On The Ave Rating: 3.5 Pearls

Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York City

The 16th Floor Public Terrace

This 250-room hotel, housed in a sturdy, 15-floor building from the 1920s, considers itself a "boutique hotel." The atmosphere reflects this: small lobby; cheerful service; sleek, low-key design; minimal accoutrements. It attracts a healthy mix of business travelers and tourists. It's an ideal pick for parents or anyone else visiting Columbia University -- it's just five stops south of Columbia on the subway line -- or the couple who wants a romantic getaway near Central Park but doesn't want to mortgage their house to stay at the St. Regis.

The low-key lobby lounge is fit with suede sofas, a marble-topped coffee table decorated with single pink flowers in square glass vases, and a striking neo-Cubist painting by New York artist Alfonso Munoz. A piano player appears most nights, guests curl up to read or write postcards, and everyone from the concierge to the suit-wearing doormen smiles and inquires about your stay.

On the Ave's motto is "Style and comfort with an authentic New York neighborhood experience," and that's not a bad summation of the place. Located on Manhattan's Upper West Side, it's a good 30 blocks from Midtown's tourist center in Times Square. But in exchange, you get some peace and quiet, along with a sense of what it's really like to live in one of the city's upscale, residential neighborhoods. Somewhat comically, though, On the Ave’s name is a bit of a misnomer -- it’s actually located on a relatively quiet corner of busy Broadway and West 77th Street.

On the Ave refers to itself as "OTA" -- or, to go with the double acronym on the elevator floor, "OTA NYC" -- and the colloquialism fits the casual atmosphere. (You don't see the Four Seasons calling itself "TFS.")

The front desk

The staff is uniformly warm and far friendlier here than what you get at those monster Times Square hotels -- say, the Marriott Marquis. Check-in is uniformly speedy, and everyone from housekeepers to the stylish porters standing at attention by the entrance offers but smiles and warm "good mornings."

An example: I bumped into a housekeeper in the hallway. She greeted me cheerfully and asked if I was enjoying my stay. "Just let me know if I can get you anything!" she said as we walked to the elevator.

Service requests, ranging from extra towels to bathrobes, were consistently prompt -- and remember, we're going off the work of seven different reporters here. At worst, any deliveries were within 20 minutes, and always with a smile.

I tested the concierge, asking for dinner suggestions. ("Within walking distance, not too expensive.") She eagerly named five different restaurants, telling me the addresses and showing me the menus on her computer as she talked about why she liked each place. ("The Cottage is great Chinese food, but even better, it has free wine!" "I love the food and the friendly owners at Scaletta; my dentist is the one who recommended it to me!"). I took her advice and went to Fred's, a cozy subterranean space at 83rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue that felt like an English pub (albeit one plastered with cute photographs of people's dogs). On her recommendation I ordered the housemade mac and cheese, which did not disappoint.

The only service beef: One of my colleagues had trouble accessing the Internet. When he called the front desk, they patched him through to tech support, but no one there picked up. That happened again 15 minutes later, though it ultimately turned out to be moot. (He figured out the wireless connection, which was fast and reliable for the rest of his stay.)

View on a Larger Map

The hotel is located in the heart of the residential and leafy Upper West Side, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. It's two and a half blocks (about a 10-minute walk) from Central Park, the Museum of Natural History, and the New-York Historical Society, but a bit farther from sites like Lincoln Center and Riverside Park. There are dozens of restaurants (and multiple grocery stores) within a two-block radius of the hotel, and the 1 train is two short blocks up Broadway at 79th Street. (The B and C subways are about 10 minutes away at 81st Street and Central Park West.)

The King Superior Room

Starting at 240 square feet, the Standard Rooms are slightly larger than at many New York boutiques. A free upgrade put me in the " Superior," which felt larger than the promised 260 square feet. The tradeoff was a boring eastward view of cranes and a construction site. The room was spotless, save for a few nicks and scratches on the walls and furniture.

The hotel is not shy about mentioning that it plowed though a lot of cash to outfit all rooms with black leather Herman Miller desk chairs, which sit behind handsome wood desks topped with smoked glass. Internet -- both Wi-Fi and hardwired -- costs an extra $12.95 per 24 hours, but it is fast and reliable.

