Hotel Pennsylvania Rating: 2.5 Pearls

Midtown West, Manhattan, New York City

The lobby

Hotel Pennsylvania's Web site claims that it is the "World's Most Popular Hotel," but "World's Most Populated" might better describe the high-traffic interior. All the commotion makes sense; sporting 1,700 rooms, the Pennsylvania is the fourth-largest hotel in Manhattan. Guests, pedestrians apparently taking a shortcut, and patrons of the kitschy gift shops pass through the lobby in droves.

The massive lobby has the feel of Penn Station -- a key transit hub in New York that's right across the street. Vendors sell postcards and T-shirts from shops that surround the lobby.

Chandeliers hang from the ceiling above the elevator bank, but the presence of tacky retailers hawking goofy tourist memorabilia -- think "I <3 NY and FDNY T-shirts and tote bags -- significantly detracts from any regal atmosphere the lobby might otherwise cultivate. In the mid-afternoon, chatter from guests and passersby created a continuous wave of background noise that often surpassed the volume of the jazz music in the background.

The clientele consisted fairly evenly of international and American travelers. Ahead of me in line for check-in stood an American couple, while ahead of them a party of three Italian women (one with a black leather bag from Enyce) chatted amongst themselves. As I checked in, I overheard two men from West Virginia ask the front desk staff about the best places to find casinos near the city.

Guests rested soda bottles and paper coffee cups on the lobby tables as they sat in black leather seating facing the check-in desk. Many were waiting for their travel companions to get through the line to check in. Rafael Monzoni, one such guest who had flown in from Buenos Aires, said his wife, Agustina, had been waiting in line for an hour and had yet to check in. (I didn't have it quite that bad; it took me about a half-hour.)

The front desk

Steve Roth, head of Vornado Realty Trust, which owns the Hotel Pennsylvania, has compared the hotel to "a placeholder, sort of like a parking lot, but in this case with $22 million of earnings." I can't help but wonder if that attitude has somewhat informed the hotel's attention to service.

At check-in, a line of 13 people ahead of me snaked back and forth, cordoned off by the seatbelt-like barriers commonly found at airport security stations and fast-food establishments. A bank of flat-screen TVs aired programming from CNBC, CNN, and ESPN, and displayed stocks and game scores. Lucky for me: I was able to watch the entire second half of CNBC's hour-long "Street Signs" TV show while I waited to check in.

Two check-in clerks at the desk were less than welcoming. When one party attempted to venture toward a clerk, she made a "stay back," gesture. After I waited 27 minutes, I checked in. The staff's efficient process suggests that understaffing was the source of the wait. The time of day wasn't the sole factor. At 11:30 p.m. I spotted six people waiting in line.

When problems arose during our stay, the staff was also relatively inept. I had to change rooms when the phone in my first room didn't work, and several attempts to gain Internet access were met with failure.

More conventional service scenarios also proved difficult. In the morning, extra towels arrived 23 minutes after a request. When I called guest services for the concierge at 8 p.m., the operator transferred me several times to the computerized call directory. When I finally reached someone who worked for the information services desk, he told me it was closed and that I should head down to the lobby after 7 a.m. the next day.

When I arrived at the desk and asked the information-services provider for some inexpensive local food options, she recommended Jack's Restaurant and Bar, the Tick Tock Diner, and Seven Bar and Grill. I was grateful for the effort, but I was sure how much to trust those recommendations after she had to look up what kind of food was on Seven's menu.

View on a Larger Map

For those unfamiliar with Manhattan geography, Seventh Avenue near 34th Street is in the running -- along with St. Mark's, Astor Place, and Canal and Broadway -- for busiest New York intersection short of Times Square. Hotel Pennsylvania, on 33rd and Seventh, sees foot traffic that falls just short of insanity. Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knicks, Liberty, and Rangers, and host to top-selling musical performers, is right across the street. Amtrak, Greyhound Buses, the Long Island Railroad, the PATH Train, and the New Jersey Transit, not to mention the 1, 2, 3 and A, C, E subway lines, all connect at Penn Station. The Herald Square subway station connecting to the B, D, F, V and N, Q, R, W lines on Sixth Avenue brings even more traffic. Throw in Macy's, one of the world's largest department stores, one block away, and the result is a surging crowd in constant motion, right at Hotel Pennsylvania's front door.

The high pedestrian volume brings with it a diverse crowd. As I was photographing the exterior of the hotel, several panhandlers approached me to ask for spare change and cigarettes. Many more walked by or lay huddled against the hotel walls. Businessmen talked on cell phones and asked the doorman to flag down cabs for them. A young man was scouting the location for a music video, and the crowd parted around a scattering of tourists who had stopped to photograph Madison Square Garden and the nearby Empire State Building .

With so many people to cater to, the hotel's surrounding area offers an equally broad array of goods and services. The Manhattan Mall on the same block, around the corner from the hotel's front entrance, contains such conventional stores as Aeropostale, Hallmark, and Sunglass Hut. On the street, hotdog vendors abound. A dreadlocked merchant was selling glassware on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street, and one block north, 33rd Street Book and Video Center, a porn shop and home of Peep World, advertised its "new booths" with red neon-lit pride.

In contrast, across Broadway on West 32nd Street lies Koreatown, with ample authentic Korean restaurants such as the 24-hour restaurant Kum Gang San. Around the corner, on 33rd Street and Fifth Avenue, stands the Empire State Building. The gay-friendly Chelsea neighborhood is a several-minute walk south of the hotel.

