Hotel Beacon — Hotel Review Rating: 3.0 Pearls

Oyster Review Summary

Photos and review by Hailey E., Oyster Expert Hotel Investigator.
Updated: May 16, 2010

Oyster Hotel Photos

Double/Double Room (70)

The Hotel (63)

Two Bedroom Suite (22)

One Bedroom Suite King/Queen Bed (15)

Amenities (15)

King Room (10)

What Do Customers Ultimately Book After Viewing This Hotel?

61% book the hotel featured on this page
Hotel Beacon - Upper West Side, New York City

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13% book
The Lucerne - Upper West Side, New York City

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Holiday Inn NYC - Manhattan 6th Avenue - Chelsea, New York City

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On The Ave - Upper West Side, New York City

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Rooms at Hotel Beacon

Double/Double Room 320 sq. ft with 2 Doubles beds.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
King Room 320 sq. ft with a King bed.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
One Bedroom Suite King/Queen Bed 625 sq. ft with a King bed or Queen.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
One Bedroom Suite Two Double Beds 625 sq. ft with 2 Doubles beds.	/avg. per night You Save: 00%   Book Room
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Oyster Hotel Review

 Scene

The lobby

About 30 permanent residents still live in the hotel, and it almost feels more like an upscale apartment building than a medium-size hotel -- especially since there's no on-site bar or restaurant. And, while the lobby has elegant touches like fresh flowers, it's small and not especially chic. Those behind the front desk are helpful and kind, but they're also casual, like the doormen inside any of the nearby apartment buildings.

Like On The Ave and The Lucerne, two similarly priced hotels also on the Upper West Side, the Beacon attracts visitors to New York who are more interested in staying in a cozy neighborhood setting rather than amidst the touristy chaos of Times Square. Hotel management estimates that their clientele is about 60 percent pleasure travelers and 40 percent business travelers. The second floor houses a number of meetings rooms, but the hotel is more geared toward recreational travelers. The small business center isn't called a business center, but rather the "Guest Internet Center."

When I visited, guests of the hotel ranged in age from young families to retirees. Located on the fancy but family-oriented Upper West Side, it's a good home base for those who want to explore New York's cultural offerings and come back to a tame but not desolate neighborhood. Swinging singles should swing elsewhere. Young families, grandparents visiting the city with their grandkids, or New York residents in between apartments will feel right at home.

 Service

A luggage cart

During my stay at the Hotel Beacon, everyone I encountered was kind and helpful, but I usually had to ask for help. Guests typically roll their bags into the hotel themselves and bell hops are few and far between. Check-in was prompt, though there was an issue with my being booked in a smoking room when I had certainly made a reservation for a non-smoking room. The issue was quickly resolved, and I was given a non-smoking room. The occasional TripAdvisor reviewer also notes a booking or bureaucratic issue at the hotel, but, for the most part, user reviews on the site are glowing.

Calls down to the front desk from my guest room were always answered on the first ring, and the voice on the other end eager to help. When I had a problem with my television, an engineer was at my door within 10 minutes. Rooms also have helpful letters from the hotel next to both the HDTV and the iPod alarm clock instructing guests on how to use the fancy electronics -- a nice touch, though I still needed personal assistance turning on my television. My request for extra towels was filled with lightning speed -- in just 3.5 minutes. On the phone or in-person, the front desk was friendly and accommodating.

A concierge is on duty from 7 a.m. to midnight daily, a nice, and comparably long shift, to have a concierge on call. When I asked for a restaurant recommendation one night, the concierge produced a helpful list of dozens of restaurants in the area. However, when I inquired about one of the places on the list and asked about reservations, she shrugged it off and said she didn't think I'd need them, rather than going the proverbial extra mile and making the reservations anyway. Too bad the list was also a bit outdated. It had the old address for Kefi, a popular Greek restaurant in the neighborhood, that had moved to a new location about four months before I visited.

 Location

View on a Larger Map

For those visiting New York who are not interested in staying amidst the hubbub of Times Square, or the hipness of downtown, the Hotel Beacon just might be the ideal location. It's set on the beautiful, tony Upper West Side, an area of the city populated by well-heeled families, successful young professionals, and pedigreed dogs. Streets and sidewalks have some life to them, but they're also clean and never crowded. It's easy to find a great restaurant but harder to find many bars after dinner.

