we were placed in room that was adjacent to ALL FOUR. It was shocking. Not only that, at around 12:30 am, street construction commenced where construction workers began placing concrete.
To top it all off, once we checked out and gave our valet ticket to the front desk, we waited for *40 minutes* for our car to arrive. It was in the low 50s with wind, so it was very cold, but the stench from within the hotel was so strong that we preferred to stand in the cold weather. Mind you, after asking the front desk for status twice, we found out the garage was around the corner! We could have walked to it 40 minutes prior.
I don’t know if this was an inexplicable mistake or done intentionally, but from the beginning to the end, this hotel fell FAR below expectations. This is not the first time I’ve been deceived by reviews, but having paid over $300 for this one-night stay where $55 of it was for a for a valet service that wasted our time, I would never, ever stay at this hotel again.