Reviews & Ratings for Algonquin Hotel

07/13/09

a nice little boutique hotel in the theatre district

by awiernik

The algonquin hotel is a quant boutique hotel located right in the middle of the theatre district.

The staff is friendly and accomodating. They also have a great restaurant located adjacent to the lobby that has great french fare.

09/27/08

Hope to Come back soon

by henrykinney

We have been in search of the easy hotel in New York to come back to each time we visit and this is it. Great location. Near to almost everything in mid town and close to Times Square without the busyness and garishness. Rooms are a little small but very comfortable. Great mattresses and very friendly staff.

I am a little hesitant to give it glowing reviews since more people may stay there and make it hard to book.

08/30/08

The food is good but the overall experience is not worth the high price.

by RalphKatz

We were drawn into Blue Bar by the limited but reasonably expensive menu in the window and interesting decor. We found out we were scammed when we got the menu at our table and found prices $10 to $14 more per dish than the menu posted outside. We would not have come in for $32 chicken and $35 salmon, especially for a quick pre-theater dinner. So the good quality of the food was tainted by the dishonesty of the menu posted in the window (perhaps those are luncheon prices but the menu did not indicate that). The service was less attentive than it should have been for such an expensive restaurant. The overall experience was not worth the total of more than $90 per person we paid for salad, main dish and 2 drinks per person (not even including dessert and coffee).

• Pros: Quality of Food
• Cons: Much higher prices on actual menu than the one posted in the window, service, atmosphere for the expense

08/07/08

Best Bar on the Block

by JC421630

This bar is great, the atmosphere is traditionally new york, and it's a shift from the busy streets outside to the calm and quiet bar. The bartender is what really makes the bar though. He makes his drinks using sqeezed fruit and no sugar so the flavour of the liquer is really emphasized instead of hidden. and the quality of drinks is fantastic. I'd recomend this to anybody, anytime.

• Pros: Great service, great drinks
• Cons: a little on the expensive side--but worth it

11/29/06

A hidden gem

by potterqueen

Wonderful hotel. My parents stay here when they visit. The location is amazing, the cozy, open lobby feels like the New York you expect. The cat is cute. The staff is always so helpful.

• Pros: Comfortable, great location, caring staff
• Cons: Rooms are pretty small, but hey it's New York most rooms are small.

09/19/06

This legendary hotel still appeals to writers and their fans.

by Contributor

The Scene
This just-renovated hotel is inextricably linked to the Round Table writers--Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woolcott, et al. Starting in 1919, they lunched for 10 years in the Rose Room, and the hotel continues to appeal to creative types. Hallways sport wallpaper designed by The New Yorker cartoonist Robert Mankoff. Textiles, carpets and wall coverings in the Arts and Crafts style abound.

The Details
The 174 rooms and suites feature antiques and dark wood. All have modern amenities (some have extras like window seats), but space is at a premium; some accommodations are cramped. Signature suites--Lerner & Loewe, Dorothy Parker, James Thurber--contain personal memorabilia. Services include delivery of The New Yorker, which was conceived in the hotel by Harold Ross in 1924. At night, the Oak Room becomes one of the city's best cabarets, having launched the likes of Harry Connick Jr.

08/09/06

Great Bar Awful Performance Space

by raymondfong

The Hotel lobby itself is beautiful but the performance space is very cramped and claustrophobic feeling. Prices are suprisingly high for awful food. There were only about 4 entrees on the menu and everything was around $32. I ordered the Salmon and what came out from the kitchen was a pathetic small piece of shriveled up Salmon. I couldn't believe any restaurant would let that dish leave the kitchen. I sent it back and around 20 minutes later the waiter brought out another piece equally as small and sad looking. The chef must be an incompentent. The friend who I was with ordered Chicken Milanese which was huge, the exact opposite of the size of the salmon, however it was so overly lemony that my friend could barely eat it. I also ordered one of the specialty cocktails from the drink menu (all cocktails $15) and it was repulsive. For $15 at least make a good compentent drink. I sent the cocktail back and ordered a nice glass of wine from a good label but they kept it a the wrong temperature so the wine was too warm. At this point I realized that nothing was going to come out right so I just accepted the wine. The show we saw was pretty good but the space is not set-up for a proper live performance and we had to crane our necks to see the show. Also even though we were having full dinners and buying their expensive drinks they host gave us an awful table and saved a much better table for two people who were drinking coffee. I recommend having a drink in the beautiful Algonuin lobby but skip the Oak Room. It was one of the worst experiences I have had in a long time.

• Pros: Beautiful Lobby
• Cons: Overpriced, bad service, poor site lines

05/26/05

HORRIBLE

by niteangel

This place was an absolute disgrace! The staff was extremely unfriendly and the management was very snotty. This is only a mediocre bar if that! And they charge $32 for two shots of vodka (and it is absolute!!!!) Not worth anyone's time or money!!

03/10/05

A charming, elegant hotel

by lauranallove

I could sit in the lobby of this hotel for days. Tranquil, elegant, wonderful service with a historian who works in the hotel daily! The convenient location, theater district, shopping on Fifth Avenue, Bryant Park. And the Oak Bar is some of the best entertainment in NYC! I can't wait to come back to this hotel. Maybe one day I will be able to afford the $10,000 martini!

• Pros: elegant , clean

02/15/05

Stuffy yet unaffected: full of readers and writers enjoying the hard stuff.

by Contributor

The Scene
A staff of stoic old fellows in bow ties and jackets sets a formal tone at this gentleman's den-like bar. Al Hirschfeld sketches on wood-paneled walls remain a constant year after year, enduring as the old-school clientele. Space is limited and prices are stiff, but manage a table, and it's a dark, somber place to wallow in the blues if you got 'em.

The Draw
Perfume and whiskey scents hangs in the air, like the stories of Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley deliberating over lunch in the Algonquin Hotel's adjoining Round Table room. Soups and sandwiches are available in the barroom as well, though it's far more common to simply opt for another round. Literary types--the kind with day jobs--still meet here over drinks, charging them to the ol' corporate AmEx.