The Beacon's precise block couldn't be more convenient. It's on a lovely stretch of Broadway, more than 20 blocks north of the theatre district. Instead of the bright lights of the theatre marquees, this part of Broadway has medians planted with tulips and trees. There is, however, a theatre right next to the hotel in the form of its namesake: the Beacon Theatre. Known as the "older sister" to Radio City Music Hall, the historic theatre has been the recent venue for performer ranging from Leonard Cohen to Tyler Perry.

Fairway, one of the city's best grocery stores and something of a New York institution, is directly across the street. It's ideal for stocking the kitchenette or grabbing a quick lunch from the deli. There's also a Starbucks one block away, a diner underneath the hotel, and a nice wine shop, Beacon Liquors, on the same block.

 Airport Transportation

New York City has three nearby airports: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Flying into JFK or LaGuardia is typically easiest and the least time-consuming. From JFK, it's a (one-hour) $45 flat-rate taxi ride to anywhere in Manhattan. From LaGuardia, it's about a (30-minute) $40 metered cab ride to Midtown Manhattan. Rides from Newark cost at least $40 (plus tolls), and can take more than 90 minutes. Don't forget to tip your driver 15-25 percent.

To save some cash, try the group shuttles that are available at all three airports for about $14/person. For more information on the shuttles, go to Super Shuttle or New York Airport Service. You can also take public transit from any of the airports for as little as $7 per person, but travel can take up to two hours and involve a lot of lugging bags up and down stairs. For mass-transit directions right to the hotel, check out HopStop.com.

 Rooms

The Double Room

Originally an apartment building, the hotel's rooms have a homey feeling thanks to their large size. The standard king and double rooms average 320 square feet, over 50-percent larger than most New York City hotel rooms. They're significantly larger but just as nice as the rooms at nearby and slightly more expensive hotels like The Lucerne and On the Ave. The 650-square-foot one-bedroom suites can sleep up to four people, with a king or queen bed in the bedroom and a pull-out sofa in the living area. There are 32-inch flat-screen TVs in both the living room and bedroom. The sofa beds aren't especially comfortable, but, well, sofa beds have never been known for comfort. The 800-square-foot two-bedroom suites sleep up to six people and feature ovens in their kitchenettes.

All rooms come with a kitchenette. They're all nicely laid out and freshly redone with bright white cabinets and new appliances. The one in my standard double room had two electric burners, a microwave, a coffeemaker, a toaster, and refrigerator. Standard rooms have half-size refrigerators, while suites have apartment fridges, which are slightly smaller than a typical fridge. The kitchenettes are well-stocked with cutlery, a cutting board, plates, bowls, glasses, mugs, a tea kettle, coffee, and tea bags. Fairway, one of the city's best grocery stores, is just across the street from the hotel -- perfect for stocking the kitchenette.

Though they're quite homey, rooms are also pretty modern, thanks to a renovation completed in early 2009. All include 32-inch Samsung HDTVs with Time Warner Digital Cable and on demand movies available for purchase, iPod alarm clocks, and a fresh décor that falls between the aesthetic of Pottery Barn and West Elm.

The bedding takes a slight departure from the standard bright white duvet seen at most high-end New York hotels. A thin, sea-foam green bedspread with a light sheen covers just the foot of the bed, nicely contrasting with the white-on-white striped sheets. Sheets are embroidered with the hotel's initials, "HB." Three large pillows are allotted to each double bed. They're stuffed with poly filling, not down, but they're still quite comfortable with the perfect fluffiness-to-squishiness ratio. The pillow-topped mattresses are the right balance of soft and firm. The hotel recently installed soundproof windows. When I stayed there, I didn't hear a thing.

Square-shaped bathrooms are nice but a bit small. Freestanding sinks are attractive but offer no counter space. A narrow shelf below the mirror provides some storage space, but it's not wide enough to accommodate large cosmetic bags. Still, it's fresh and clean. Showers/tub combos have curved rods. As a water-saving measure, the water pressure in the showers is good, but not great. Toiletries from Gilchrist & Soames are nice but not over-the-top luxurious. The more adult fragrances like "relaxing sea fennel" are a welcome improvement on the more tutti-frutti scents of the similarly priced Bath & Body Works products (found at the Marriott hotels).

