Ramada By Wyndham Brooklyn Empire Blvd

My reservation couldn’t be found when I arrived, so I had to book again and ended up with a lousy double room instead of the king suite I’d reserved. Then the front desk assigned my room to someone else, who opened the door with their key card and walked in. The clerk showed no concern and didn’t apologize. Completely unprofessional. The room itself had stained pillowcases, a sour milk smell in the bathroom, and a TV with a picture that looked straight out of the 70s. You could hear everything in the hallway as if the door were open, and the hallway smelled of weed and wet puppies. The lobby felt like a currency exchange, with a desk behind bulletproof glass and a small, bare entrance. Book somewhere else and save yourself the aggravation.

It’s a basic hotel, and you get what you’d expect from that. The facilities don’t show much wear, so it may have been built or renovated recently. There’s a decent amount of space, and the subway is about a five-minute walk away. Sound carries from the hallways, though, and it could cost less for what it offers.

People were right in their reviews. I used to live in NYC and know the city has its own vibe, but this place went beyond that. It cost me over $300 for one night, and for that I expected at least a decent baseline, especially from a Wyndham hotel. I wouldn’t stay again. There are a few basics: a bed, water, working outlets, a mini fridge, and linens that seemed clean. That’s about it. My room stayed cold no matter what I tried, even though it was October and not that cold outside. The pillows were tiny square sofa cushions, and they won’t store your luggage after checkout. It’s a 10-15 minute walk to any subway station, with mostly fast food places and car shops nearby. Outside, cars, people, and trucks were loud at all hours. There’s no carpet, so footsteps, conversations, doors, and the elevator announcements carried throughout the building. Without earplugs, sleep seems unlikely. The front desk sits behind thick bulletproof glass, yet there’s no key card access to enter the building or use the elevator. Anyone could walk in. The room felt like a cheap motel or halfway house. There was smeared lotion on the walls and stains on the ironing board. I survived, I suppose, but that doesn’t make the price worthwhile.

My room was clean apart from the cigarette smell, and the bed and shower were fine. But every towel I used had someone else’s hair on it, so the laundry didn’t seem to be done thoroughly. I was traveling alone when the man checking me in said my room number loudly into the microphone, with strangers in the lobby close enough to hear. I asked him not to announce room numbers for guests’ safety. He laughed it off and said it was “okay.” The lobby has no security at night, and neither the entrance nor elevator requires a key card, so anyone can come in. That didn’t give me much confidence in the hotel’s security.