In terms of attractions, the New York Public Library and Bryant Park, as well as the theater district, are a 15-minute walk away. A seven-minute ride on the subway will land visitors at the southern edge of Central Park.

Safety-wise, the area is packed during the day, but thins out dramatically late at night, and isn't the best-lit neighborhood. As with almost any neighborhood in New York, I'd advise against strolling around poorly lit areas alone late at night, but the Hotel Pennsylvania's neighborhood isn't particularly violent or dangerous.

New York City has three nearby airports: JFK, La Guardia, 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.

The Penn 5000 Club Double Room

In terms of space, there is about three feet of clearance flanking the bed in the superior room, and about five feet at the foot. A desk against one side of the bed leaves little pushback clearance when someone tries to sit in the chair. The dusty, circa-1990 Zenith TV and a mini-fridge are tucked in a corner near the window, blocking sunlight and making the room feel closed and poorly lit.

The slightly more welcoming Penn 5000 suite (mine was 1219) offers more space, with more than five feet of clearance around all sides of the bed. Additional upgrades include a flat-screen TV, wired Internet access (I never got mine working), two phones, and a more business-like rolling chair at the desk. The window overlooks fairly nondescript retail buildings across 33rd Street, and a corner of Macy's is visible.

Despite more business-friendly in-room features, I suffered a telecom breakdown in the business suite. The Ethernet cable was missing the clip that fastens it into the laptop, and the router's power cord wasn't plugged in. Once I remedied these problems by calling down for a new cable and plugging in the router myself (I'm very self-reliant), the Internet ... still didn't work.

A refurbishment would benefit the rooms at Hotel Pennsylvania. Old-looking gray carpeting, scuffs on the walls, and a seemingly 70s-era ball atop the entertainment centers make the place feel as though it hasn't been redecorated in decades.

Noise was a constant problem. Even from 12 stories up, I could hear the beep of a backing-up truck. Day and night, I could hear guests chatting in adjoining rooms.

All bathrooms come with Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy products -- a nice touch, but a pretty common grade for N.Y.C. hotels. In my room, the shower was hot and had plenty of pressure. The black-and-white tiling wasn't spectacular, and cleanliness was a problem.

The gym

The fitness center, tucked away up a flight of stairs from the 18th floor, is worth the trip. Replete with a total-body machine weight system, elliptical machines, and treadmills, the gym is spacious, well-maintained, and thinly populated, even at 8 a.m. Two tube TVs hang from the ceiling, but the machines don't have iPod docks or video monitors. Most of the machines face mirrors rather than the windows; the view looks more like an afterthought than an attraction.

As for business facilities, all guests have access to WebLink Internet & Business Services, which offers computer use for 20 cents a minute or $12 an hour, and printing at 75 cents a page. Users of the facilities also have to buy a Business Center Cash Card from the dispenser in the room.

Penn 5000 Club members (I can't help but be reminded of the "Pen 15 Club"), on the other hand, get access to the Penn 5000 Club Lounge on the 12th floor, which features Flavia coffee machinery, a flat-screen TV tuned to CNN, a plush couch, two PC workstations, and a printer.

The Hotel Pennsylvania also contains a wide array of meeting rooms, although they carry the same downtrodden feel of the guest rooms. Check out my photos of the conference lounge, the London Room, and the large 18th-floor Penn Room.

A view of the Empire State Building from the hotel

As I said in the Location section, there are some big-ticket landmarks, including Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building, and Times Square within walking distance of Hotel Pennsylvania. There's also a porn shop across the street.

Hotel Pennsylvania's Web site says it has won recognition for being a top kid-friendly hotel. It then links to this article, whose author cites the Pennsylvania's jazz-laden roots, cable TV, and Internet access as the main family-friendly draws. ("Incidentally," the article says of Internet and cable, "all of the other hotels I've listed have those facilities too." Slim pickings, frankly.

Several TripAdvisor users make general complaints about dust and old carpeting. I encountered both of these, as well as scuffs and crayon markings on the walls. There was some grime in the bathrooms as well. The place certainly didn't feel luxurious as a result, but I have no grave hygienic complaints.

Lindy's restaurant

Breakfast at Lindy's, the on-site restaurant and bar, is underwhelming and the prices are pretty inflated, but not abnormal for N.Y.C. hotels. For $12, I got six slices of French toast; coffee and a large orange juice added another $9.50 to the tab. At least the maple syrup is free. The kitschy décor matches the overall vibe of Hotel Pennsylvania's lobby, and I appreciated Sinatra singing "Mack the Knife" as I ate my French toast.

The Stage Door Deli, one block away at 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue, offers French toast for $6.70 and under, and sports positive reviews on The Stage Door Deli MenuPages.

City Perk, a coffee house at one end of the lobby, sells sodas and snacks, and has the look of a slightly upscale corner store.

For dinner, I ventured across the street to Stout, which offers four different kinds of stout on draft and another 27-inch bottles. For those that prefer a lighter beer, the place offers 17 additional drafts, not counting seasonal selections, and an assortment of bottled beers from 15 different countries. Lacking the time or the liver to sample everything, I settled for a Sierra Nevada and ordered a very filling shepherd's pie. Leona Lewis' "Better in Time" and Kanye West's "Heartless" pumped through the spacious, two-story establishment, while numerous flat-screen TVs showed the New York Rangers' loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

One block away on 32nd Street and Broadway, there's Kum Gang San, a 24-hour restaurant featuring a white baby-grand piano and a waterfall.