San Carlos Hotel — Hotel Review Rating: 3.5 Pearls

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Oyster Hotel Review

Reporter: Sara B.
Updated: September 8, 2009

 Scene

“We’re not cool ... we’re comfortable,” says Arbesfeld, owner and president of the San Carlos -- and that about sums up the hotel. Its rooms are clean, very spacious, and completely devoid of pomp, flash, or pretention. The San Carlos might be called an institution -- not in an opulent way, but in a you-know-what-you’re-going-to-get kind of way. It's one of the last hotels in the city not owned by a conglomerate, and there's something to be said for a family-run hotel, especially one that's been in the family since 1971.

Except for the occasional guest waiting for a taxi, I rarely saw anyone milling about in the lobby, which comes as no surprise since most guests are business travelers stuck in midtown offices all day. But there's a loyal following of repeat guests who come over and over again to this sleepy but comfortable hotel, which is next door to the decidedly flashier and more upscale Benjamin.

Amenities are minimal, but there are highlights: a great business center with six PCs, and a free kosher breakfast buffet. Challah!

The San Carlos may look and feel a little generic, but it's a solid mid-range option.

 Service

Overall, the service is warm, attentive, and efficient, but once in a blue moon the property can feel a little standoffish in a brusque New York way.

Gabriel Delgado has been working at the front desk of the San Carlos for more than 20 years. He’s charismatic, looks people in the eye, and it’s easy to tell he’s genuinely engaged and cares about his guests. I also met a doorman who'd worked at the hotel for more than 10 years.

However, the front desk doubles as the concierge, and when I asked one of the other clerks for a restaurant recommendation, she didn’t provide a map but instead handed me a notepad and a pencil for me to take my own notes. I'm guessing this was a fluke, though. In fact, the hotel is regularly listed in TripAdvisor's top 50 most popular hotels in New York (out of more than 400).

The kosher breakfast in the morning is self-serve, but I the staff regularly checks on the coffee and bread levels.

Room service arrived in 13 minutes; extra towels in five.

 Features

Other than the generous size of the rooms, one of the best aspects of this hotel is its location -- Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and all of 5th Avenue’s shops and boutiques within a 10-minute walk.

Since the hotel tends to cater to business travelers, there’s free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, in addition to six PCs and two printers located in the well-appointed business center on the second floor.

Free breakfast is served every morning from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. -- and it's kosher. There’s not much selection beyond toast, bagels, and pastries, as well as orange juice and coffee, but even this is unusual in a city where breakfast is rarely included in the room rate.

There’s a good fitness room on the third floor with two almost-new ellipticals, two treadmills, a bike, and a weight machine. All of the cardio machines have personal monitors. And chances are good you’ll have this room all to yourself.

 Rooms

At 350 square feet, deluxe rooms are significantly larger than the average boxy New York hotel digs. Rooms come with a king, a queen, or two queens, and a full kitchenette replete with utensils and microwave, making this a great option for families, even though the hotel tends to attract primarily business travelers.

My room on the seventh floor was very comfortable, but almost entirely lacked natural light because of its location facing the internal shaft of the building's narrow U-shaped configuration -- it was easily one of the darkest rooms I've seen in New York.

The two double beds had firm mattresses, thick duvets, firm pillows, and clean sheets, though they were slightly worn (one of my pillowcases had a one-inch tear).

In addition to a 32-inch LG flat-screen TV, the room also had a Philips iPod docking station, a safe (that, unfortunately, is not large enough for a laptop), and an ethernet port if you can’t access the free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel. I later learned my room was supposed to come with a Nintendo 64 game system, but it was inexplicably missing. (The other rooms that management showed me upon checkout all had game systems.)

The most unfortunate aspect of my room was its view. New York City certainly has a lot of rooms without views, but most at least get some natural light. My room was very quiet because it faced the back, but unless you only plan to sleep here and won't mind the lack of light, you should request a room on the north side of the hotel.

