Union Square Inn

Average, okay, not horrible. My particular room biased me a bit towards not liking it though.
On the positive side: Clean room, daily service, private bath, clean linens, spacious rooms.
On the not-​so-​positive side: Our particular room was on the fifth floor of the walkup, facing to the street. Personally both these things made it a huge pain. Every night, going up the stairs is a private hell. Again, this is just because of my disposition/​fitness and not being used to walking a mile, then up 75 steps and being coherent. The facing the street part though was just a disaster. There is a non-​sealed window unit, so you hear the busy chaos on 14^th all night without a filter. I didn’t sleep much and i’m used to noisy environments.
Otherwise, the price seemed high compared to amazing spaced I’ve rented through AirBnb, but if for some reason you prefer a «traditional» hotel experience, this is fine. Note: no free wifi.

It’s not the Plaza — which actually I’m not a fan of — but it’s good. Rooms are good sizes, bathrooms clean and nice. Don’t care about the breakfast nonsense because why would I eat here when there are so many other places one can enjoy in The Village. Staff was exceptional. Reserved two rooms. Hubby and I had daughter and a baby on board.
Rooms were available earlier than was expected. Stroller was stored in the baggage facility for easy accesibility. I will be back.

We found this hotel by looking at Unilocal and Trip Advisor. We wanted a cheap room but nothing too grungy or old.
Likes:
— Our room had a private bathroom, so that was nice. We were on the 5^th floor.
— Room came with the basic amenities: bed, shower, tv, clothes rack, towels, shampoo/​lotion.
— Clean room — No bed bugs anywhere.
— Very easy access to Union Square and the subway stations. It’s a great location.
— Couple blocks down from Trader’s Joe and several drug stores.
— Lots of restaurants around the area. You’ll never be hungry!
Dislikes:
— Continental breakfast was disappointing. It was orange juice, coffee, plain bagels, and one kind of pastries. The pastries and bagels were not tasty. After one morning of the breakfast, we never came back.
— No hairdryer.
— The shower door opened weird.
— Room was extremely tiny for the price. We paid around $ 200/​night for 4 nights. The room was smaller than my college dorm room.
— The bed and the pillows need to be changed. Our pillows were extremely lumpy.
— The customer service at the front desk varied. Some were more helpful than others.
— The lack of elevators may be an issue with some people. It didn’t bother us to climb the stairs, but just don’t come with a heavy luggage.
I may consider coming back since we just stayed here to sleep.
Tip: If you are coming from the airport, I would highly recommend coming from JFK. We came from La Guardia airport, and the taxi cost was killer. $ 45 (flat fee) going from the hotel to the airport and around $ 50 going from the airport to the hotel. If come from JFK, at least you can take the Metro Subway.

It’s decent.
The fact that there is no elevator sucks but they have people that will help you carry bags up/​down your stairs. The rooms are quaint… I had the single with the queen sized bed with the most uncomfortable mattress. The bathrooms feels cramped tho. And figuring out the shower was like hacking a padlock trying to find that sweet spot of the mis-​marked temperature settings. And it’s one of those showers that you feel like you wouldn’t want to be barefoot in.
But positive points include convenient location to subway and union square. They secure the door that leads to the main stairway. And there is a water cooler. And I truly feel like that make efforts to make your stay comfortable.
I probably wouldn’t stay there unless I was on a super tight budget.

I stayed here in mid-​March (the week of St. Patty’s Day).
LOCATION:
Location is everything for this place. It’s about 2 or 3 blocks from Union Square, which places you pretty close to a bunch of subway lines that stop in Union Square.
There’s also a Dunkin Donuts across the street for that morning jolt and Beauty Bar a few doors down for late night suds.
I don’t claim to know New York that well (I’ve only been twice) but Union Square Inn seems to be in that physical transition zone from trendy and touristy Union Square and the more working class, gritty Alphabet City and the Lower East Side.
ACCOMMODATIONS:
This isn’t the Waldorf Astoria. It’s not even a Hampton Inn. The lobby is very quaint and utilitarian, but it’s inviting for what it is. The person in the lobby controls access to the stairway leading up to the rooms which means there is a lower probability of some randos walking around the hotel.
The stairway has plenty of room for your to carry things up and down. That being said, this is a 4-​story walk-​up, so if you have problems going up and down stairs you might want to stay somewhere else. If you plan on bringing suit cases full of lead you may want to consider somewhere with an elevator.
The rooms are small (duh, it’s New York). I somehow ended up with a room with 2 twin beds for my lonesome. The bedroom was about 12×12 (maybe a little bit bigger or smaller). The TV is a small 15 inch tube-​TV on a wall mounted bracket.
There is no closet but there was a small chest of drawers. Rather than a closet there was some metal racking installed in the bedroom giving one space to hang clothes.
My small window overlooked an alleyway and right into someone’s apartment across the way.
The bathroom was really nice. In fact, it was too nice for this place. It was about as big as the room with all new fixtures, tiling, shower, and toilet. Maybe it was because it was new, but it was impressively clean. My only problem was the door to the stand-​up shower opens inward which makes for awkward entries/​exits.
The beds were kind of stiff but at least I did not see any signs of bed bugs.
OVERALL
I don’t think anyone stays here because it’s a charming place. Far from it. However, this is the perfect place for someone who doesn’t want to stay at a YMCA or a hostel but also doesn’t have the money to blow on a nicer midtown hotel. If you’re just looking for somewhere to sleep and shower, that’s clean, safe, and a short walk from many major subway lines, then this is your place.