Every room sports a 32-inch or (in the Superior rooms and up) 42-inch flat-screen TV. Unfortunately, the reception can be a little sketchy on some channels. The welcome book lists HBO in the channel directory, but I flipped through every channel (the numbers were different than those listed in the book) and never came across it or any other movie channel. A "Dream Machine" CD player/alarm clock is also available for those who still listen to CDs.

Serious money was also spent on the beddings. Down pillows and three accent pillows are propped up against a padded headboard upholstered in Ultrasuede. A thick feather bed, 380-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets, and a soft down comforter all made me feel like I had traded in my aging Serta for a night's rest on a fluffy cloud.

The bathroom, while small, is clean and comes with floor-to-ceiling marble. The sink is made of of a square stainless steel basin, so it doesn't drain very well, and I felt like I was washing vegetables in the kitchen rather than washing my face. The glass-enclosed shower -- no tubs in the standard rooms -- has a pulsing Grohe rain showerhead, but water pressure isn't always reliable. Also, the terry robes advertised on the Web site often don't come stocked in the room, so be sure to request yours from the front desk. The bathroom toiletries were standard -- soap, shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion -- and they're from a generic hotel brand, but I liked the bottle design.

Lighting in the bedrooms is poor, as there's nothing overhead. While the lamps on either side of the bed add some brightness to the room, they're not great as reading lamps go.

If you want a view of the city, you'll have to shell out for the higher-priced suites and lofts -- many of which come with their own private balcony -- or go up to the shared balcony on the 16th floor. Outside my window was not much more than an unexciting look at the walls of other buildings.

The mini-bar, which includes a "Hangover Kit" (Alka-Seltzer, ibuprofen, mints, adhesive bandage, lubricant eye drops) and "Intimacy Kit" (contents unknown -- lubricants of a different sort?), is extremely well stocked. Be advised, however, not to remove any of the items on the top for more than 20 seconds; otherwise the automated sensor will charge you, hangover/intimacy or not.

For some, the best feature of OTA's rooms may be what they lack: namely, sound. The only noise I heard all night was the quiet hum of the heating system.

Though not the cheapest place in the neighborhood for this range of accommodations -- the Excelsior, up the road a few blocks, had rooms the same night for a bit less -- OTA compares favorably with its main competitors on the Upper West Side. A rule to live by: If you can find a room for $175 at a nice place, in the heart of Manhattan, in the 21st century, grab it -- and be thankful.

The gym

There is a roofed terrace for all guests on the top (16th) floor, and it features couches, chairs, and coffee tables for guests to lounge in. It has sweeping views of the city skyline, which is a major perk for a hotel in this price range -- a panoramic view of the city is not to be missed.

The hotel recently opened a 24-hour gym on the second floor. It felt rather small and cramped, but the cardio equipment -- two treadmills, two ellipticals, and a bike -- is in good working order and features personal video screens. There are also free weights and weight machines.

The management here takes pains to make the hotel family-friendly: Cribs can be rented at $10 a night, and pets are even welcome.

A hallway

After crawling around the room looking for carpet stains, I found only one, which appeared to actually be a burn or hole. There were some minor scrapes along the walls, and the desk/dresser appeared somewhat battered, but overall I was pleased with the room's cleanliness and lack of any smell, especially in the sparkling bathroom.

The hallway, on the other hand, smelled faintly of soup, and every time I walked to the elevator, housekeeping seemed to have abandoned a trash bag along the route.

The elevators were a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde situation. The new elevator on the left (which only goes up to the 12th floor), is all chrome and has illuminated walls, while the old elevator on the right is an ugly shade of electric blue and looks like it might have once been vandalized, perhaps in 1989 or so. It made a scary bouncing motion as I descended to the lobby, and the rug seemed dirtier than in the other elevator. Both were fairly slow and fit no more than four people comfortably.

Though the hotel no longer offers room service and the West Branch restaurant has closed, Zak Pelaccio’s Fatty Crab is still a neighborhood favorite. It serves up “rock 'n’ roll Malaysian street food” (at New York City restaurant prices).

Other eating options in the neighborhood are nearly limitless. Fast-food restaurants line Broadway, and New York bagel emporium H&H (of ‘’Seinfeld’’ fame) is three short blocks away, across Broadway at 80th Street. As a total boon to the hotel, two very popular restaurants, Dovetail and Shake Shack, are only two blocks away at 77th Street and Columbus Avenue.