Mansfield Hotel — Hotel Review Rating: 3.5 Pearls

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Oyster Hotel Review

Reviewer: Hailey E.
Updated: May 17, 2010

 Scene

First constructed in 1903, and since renovated in 2007, the 126-room Mansfield has all the glamour of a bygone era: a swanky cocktail bar, a plush library, a crackling fire, and even marble chessboards. But the property doesn't forfeit the modern comforts -- free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, and a 24-hour fitness center.

Back in the day, the hotel claims to have housed such (vaguely) notorious guests as painter John Butler Yeats, father of poet William Butler Yeats, and Maz von Gurach, the man believed to be the inspiration behind The Great Gatsby. These days, it's home to a less artsy crowd of business travelers and European tourists.

The narrow lobby of the Beaux Arts building features a high ceiling with beautiful, sculptural details that demonstrate the period's modern take on European baroque. But the lobby is small, and not exactly jaw-dropping. It's not until 5 p.m. -- when the side doors to the swank, dimly lit M Bar open for the night -- that live jazz begins and middle-aged locals fill the lobby bar for after-work cocktails under flattering light. But guests needn't worry about a noisy bar scene -- unlike at The W or the SoHo Grand.

Outside the bar, the library -- aka the Club Room -- offers a mellower place for guests to hang out. It features a fireplace, warm woods, and large windows looking out onto 44th Street. Suited guests conduct impromptu late-afternoon meetings, or just sip coffee to a soundtrack of Bobby Darin and Tony Bennett late into the evening.

 Service

I showed up at 2 p.m., and the front desk found me a room without batting an eye or mentioning that standard check-in time was 4 p.m. The bottle of water offered to me at check-in was a nice touch, especially considering the rooms are stocked with bottles of Gleneagles spring water at $10 a pop.

But opening doors and hailing taxis tends to be a do-it-yourself affair at the Mansfield, although occasionally there's a doorman around. Likewise, despite the presence of luggage trolleys and a few men milling about who might have been porters, nobody offered to help me to my room.

Requests -- like a new lightbulb in my room, extra towels, a bathrobe, help with the Internet, and a hair dryer -- were delivered promptly, typically within five minutes.

The hotel's full-service concierge wasn't there when I was there, and, in general, he seemed to keep random, ever-changing hours. In his absence, the front-desk staff is ready, willing, and trained to provide concierge services. During my stay, the front-office manager was often hanging about, greeting returning guests and answering questions.

 Location

Compared to the crowded sidewalks, neon lights and commercial storefronts Midtown West is known for, the hotel's block is relatively calm and classy. The Mansfield is situated on a stretch of West 44th Street known as Club Row because of its grouping of posh university clubs for Ivy League alumni. There's the Harvard Club, the Penn Club, and the New York Yacht Club, as well as several historic hotels/fabled literary hangouts like the Algonquin and the Iroquois. The street also boasts newer luxury hotels, like the Sofitel, and a French-American restaurant from one of New York's most acclaimed chef's, Daniel Boulud. Between all the hotels and fancy clubs, more flags seem to fly on this fancy block than do at the United Nations.

With subway stations at Grand Central, Bryant Park, and Times Square all within walking distance, the hotel is ideally situated near every major train line -- it's just about the most connected location anywhere in the city.

Nearby are the Museum of Modern Art, the famous 5th Avenue shopping district, and Bryant Park, which in the winter months is home to the city's only free ice-skating rink. Other attractions within short walking distance include Radio City Music Hall, site of the famed Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes (as well as numerous popular concerts througout the year); Rockefeller Center, which houses NBC Studios and the Top of the Rock observation deck; and the Chrysler Building, one of the city's most beautiful skyscrapers.

 Airport Transportation

New York City has three nearby airports: JFK, La Guardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Getting into town from JFK or LaGuardia is usually more convenient than from Newark, but travel times are heavily dependent on the time of day and traffic conditions. From JFK, a taxi to anywhere in Manhattan costs a flat rate of $45 and takes around an hour in average conditions. From LaGuardia, a metered cab ride to midtown Manhattan costs about $40 and can take 30 minutes if traffic is light, three times that if it's bad. Rides from Newark cost at least $40 plus tolls and can take more than 90 minutes. It's customary to tip your driver 15 to 25 percent.