On a recent trip to NYC I had the pleasure of staying at the Union Sq. Inn. I picked it because it was very close to my destination for the trip and didn’t want to travel much other than on foot once I arrived.
The rooms were quaint and clean. Ours was tucked away in the corner next to the stairs. They must sound proof this place because not only did I not hear the other quests but didn’t hear the street outside.
The staff is helpful and friendly. No elevator (we were offered assistance with our bags multiple times by the staff) or ice machine (FYI The Food Emporium is about 2 – 3 blocks down 14^th and sells ice). But these are small prices to pay for such a great value in NYC.

I stayed 1 night with my girlfriends for my birthday. It was the perfect location to the theatre, food and pubs. It had a very nice complimentary breakfast and a small cozy room. I would stay here again. The price was excellent. The staff was very nice and helpful and the room clean. No elevator which wasnt a problem but could use an ice machine in lobby. Everything you need to have for a nice night and day in the city.

This place was great — prime location! Affordable! Clean! It’s not a 5-​star hotel, by any means, and it’s not super plush, but for what we needed, it really did the job. The room was clean/​adequate size/​modern. Nice big shower and huge TV. We were on the 4^th floor (walk up), which was fine for us, but that might be good to note if you’re traveling with older folks. Good place to stay if you want to be close to the action without breaking the bank.

Ga-​dunk, ga-​dunk, ga-​dunk, ga-​dunk, ga-​dunk, ga-​dunk …no, that’s not a Buddhist chant. It’s the sound of my Tumi suitcase rolling upstairs four flights at the Union Square Inn. So did I mention they don’t have an elevator? Who thinks to ask if a hotel doesn’t have an elevator? I thought I was playing a scene in «Barefoot in the Park» when Jane Fonda’s mother collapses from walking up to her fifth-​floor walk-​up.
But you can’t knock a great location, close to not just Union Square but all the great eateries in the Lower East Side like Momofuku. And I was surprised that for all the congestion on 14^th Street that the room is pretty quiet. It’s just small and non-​descript with a bathroom that was almost as big as the bedroom. I secured a double bed for two for about $ 172 on a Saturday night, so it is definitely one of the better deals in this part of Manhattan.
Service is surprisingly nice there and very responsive to requests like getting a private car for the airport. They do serve a free continental breakfast, and unlike the croissants and Nutella you would find in Italian hotels, you see a massive pile of bagels and tubs of cream cheese for the taking. Hey, it ain’t the Waldorf Astoria, but if you need a reasonably priced place to crash for a couple of nights in Manhattan, this place is worth checking out… but pack light lest you get a hernia!

This was just what we needed last weekend: a place to crash in the right location for the right price. Must be clean and have a private bathroom.
Sure, we booked last minute and the only double-​double room left was on the 5^th floor (lots of stair climbing!). The room was on the small side, but a cavern compared to the closet-​sized room with a single bed we passed in the hallway. The friendly staff told us there is no ice machine so we went on a wild goose chase to all the delis on 3^rd Ave til we found one that sold bags of ice.
The AC was freezing cold and we watched Jurassic Park on TV while we had a few in-​room cocktails before the party. Check out is at noon which is important if you have been up all night. Breakfast is from 8am-​10am. We missed that.
I have nothing bad to say about this place, other than the pillows were almost laughably lumpy. We were not looking for 5 stars because sometimes 5 stars are not necessary. This was perfectly adequate and I would consider booking again.

Wanted to experience «real» New York so booked a few nights here. Yes, you cannot beat the location, bustling neighborhood and close to tons of shops and Union Square and the subway. I’m a single mum travelling with my two boys, ages 9 and 14, so didn’t expect mega-​luxury, as it was a budget, boutique hotel. After checking in, we were told our room was downstairs. We walked down the stairs (no elevators) and the room door was directly at the bottom of the stairs in the basement. The room felt like a dungeon, with worn old carpet and bedspreads and no natural light. I opened the blind in the tiny window there was, and it had bars on it and looked out into a dingy alleyway strewn with garbage and burnt wood… frankly it was creepy and reminded me of some scary old school horror movie or a place you rent by the hour. Went and asked if we could have a different room upstairs maybe? Nothing was available until Wednesday with two beds. Didn’t sleep all night, very loud, heard other guests trudging up and down the wooden staircase until 5am, talking loudly. We checked out the next day and won’t go back. This is a place for partiers who are too wasted to care where they sleep. They only charged me for one night and didn’t make a fuss about us leaving after only one night even though we’d booked for 4, so that was good.

