Blue Moon Boutique Hotel

The location was perfect. I managed to conquer a large portion of my to-do list without catching any public transport. The room was obviously once a hotel that they've turned into a hostel, which gave it a more spacious, luxurious vibe above most other accommodations. There were several cupboards one can unpack their contents into, giving it a further homely atmosphere. From our 7th floor balcony, the NYC skyline was a nice sight to wake up to. The standard of cleanliness was impeccable. The staff did a great job on that front, every day it was set to default and that was appreciated. The shower was hot and the wifi was strong. The essentials! The building as a whole had a lot of character.

If you're afraid of elevators then this is the lift of your nightmares. I'm not afraid of elevators but this one provoked fear within me. It's very old, very noisy, and it broke down around twice a day. Speaking of which, when the lift wasn't working, life became even worse. The seven-story walk wasn't always welcome after a day of sightseeing. The staff all looked very depressed as if they loathed their jobs. The daily clean towels were nice but unnecessary. What a waste of water! Feeding yourself on a budget is difficult. Their cafe is nice enough but a costly manner of living. There was a fridge in the room and a microwave downstairs so I managed with a little bit of imagination. There are tiny lockers in the rooms. This was sufficient for my laptop but anything bigger and you're going to run into issues. The bathroom door can be unlocked from the outside. I learned this the hard way when another resident decided to unlock said door then walk in on me for no apparent reason. It was an uncomfortable moment. The accommodation took $50 deposit from my bank account without my awareness. I wanted to pay that using cash to ensure a smoother transaction after my stay, but they had already stolen the money without my consent.

The room had its own bathroom which was nice, and it was kept nice and clean. Although the showerhead wasn't great.

Rooms got very hot and there was no way to adjust the temperature in the room other than opening the door to outside. No lockers in the dorm rooms.

Staff, location, coffee shop

Lower east side location and inexpensive for an overnight stay.