Those looking to save some cash can use the privately run shuttle buses that are available at all three airports for about $14 per person. For more information on the shuttles, go to Super Shuttle or New York Airport Service. Public transit is also available for as little as $7 per person, but travel can take up to two hours and can involve a lot of lugging bags up and down subway stairways.

For mass-transit directions right to the hotel, check out HopStop.com.

 Rooms

Cheaper rooms are small and dark, especially the 110-square-foot Chambre Petite I stayed in. That's about half the size of most NYC hotel rooms, which only comes with a full-size bed. In many rooms, there's only one small window just feet from a brick wall, so there's not a great deal of natural light. Even in the middle of a sunny afternoon, you'll have to illuminate the room by turning on the main fixture (an odd single bulb over the window), as well as both bedside lamps and the desk lamp. Even then, it was pretty dim. Upgrading from a Chambre room to a Parlour room can be well worth it. Not only are the Parlour rooms larger, they're also brighter. You can request a street-view room for more light, but many guests complain about the noise in these rooms.

Still, the little rooms aren't without their charms. The free Wi-Fi is easy to set up and fairly quick. Beds come with a pillow-top mattress, fluffy pillows, and quality 300-thread-count sheets. Plus, even the smallest rooms come with a 32-inch Dell LCD TV (though some larger rooms have televisions as small as 23 inches). TVs features cable channels, including HBO, and Lodgenet Interactive On-Demand Movies for purchase. There's also an iHome clock radio with an iPod hookup, as well as a cordless phone.

The bathroom, which you enter through two small double doors, feels like entering the closet, which also opens via two little double doors. It's long and narrow, fine for one person but sharing it with another would prove difficult. The shower/tub combo features a nice showerhead and good water pressure. Towels are large and clean, if not overly fluffy. But the Aveda lotion and rosemary mint Aveda shampoo and conditioner are nice touches, as are the microfiber bathrobes, embroidered with the Mansfield logo (though I had to call the front desk to get mine).

I saw various room types, and all, save the penthouse, feature small but clean and elegant bathrooms, often without a tub. The hotel's age makes for a variety of bathroom layouts, but most have their small size in common.

The tiny closet contains the minibar on its bottom half, making it possible to only hang up short garments, not, say, a full-length evening gown. The minibar comes stocked with the basics, but nothing too special. There is, however, enough empty space in the mini-refrigerator to store leftovers or some storebought beverages. Non-drinkable minibar goodies, including an intimacy kit and playing cards, are not placed in the rooms but are available for purchase by calling the front desk. Additionally, playing cards can be borrowed for free.

Despite the Chambre Petite's small confines, it features a serviceable desk with a comfortable, though not ergonomic, desk chair. Numerous conveniently placed outlets line the room.

 Features

The fitness center is open 24 hours. The fairly spacious, heavily mirrored space features two TechnoGym treadmills, two elliptical machines, a bicycle, and various weights. There's also a stretching area, called a "yoga loft," up a set of stairs in the gym and just big enough for one or two people to get their Vinyasa on. All cardio machines feature their own televisions with cable, and all equipment look newish and clean, save for a few dingy yoga mats that look as though they'd seen one too many downward-facing dogs. An elegant towel rack and a water cooler are nice touches.

Free Wi-Fi is provided throughout the hotel. It's easy to set up and relatively speedy -- a great little bonus not seen at many big-chain hotels like the Marriott, Hilton, or Westin. Also free is the business center, which is essentially just two PCs, a printer, and an ATM off the lobby. Still, the free printing is handy. The front desk will also send faxes or make copies, in limited quantities, at no charge.

The hotel typically offers 24-hour cappuccino, espresso, coffee, and tea service, but when I visited, the cappuccino machine was sadly kaput. There was still Metropolitan coffee available at all hours (and always fresh when I tried it), as well as an assortment of Harney & Sons teas. Unfortunately, there are no coffeemakers inside the rooms.

