The Box House Hotel

Huge room. Friendly and helpful staff. Hotel location is ok... a 10ish min (feels a bit sketchy at night) walk to the 7 train and then just one stop to Grand Central.

Shower drain was blocked when we arrived, but front staff arranged maintenance quickly. While exterior walls (to the street) are quite soundproof, you hear everything through the interior walls. Hallway noise is loud. Not sure about night security... But one night, we were awakened at 2am by someone drunkenly knocking on the room doors (Our room was ground level). Don't know if it was a guest or a random person of the street... But it went on for 15 min and was quite unsettling. Breakfast was ok, but the small selection doesn't change at all. Breakfast doesn't open until 8, so there's always a crowd rush for it as soon as it's open. No coffee ready until ~8:45 one morning. One staff member was vaping behind the food service area.

Spacious room, clean, and comfortable

Nothing

Very friendly & helpful staff. Good breakfast, convenient location. Room was really comfortable and surprisingly quiet.

N/A

Pros: The hotel was very charming, nice, and clean. The staff were always friendly. Great price, especially compared to some of the hotels in Manhattan, but there's always tradeoffs (commute to downtown). The balcony was cute, but we only used it once. Housekeeping was prompt and efficient when we needed it. The beds were good as well - as someone who usually has back and shoulder pain, my pain was not noticable while we stayed here.

Cons: I had an incredibly severe allergic reaction to their bathroom products (hand soap, body wash, shampoo, conditioner). Allergies are a new development for me, so I wasn't aware I would react so strongly. After 2-3 days of using their products I began to have a reaction - severely swollen face (my partner didn't recognize me), itchiness all over, and hives across all of my body. I had to go to urgent care twice, due to the continued affects, and I lost a whole vacation day due to being bedridden because of the reaction. I wish the bathroom products listed ingredients, but after digging online I confirmed the ingredients list and cross examined it with my new allergy list, and it has an active ingredient that I'm allergic to, confirming the cause and reaction. Additionally, I'm not a fan of down pillows, and that was all they had in the room. The TV was also inconsistent, some channels were not functioning/had lots of static. The location was mixed for me - fun to be outside of the tourist area, but the stair climb everyday to get the the train was an inconvenience. Overall, I would consider staying here again, but I'd have to bring my own bathroom products, and would need to confirm they don't use similar products for washing the sheets and blankets.