A Week in New York

We had a two room suite with large living area, kitchenette, bathroom, bedroom with king size bed and a great view of the harbour. A buffet breakfast was included in the price and the choices etc were very good and set us up for the day’s sightseeing. All these things measured up to the usual good standard of Embassy Suites.

However we felt the service within the hotel was of a poor standard and let the hotel down. We noticed that some areas of our room got dusty and seemed not to be cleaned, such as the dressing table. Also sweets left on the table mysteriously disappeared. At the time of our arrival the light over the bath was flashing on and off, after a long flight etc we decided not to bother reporting this until the following day, but forgot, however, the constant flashing on and off would have been obvious to the housekeeping staff so we were very surprised that when we returned and it still had not been fixed. I then phoned down to report it but nobody came and I had to leave a note for the following day – it was then fixed. We used the mini bar on a couple of occasions, but the cans used were never replaced, so couldn’t buy more!

One day on reporting for breakfast we were asked our room number, however the woman was so busy talking to someone on the phone that we had to repeat our number four times before she finally listened and even then she kept repeating 926 instead of 826. We tried to correct her numerous times, and then gave up. I hope the people in 926 got their breakfast! This exact same scenario happened on one other occasion too.

The final straw was when I went to use my hairbrush and found long, black hairs wound round it – I am blonde! I was disgusted and it turned my stomach to think that someone had used my brush. I went down to reception to complain as was seen by the concierge who looked at my brush and asked if anyone else in the room could have used it. Did she think that I would have complained if I knew who had used it? She then went to get the manager. When he arrived he apologised and said he would speak to housekeeping and would replace my brush. He also offered a free stay at the hotel in the future, but I declined as we would not be returning to NY. So he offered cinema tickets, which I again declined but suggested that he could reduce our current stay’s bill. He agreed that he would remove our incidentals i.e. pay movies, mini bar etc which I agreed. When we received our final bill, all these things were still on there and charged to my credit card ($45), by this time I couldn’t be bothered to complain so left it. Not impressed!

This restaurant was located within our hotel building, so we used it out of convenience more than anything. I will not go into too much detail as all Applebee’s are very much alike.

The theme was Wall Street with lots of pictures of South Manhattan both before and after 9/11. They also had lots of stocks, share certificates, and newspaper cuttings over the walls, which were quite interesting. The staff was very nice and the food very good, especially the dessert – Triple Chocolate Meltdown, a chocolate sponge cake covered in chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream. I have to confess to having this twice in a week – very naughty, but very nice! My husband loved the Apple Pie dessert.

We have been in several of these restaurants, and this was very good, with the staff being exceptionally friendly.

Although this was just another Planet Hollywood restaurant, I thought it deserved a mention, if only for its restrooms!

We decided to eat here whilst we were in Times Square, as it was one of the few places without a queue. We were given seats quickly, and the service overall was good. The food was typical PH stuff: burgers, pasta, pizza, etc. The place itself is pretty large -- one of the largest PHs we have been in -- and has all the usual movie memorabilia, including the dress Demi Moore wore in Indecent Proposal.

However, it was the restroom that is worth mentioning. I had to visit the ladies’ room and was greeted at the door by the attendant. She then led me to a cubicle, opened the door for me and then closed it for me – very over-the-top. When I exited the cubicle, she directed me to a basin, turned on the tap for me, and then squirted some liquid soap into my hands. When I had finished washing my hands, she turned the tap off and passed me a paper towel. I had entered the bathroom without my handbag, so I could not leave her a tip, but she certainly deserved one. I was so amazed at this service that, when I returned to my seat, I told my husband, who promptly went to the men’s room to see what that was like. He reported back that the door was opened for him and that he was offered soap, but thankfully, that is all the help he received!!!!

If anyone is in the Times Square area and needs to use the restroom, go into Planet Hollywood for a first-class performance!

The Empire State Building is a must-see and must-do when in New York. We booked our tickets online before we went, where you get electronic tickets to print out - very easy. We chose to have both the observatory tickets and the Skyride.

We went in September and didn’t have to queue for the Skyride. You have to go through two separate introduction rooms before you actually get on the ride itself. As part of the intro, they explain why they have chosen to keep the Twin Towers featured in the ride - as a tribute to the buildings and those who were lost.

Skyride is a simulator ride, which is basically a helicopter ride over New York. You fly across all the major sights, and the film includes footage of both before and after 9/11, so you get a sense of what New York was like before that fateful day - it is quite sobering! The ride is a good way of getting a view of New York that you would only get via helicopter, but it’s much cheaper.

Once out of the ride, you go through to the queue to actually go to the top of the building. There was a short queue here, but nothing much. You have to go through security and put your bags through an x-ray machine, although nobody seemed to be looking at the screens. You go through the gate, like at an airport, and then carry on through to a big room where there is a zigzag queue system. Here you get your photo taken in front of a picture of the building. After this, you have to get into two separate elevators, which take you to the top of the building on the 86th floor, or 1,050 feet above ground. There is an enclosed area, but you really have to go outside where you can get panoramic views of the city from all four sides.

The views really are spectacular, and if you pick a clear day, you can see for miles. While we were up there, a rather strange thing happened. A passenger plane flew overhead, quite close and low, and suddenly, two jet fighters flew in and sat either side of it and basically escorted it towards Brooklyn. Lots of people commented on it, I have it on video, and it is quite worrying looking back. We spent quite a long time up there, just taking in the sights and trying to spot buildings and places we had seen from ground level. When you leave, you do so through a gift shop where you can buy almost anything.

If you are in New York, you really have to do the Empire State Building!

The World Financial Buildings were opposite our hotel and Ground Zero. Apart from being a huge office block, they also hold restaurants and shops.

On the ground floor, there are several restaurants, coffee bars, and a Starbucks. There is also a seating area both inside and outside the centre where you can sit and people-watch. There are lots of police and security guards wandering around, which is an unfortunate legacy of 9/11. The building also has a shopping area with some clothes shops such as Gap, gift shops, and more. There are only about 10 or so shops, but it is quite pleasant and very bright with the big, glass roof. There is also a Ground Zero information area, which has models of the site and details of the new buildings that are going to be built there.

If you exit the building on the opposite side to Ground Zero, you come out on the waterfront area where you can sit and eat or keep an eye on the very large, very expensive boats sitting in the harbour.

We booked Grey Line Tours via the internet before we left for New York. We booked the all loops package, which consisted of four separate tours: uptown, downtown, Brooklyn and a night tour. This was good value for money at $49 per person. Even if you only want to take a couple of the tours, this still works out cheaper than buying them individually.

You have to take all tours within 48 hours, which sounds daunting, but we did the uptown in the morning of day one and the downtown in the afternoon. Then the following day we did Brooklyn and then the night tour, so it worked out great. Each tour takes about 2 hours if you stay on from start to finish.

They all start and end in the Times Square area, except Brooklyn, and are on open-top double-decker buses. The Brooklyn tour is on an enclosed coach, as open-top buses are apparently not allowed in Brooklyn, and this tour starts in Battery Park near the Financia