Desks are pretty but not fully functional. There aren't any spare outlets near them, so plugging in a laptop requires unplugging the alarm clock or lamp. Also, the desk's glass top doesn't work well with an optical computer mouse. But those are all small inconveniences. Wi-Fi is pretty fast, and $9.95/day is a fairly reasonable price. It can be billed to the room, but setting it up does require a call to the front desk for a special code.

 Features

The laundry room

The hotel's business center, called the "Guest Internet Center", is free for guests. It's small, with just two computers and two printers, but both computer usage and printing are complimentary. The center is open daily from 8 a.m. to midnight.

While the hotel offers the typical same-day valet dry cleaning service, guests also have the option of doing their own laundry. A laundry room on the seventh floor is open 24 hours and features fairly new washers and dryers, costing upwards of $1.75 per load. Detergent is available for purchase from a vending machine.

Guests who want to work out can purchase a 24-hour pass to Equinox Fitness, one of the city's nicer and most popular gyms. The cost of the day pass is $20, and the nearest Equinox is just two blocks away.

 Family

The 1 Bedroom Suite

Hotel Beacon is popular among families, and it's no wonder. About half of the hotel's rooms are dedicated to one- and two-bedroom suites that can comfortably sleep a family of six and cost the same as standard rooms at similar hotels in the area. Even the standard rooms can easily accommodate cribs and roll-aways (for an extra $20/night).

All rooms have well-equipped kitchenettes with electric ranges, microwaves, toasters, coffeemakers, sinks, plates, and cutlery. Refrigerators are half-size in standard rooms, but still big enough for plenty of snacks and juice boxes.

The hotel also has a 24-hour coin-operated laundry room for guests, especially handy for those traveling with spill-prone toddlers. Costs range from $1.75 to $2 per cycle per machine. Detergent is also available for purchase.

Pay-per-view movies are available for purchase from Time Warner On Demand, which includes over a dozen films in the family section.

Like most hotels throughout the city, the hotel refers guests needing a babysitter to The Babysitter's Guild, a childcare agency that specializes in caring for children from out of town.

 Pets

A dog in the lobby

The Hotel Beacon says it doesn't allow pets, but I saw multiple little dogs during my stay, including an adorable French Bulldog and a Shih Tzu. Some permanent residents have pets, and when I asked a hotel staffer if pets were allowed he said, "No, but we do make some arrangements." For guests who want to stay at the hotel and bring little Fido, it's worth asking to speak with someone in sales to see if they'll make an exception.

 Cleanliness

All guest rooms at the Beacon Hotel were renovated in late 2008/early 2009, leaving them quite clean and fresh. Bathrooms and kitchenettes sparkle, and there's a nary a bit of dust on the dark wood furnishings. Kitchenettes are stocked with dish soap, should guests need to do a dish or two before maid service.

 Food

Nearby grocery stores

There's no room service at the hotel, but food can be ordered for delivery from the Viand Café next door. Guest-rooms have an abbreviated lunch/dinner menu, but the café also serves and delivers breakfast. Their full menu is available online. While some hotels offering room service in this way take the food from the restaurant and then put it on a special room service tray, it's a much simpler affair at the Beacon. The concierge simply advises guests to call the café directly and place an order. Watch out, local charges from the room will cost you. Delivery men come right up to the guest-rooms and hand over a plastic bag filled with food. Orders can be paid for with cash or credit, but they cannot be charged to the room. It's not as elegant as room service, but the food is just as good, if not better, and far cheaper.

Every room in the Hotel Beacon features an adorable kitchenette with an electric range, a microwave, coffeemaker, toaster, and refrigerator. Fairway, one of the city's best grocery stores, is just across the street from the hotel -- perfect for stocking the kitchenette.

Upon request, the concierge will provide a list of dozens of restaurants in the surrounding area within easy walking distance. Once a culinary wasteland, the Upper West Side has recently become one of the city's better areas for eating out.

 Bottom Line

After completing a renovation in early 2009, the 255-room Beacon Hotel is one of the city's best ways to ensure an affordable family vacation. The huge rooms all have kitchenettes, and are in a safe but fun part of the Upper West Side that's a 10-minute walk from New York's most kid-friendly museums and Central Park.