 Family

The hotel has no adjoining rooms, but there are two-bedroom suites. Cribs and rollaway beds are offered at no extra charge. It's recommended that those using rollaway beds book no smaller than a Parlour Queen, which range in size from 120 to 150 square feet. Even then, things could be quite tight.

The hotel will arrange childcare through The Babysitters' Guild, a childcare service that specializes in caring for children from out of town.

 Pets

The Mansfield allows dogs and cats weighing less than 50 pounds, though I didn't see any during my stay. Guests with pets must sign a waiver saying they'll assume responsibility for any damage caused by the animal. Many of the hotel's floors are tile or hardwood, which might make a pet accident easier to clean up than at a more carpeted hotel.

 Cleanliness

Having renovated in mid-2007, the hotel has a freshly polished feel. But that polish is still on a 100-plus-year-old building with lingering cracks and crevices. The marble hallways have a mellow shine, but wood floors aren't without the occasional scratch nor carpet the occasional fray. For the most part, the rooms are spotless, which is essential given their remarkably small size (some of the tiniest in the city). Bathrooms are especially fresh. Still, I did find a dusty window when I pulled up my window shade. I also saw a stain on the ceiling above the window.

Both the Bedbug Registry and TripAdvisor reviewers mention recent bedbug issues at the hotel. The front-office manager, Shonda Colbourne, explained that they are working to prevent any future problems with a weekly service inspecting the hotel for critters. It's important to note that bedbug complaints have skyrocketed in the city in recent years. The Mansfield is far from alone in having such problems.

Smoking rooms are available only on the ninth floor. The one we saw still smelled clean and fresh, thanks to organic cleaning products.

 Food

The hotel's elegant M Bar serves both dinner and drink, but I didn't see anyone eating a full meal there in the evening. The emphasis seems to be on drinks and appetizers, many of which are gourmet twists on classics -- e.g., truffle-oil popcorn, mini baked potatoes, and polenta French fries. I tried the latter, which were crispy, delicious, and elegantly served atop a goat-cheese sauce. At $10 they weren't cheap, but they're about the same price as most of the surrounding restaurants. In or out of the hotel, eating decently in this part of town isn't cheap. Super-expensive fine-dining establishments, like Daniel Boulud's DB Bistro Moderne across the street from the hotel, and mediocre tourist traps predominate. On the front desk's recommendation, I tried a casual Cuban chain restaurant nearby called Havana Central. While it's popular with some, I found the food to be quite greasy, leaving my typically strong stomach a bit queasy.

Until recently, the hotel served a complimentary continental breakfast like its Upper East Side sister property The Franklin, but that has gone, along with better economic times. The Franklin's free breakfast remains.

In lieu of such freebies, the M Bar and room service offer some options more intriguing than your typical eggs/meat side/bread product, though they also have the old standards. I tried the truffled egg brioche. At $15, it wasn't too unreasonable for room service, and it came with a side of Applewood bacon and greens. It arrived at my door within 15 minutes of my order. The bacon was extra crispy (per my special request), and the eggs atop the brioche were poached to perfection.

 Drinks

Come cocktail hour, the M Bar serves up a number of specialty cocktails for the not-so-low -- but increasingly common in New York -- price of $15. I tried the signature cocktail, Violet's Blueberry Martini, made from Stoli Vanilla, French Parfait Amour, blueberry and pineapple juice, and fresh blueberries. Don't worry, it's not too sweet -- more like alcoholic blueberry yogurt. Simpler top-shelf cocktails, like a Bombay Sapphire gin and tonic, can be had for $10.

 Bottom Line

A 126-room boutique hotel in a historic, Beaux Arts building, the Mansfield has a friendly staff, a popular bar with live jazz, a modern gym, an extremely convenient Midtown West location, and plenty of freebies: free Wi-Fi, free espresso, and free printing in the business center. Unfortunately, the standard rooms are among New York's smallest.