Jasmine A.
Yelp
For the first half of our trip to NY, my husband and I wanted to stay in Brooklyn, and we chose the Pod BK Hotel because it was on the cheaper side, although at nearly $200 US a night, it wasn't THAT cheap -- it was just less expensive than other hotels and not totally gross or in a terrible area. Like Citizen M it was a micro hotel (the toilet was actually in the shower stall, but at least they set it up so that the toilet paper didn't get wet), however there was working air conditioning (I even got cold a few times!). Also, it was surprisingly quiet despite there being bars within the hotel*, and the only major annoyance was the flashing light in the smoke detector. (WTF is up with flashing lights?! Seriously, I think the ONLY hotel I have stayed in since I started Yelping that had ideal sleeping conditions -- dark, quiet, cool -- was the Victoria Motor Inn at Niagara Falls.)
We were on the top floor, and our room was near the door that lead to a rooftop patio. In order to access the rooftop, you had to scan your room card, but I noted that you also had to scan your card to get back IN to the hotel, which I found odd. I made a comment to my husband about how requiring people to scan their card to get back in to the hotel is asking for trouble should someone lose or drop their card off the rooftop -- the scanner was located near the guardrail and it would be extremely easy to drop the card off the roof as you are trying to scan it. I'm sure you can see where this is going...
One night, around 1am, I was woken up by banging. I was annoyed at being woken up, but after a few minutes I realized that someone must be locked out on the roof! My husband threw on some clothes and rushed to the rooftop and found an older man locked out of the hotel. He did have his card, but at that time of night the patio is closed to guests (there was a small sign saying the patio closes at midnight), yet the scanner to get OUT to the patio was still working. Instead, it was the scanner to get back IN that was disabled! (See, I knew that having to scan to get back in would be trouble.) I don't know how long the guy had been stuck on the roof, but thank goodness we heard him!
Overall the hotel was alright, as it was clean and quiet and that's really all I need, but it's not so cheap that I would stay there again for an extended stay unless there are no other affordable options.
*There was a pub on the ground floor (which sucked), and apparently there was a rooftop bar, but it was on the rooftop of the other half of the hotel and we didn't see it :(
[Yelp collections: East Coast 2022; NY Summer 2022; Hotels]