On a recent work trip to New York, I needed a hotel in the Chelsea area and ended up at the Aloft New York Chelsea Hotel. I typically stay at the Renaissance Chelsea when I’m in town but the holiday pricing forced me to try something new.
Booking
I needed to be in New York the second week of December and hotel prices were through the roof. The holiday season in Manhattan is always expensive but the prices I encountered this year were unprecedented. My go-to hotel, the Renaissance Chelsea, was charging over $1100 per night on the dates I needed so I decided to look elsewhere.
I scoured the Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt websites before ultimately deciding on the Aloft Chelsea. The property still was pricey at roughly $650 per night but, it was one of the best deals I could find anywhere in Lower Manhattan for the dates I needed.
Aloft New York Chelsea Location
The Aloft New York Chelsea is located on the eastern edge of the Chelsea neighborhood on W 28th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. The hotel is located in the middle of the block but is clearly marked thanks to the large signage visible from the sidewalk.
While I Ubered to the hotel, it is conveniently located next to stops for the 1, 2, F, M, and PATH trains which makes it easy to get to the hotel from around Manhattan.
Aloft New York Chelsea Lobby and Check-In
The lobby of the Aloft Chelsea is on the smaller side and was fairly busy with multiple people waiting to check in at 10:00p on a Monday night. I’m sure this isn’t unique to this property as New York is a hotspot for tourists during the holiday season. The lobby itself was decorated for Christmas with a large tree against the wall.
Aside from the check-in desk there is a large communal table located in the lobby along with some airport style luggage carts.
The hotel also has a covered outdoor space between the street and the lobby with some tables and chairs. Unfortunately it was cold and rainy during my visit so I didn’t utilize this space.
Also, just inside the lobby doors, you’ll find a coffee station as well as an “Arf” bar with treats and tennis balls for your furry friends.
It took approximately ten minutes to get to the front of the line and get checked in. Key Cards in hand I headed over to the nearby elevator to head up to my room.
Aloft New York Chelsea Guest Room
I booked and was assigned a standard One King Guest Room located on the fifth floor. Upon entry, the bathroom was straight ahead while the remainder of the room was off to the left. Hotel rooms in New York are notoriously small but, I found that the Aloft New York Chelsea, made good use of the space.
The majority of the room was taken up by the king bed, which was flanked by some mismatched nightstands. There was also a large window that looked directly into the neighboring building. Needless to say, I kept the blinds closed for most of my stay.
The night stand on the far side had a lamp, telephone, pen, notepad, and the TV remote while the floating nightstand on the near side had a light and a speaker shaped like a Marshall amplifier.
Across from the bed was a large flat-screen TV mounted on the wall along with a small cart that held a mini fridge, coffeemaker, ice bucket, and cups. Unfortunately, the refrigerator was only strong enough to keep things cool, not cold. There was also a chair and a small table located in an alcove in the corner.
The table and chair in the room were both small and uncomfortable and the only thing I used it for was as a place to keep my backpack. This wasn’t a huge deal as part of the reason you visit New York is to go out and visit the city that never sleeps.
To the left of the TV was the “closet” which consisted of a clothes rack and some hangars over a small table which had a hairdryer and a box of Kleenex. A small safe was also located underneath. The only thing that I hung here was a suit, everything else I left in my bag.
If you thought the room was small, the bathroom is even smaller. It consisted of a walk-in shower, small sink, and toilet. At least the wallpaper and tile were fun and made the space feel vibrant.
Reuseable, drybar branded toiletries were mounted on the wall of the shower.
The sink was very small and with almost non-existent counter space, there was barely room for a shaving kit here. Small, drybar branded soap and lotion in single use packaging were in a small tray at the edge of the sink.
Finally, the toilet was located next to the sink and had a tiny shelf above it. This is where I ended up storing my toiletry kit during my visit.
Aloft New York Chelsea Food and Beverage
The property has two food and beverage locations onsite. Both are located on the first floor and share a communal space.
Re:Fuel Cafe
The property has a Re:Fuel Cafe which is like a mini convenience store. It sells snacks and beverages throughout the day and night. In the mornings, this is also where you can get freshly brewed coffee and breakfast sandwiches. The breakfast kitchen is open between 6:30-9:30a Monday through Friday and 7:00-10:00a on Saturdays and Sundays.
wxyz Lounge
When the Aloft concept initially debuted, it was meant to be a younger, cheaper W Hotels brand. Therefore the bar at many of the properties, especially older ones, is branded as the wxyz Lounge.
At the Aloft New York Chelsea, the bar is located at the rear of the first floor and is separated from the lobby by the elevator bank.
The lounge has an L shaped bar along with a few cafe style tables and a couple of sofas that are shared with the Re:Fuel space next door. With many bar and restaurant options in Chelsea, I never saw either one of these spaces anywhere close to busy.
Aloft New York Chelsea Fitness Center
.The property has a fitness center on-site, which is located on the second floor. It takes up the front half of the floor and can be accessed using your room key.
While this fitness center won’t win any awards, it has a decent selection of cardio machines and free weights available. It is certainly enough to get by for a week in the city.
Aloft New York Chelsea Business Center
At the rear of the second floor, across from the entrance to the gym, is a short hallway that leads to the business center. I use business center in the loosest term possible as it consists of a single desktop computer and a printer.
If you need to host a meeting, the hotel also has a conference room adjacent to the business center along with a small seating area outside.
Summary
The Aloft New York Chelsea isn’t my favorite property in the area but, with prices sky high due to the holidays, it made for a pleasant place to stay. The location was great for my needs and though the rooms were small, they did a decent job of laying things out in a way that made it feel larger than it was.
The property has all of the amenities you could need for a trip with food and beverage options, a fitness center, and business space. However, in the city that never sleeps, there are better options for all of those off property. While this wouldn’t be my first choice in the area, I would stay here again if necessary.
Doesn’t look like a bad hotel but the price still makes me cringe… even if someone else is paying. A lot of people love NYC. I’m just not one of them. Philadelphia, Chicago I love… NYC just irks me. On a few trips up there (and helped by the fact my business is near to the airports), thanks to outrageous hotel prices I’ve managed to make the case to fly home to CLT for the night and back in the morning to actually save money.
I generally stay in Harrison on the NJ side (Element and a couple other hotels usually reasonably $250-300 range within 2-3 blocks of a PATH station) if I have to go to Manhattan, but I’m also not spending the whole day there.
Your room’s bathroom would bother me as well for lack of somewhere to put a shaving kit. I don’t care so much about no closet or other storage because I can’t recall the last time I ever unpacked a suitcase in a hotel (other than, like you, hanging up a suit and maybe a coat). Less stuff to leave my suitcase is less stuff to get lost and I prefer my departing for the airport trick to just be throw in the shaving kit and zip up the suitcase.
Always feels to me like there could be more functional furnishings in hotel rooms… like the table/chair you had that I’d probably do the same – my backpack would sit in it. Maybe there could be something almost similar to an airline luggage sizer with a waist-level box to sit a briefcase or backpack in where it would sit up and could be left unzipped for access and maybe a shelf above it with various power plugs/USB outlets. And a lower box or shelf to put a standard roller bag or lay out the next day’s clothes.
Even with someone else paying I had a hard time justifying the price. unfortunately I had to add on a couple of nights that wouldn’t have been necessary due to the start/end times of the event.
I ended up putting my shaving kit on the edge of the sink but I kad to be mindful not to knock it into the toilet.