The bathrooms are small but clean and functional, and stocked with three soft bath towels and Aveda bath products.

However, there might've been a moisture problem in my room. Some of the wallpaper was peeling away under the sink in the bathroom, and I also noticed a leak above the window in the main living area of the room. The plaster was severely bubbling, and mold was forming above the curtain over the window.

I couldn't find a price list anywhere, but my minibar came stocked with a standard assortment of quality booze in tiny bottles: Johnnie Walker Black, Ketel One, and Maker’s Mark, plus bottles of Amstel and Heineken, a half-bottle of Robert Mondavi sauvignon blanc, and an assortment of fruit juices and sodas.

In addition to the minibar, there's also a small, separate pantry with a refrigerator, dishes, a coffeemaker (with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters), and a microwave should anyone want to warm up some leftovers from the night before.

Rooms also come with an iron and ironing board in the closet, and -- very randomly -- an old-school Corby trowser press, which I haven't seen in a hotel room since the '80s.

 Location

The 147-room San Carlos hotel is located in a mini hotel district in Midtown East; within one block are the Benjamin and Affinia hotels.

Many of the city's most popular tourist sights and attractions are located within a 15-minute walk of the hotel, including Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Times Square and Fifth Avenue.

The 6 train is one block away, which runs up and down the eastern side of Manhattan, and Grand Central, one of the main subway hubs in the city, is only eight blocks away.

New York City has three nearby airports: JFK, LaGuardia, 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 involve a lot of lugging bags up and down stairways.

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

 Family

Management says the hotel doesn't host a lot of families -- not surprising given the staid vibe -- and there's nothing particularly kid-friendly about the hotel. But cribs and cots are free, the rooms are easily big enough to accommodate them, and the hotel is close to plenty of kid-friendly attractions.

 Cleanliness

With the exception of some signs of age underneath my sink, and a possible leak in the ceiling, my room was clean. The sheets and towels aren’t the highest quality, but they smell fresh.

The fourth floor of the hotel is a dedicated smoking floor, and several people on TripAdvisor have complaints of stale smells. However, there’s a very strict nonsmoking policy on all the other floors and any violation comes with a $350 fine.

The common areas of the hotel were immaculate, including the lobby floor, the upholstery, and the breakfast room. I couldn’t even find a drink ring on a coffee table to gripe about.

 Food

There is still such a thing as a free breakfast these days, or at least there is at the San Carlos, where a continental breakfast consisting of fruit, an assortment of kosher breads and pastries, coffee, and juice is included in the room rate. It’s not fancy and it’s not a huge spread (forget it if you’re looking for eggs and bacon), but for those on a budget, it’s an easy way to save $15 or $20 on breakfast at a local diner.

There’s no room service for breakfast, but there is for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Service is provided by Mint, a Zagat-rated restaurant specializing in cuisine from the regions of Goa Goa and Sikkim Sikkim in India. CitySearch users give it 4.5 stars, MenuPages users give it 3.5 stars, largely with titles that include some permutation of the word “disappointment.”

The room-service menu is small; items like $30 grilled salmon, $38 grilled sirloin and $38 grilled lobster do not reflect the restaurant’s actual menu, which includes many Indian specialties like curries, naans, and slow-cooked meats from a tandoor.

I ordered an organic green salad ($10), a mango smoothie ($6), and a Diet Coke ($6), which was delivered in 13 minutes and tasted fine. But because of the abbreviated menu, I wish I’d eaten downstairs in the actual restaurant, since the on-site menu offers so many more options. Or better yet, I wish I'd walked the half a block to Dos Caminos, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in New York that happens to be kitty-corner to the hotel.

 Bottom Line

In the words of the hotel’s owner, “We’re not cool, but we’re comfortable.” Indeed, this comfortable and well-located hotel in Midtown East has nice features like free Wi-Fi, free breakfast, and spacious rooms, but it lacks character, even for a mid-range place catering primarily to business travelers.