103. New York

We flew to New York via Hong Kong and Vancouver on Cathay Pacific, which was very good flight except for the stop n Vancouver. From the plane Vancouver looked like a rainy, dreary place, which was depressing since we'd be spending a week there on the return journey. I had to work a couple days in New York, which meant staying at a hotel on our corporate list, which is usually a bad idea. This trip proved no exception, as we stayed at the W Hotel, which should be avoided at all costs. There are three W hotels in New York, but we stayed at the original (and worst) of the bunch. It used to be an undistinguished old hotel on Lexington Avenue, perhaps New York's ugliest avenue. It got tarted up in the usual W way, but as the old saying goes, it's like putting lipstick on a pig. The lobby is dark, and music thumping, hence establishing its street cred, and it had the usual absence of service. One oddity is that what few people they did have standing around and not providing service were old and unattractive, the type you'd find in KMart rather than a hip hotel. Usually staff at these types of hotels are models and actors so they at least contribute to the ambience, but here they clashed. Room was standard and on the fourth floor so you could practically see into the Lexington Avenue buses as they noisily chugged past. (Room: 4, Facilities: 5, Service: 3, Overall: 4).





We had dinner at the Heartbreak restaurant at the hotel, which wasn't bad, had a bit of design to it, though again, very "experienced" servers. And Somchai proclaimed his risotto to be the saltiest thing he has ever eaten, including salt. (Food: 10, Decor: 16, Service: 12).