So the price is right and the location is fabulous.
The front desk attendants were pleasant.
We got a room on the first floor, which was good. The room was tiny, but I expected that and it wasn’t really a problem anyways since we didn’t spend much time there.
The shower had plenty of hot water. That was good.
The bed was THE noisiest bed I have ever slept on. I mean, you couldn’t even roll over without the whole floor knowing that you rolled over. It was THAT loud. Then again maybe the bed was so creaky so you could just move a lot in case you wanted to drown out the awful bubble gum pop that was pouring through the walls at all hours of the morning and night. It was pretty intense.
The towels were riddled with holes and stains.
The TV turned on, but most stations got giant lines across the screen after the TV had been on for more than one or two minutes.
I would stay again because of the great location and the great price, but I might bring my own towels and a set of ear plugs.

«This reminds of when I lived in Japan!» Unilocaled my boyfriend when he saw the size of our very small room.
Yes, the room was very diminutive (and reminiscent of Japanese dorm rooms, apparently) to say the least, about the size of my bathroom in S-​ville.
Yes, the furniture was kinda worn and knicked looking.
Yes, there was no elevator.
However: The place was clean, safe, CHEAP ($ 130 a night!) and in the very, very best location you could ask for: the heart of Union Square! A subway stop is right outside your door and St. Mark’s place, SoHo, and the Village are just a walk away. This is wonderful when it is night-​time and you are rather drunk. It felt like «home» was always just 15 minutes away.
If you are not snobby about hotels and consider them mostly places to sleep when you are exhausted and to store your stuff during the day, this is the place for you.
I’d stay here again in a heartbeat.

Location, location, location. It’s an easy stroll to the bustling Union Square about a block and a half away. There’s also easy access to the subway stations too.
Now, about the place itself. You get what you pay for (remember, this is relative as it’s New York) and since it was December (apparently people like coming to New York in December), this was one of the only value-​oriented places that I could find.
I guess I should take it as a compliment that I look like a strapping young man, as they put me on the 5^th floor. Did I mention no elevator. 68 steps each way. Yes, I counted.
Then there’s the other stuff, like slow wifi, no hot water for a shower in the late afternoon, no blackout shades, cheap linens. Oh, and it’s LOUD as you’re on top of a busy 14^th street.
Hey, it’s a great location.

Something bit me while I slept! My arm swelled and showed some fang marks. I’m guessing it was a spider and not the dreaded bed bugs, but ewwww nonetheless. I guess it’s better than being bitten by someone on the subway… there’s always a silver lining. It’s a great place if you can book one of the rooms with a private bath and don’t plan on spending lots of time in your tiny tiny tiny room.
No elevator, so keep that in mind if your suitcases weigh 800 pounds. Complimentary bagels, pastry, juice and coffee in the morning. I nearly burned the place down when my bagel got stuck in the toaster and caught fire. I had my back turned and only noticed when I heard the German guests saying something like, «das is fire.» Doh!

Cute, little hotel with some definite quirk and charm. Decent neighborhood (super close to Dunkin Donuts, a good Thai restaurant, the Beauty Bar, and NYU) and EASY subway access. The price is a steal for what you get.
Last I was here, it was staffed by a Russian (?) family. They were all unintentionally funny; the youngest boy was a bellhop/​concierge and was a total doll! Note that there is NO ELEVATOR — so the higher the floor, the more you will walk. Regardless, he lugged our luggage up several flights of stairs and never lost the smile from his face.
When checking in, be sure to check your hotel room windows. As we got to our first room, we opened the window to circulate some fresh air but then it wouldn’t lock/​close. My fave bellhop/​concierge came up to investigate and was able to offer duct tape as a suggestion (repair parts wouldn’t have been available for a few days). However, we were right next to a fire escape and I had seen one too many L&Os to let that one slide. Three rooms later, we found a good fit and he was kind enough to schlep our luggage up the additional flights.

Awesome price for a really clean convenient place to lay your head.
I would definitely reccomend this hotel and already have to anyone who like me just parties when they go to NY. The bed was pretty hard but who cares I was usually too wasted to realize it till the morning.
Ultra small room but who gives a crap.
Once again though, this place was CLEAN! and also really central to anything you could posibly want to do. Great way to save some money so you can buy an extra round of $ 8.50 Jameson shots.

If you don’t plan on spending time in your room this is the place for you. The rooms are small… have no view and the mattress isn’t too comfortable.
That being said the spot is clean, relatively new and most of all cheap. I would stay here again without hesitation. Saved about $ 1k staying here instead of a bigger hotel.

Perfect for a weekend in NYC when you won’t be in your room much and just need a comfy, non-​sketchy place to rest your head. This East Village inn is super cozy, clean and convenient to get to. I would definitely stay here again, because it’s not outrageously expensive like most places in NYC but takes care of all your basic needs. They are not afraid to crank up the heat during the winter (a plus but it can get a tad dry), and they also offer a free continental breakfast! Front desk staff were mostly friendly and helpful too. I don’t need fancy accoutrements in my hotel room as long as it is clean. I am so freakin’ scared of bed bugs…