As I've mentioned in some of my previous entries of my trip to New York, we stayed at the stately Roosevelt Hotel in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. Located on 45th St. at Madison Ave. (Fourth Ave. - see map), the Roosevelt has just over 1000 rooms with 52 suites and a 3200 sq. ft. Presidential Suite. Built in 1924, The Roosevelt has long been one of the upscale hotels in New York City.
The Roosevelt is named after the 26th President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt, a New York City native who died five years prior to the hotel opening. In 1995, The Roosevelt closed to undergo a complete upgrade and restoration. It reopened two years later and today it continues to hold onto its title as the "Grand Dame of Madison Avenue."
The hotel lobby is one of most magnificent features of the hotel. After entering on the street level, you walk up a flight of stairs and it takes you to the expansive and elegant lobby. It's what every old time hotel lobby should be like - ornate and majestic.
The rooms are what I would call elegant with a historical theme. They aren't all that large, but comfortable enough. The bathroom was small and didn't have a lot of shelf space. Trying to accommodate toiletries for two people was a pain in the butt.
Given the location of The Roosevelt Hotel, we found a lot of both business travelers and tourists staying at the hotel the week we were there. We heard a lot of foreign dialects while riding on the elevators or going through the lobby. And considering it was the long Columbus Day weekend while we were there, there seemed to be a lot of families staying at The Roosevelt.
As I said in an earlier post here, we didn't eat any meals at the hotel's restaurant, The Roosevelt Grill. The prices on the dinner menu were sky-high, and there wasn't much to choose from. Plus given the fact that we were in one of the gastronomical capitals of the world, we weren't going to be wasting our time on hotel food.
And as I said before, the prices on the breakfast menu were even more outrageous. For two eggs with potatoes, bacon or sausage and toast it was $24.95! I'm not shitting you! Click on the breakfast menu link above and take a look! You can get the same thing on weekdays at Harlan's here in Davenport for $2.99!
The Madison Lounge, however, was a pretty nifty place to have a drink. But, oh my God, was it also expensive. It was $8.25 for a pint of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale! Simon and I had a beer one night there after dinner. After the bartender told me it would be $16.50 for the two beers, I said to Simon, "Jesus, I didn't want a case of beer, I only wanted a couple!"
The Madison Lounge had this long walnut bar and it was very comfortable. They also had a limited dinner menu including a $16.95 cheeseburger. Once again, no, I'm not kidding.
But, still for being in the heart of Manhattan, and given that The Roosevelt is a very nice hotel, it wasn't that bad of a deal for $229 a night. At least for New York hotel prices, it wasn't bad. And they treated us very well. When we were getting ready to go to the airport on the morning we were leaving, they got us one of their hotel courtesy cars to take us to LaGuardia. It was $42 including tip, but at least it was in a nice limo and not a cab.
There's lots of places to stay in Manhattan, but I was satisfied with The Roosevelt Hotel. It was elegant and had an old time charm to it. And it's right in the middle of Midtown Manhattan, within walking distance to many of the sights of the city. I'd take a look at staying there again if I could get a good rate compared to other hotels in the area.
Comments