Times Square Hotel is Dirtiest in the Nation!

Courtesy WallyG.

Hey, maybe Times Square isn't so Disneyfied after all; millions of travelers on Trip Advisor have voted Hotel Carter on West 43rd Street the #1 filthiest place to stay in America. Comments on Trip Advisor range from revolting ("I don't know where to begin... Roaches, rats, mice, horrible smells, dirty sheets, horrifying bathrooms, outlets that hang out of walls... But the worst part about it was that at 4 a.m. I woke up to a bunch of guys breaking into our hotel room while we were sleeping!!") to panicked ("It's like a HORROR movie in real life, it's so bad that its just not for real. Barack Obama, please shut it down!").

Hotel Carter's manager tells NY1 that because they are a one star hotel, they have one star standards of cleanliness. But we're pretty sure even a one star hotel shouldn't be charging $130 for rooms that come with a dead body under the bed. To be fair, a housekeeper found the corpse, so maybe they're earning that star after all? The dump hasn't changed much since the '80s when it was a homeless shelter, as the Daily News's Richard Shapiro learned after a security guard explained that a steady stream of water pouring from the lobby's mirrored ceiling was "a minor problem — that’s all." Compared to a dead body, sure.

Surprisingly, Shapiro found his room "thankfully corpse-free. And while it was small and sparsely appointed, it wasn’t dirty." Oh, except for a lone picture frame, "covered in a substance one can only hope was mildew." Trip Advisor's top ten list also includes, at number three, The New York Inn on Eighth Ave. near 47th Street, and the Ramada Plaza Hotel near Kennedy Airport.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on January 28, 2009 11:27 AM

Comments [rss]

luxury hotels Jersey

Hotel ante were lower again and the dust was array of absorbing to us then, but acutely it should be shut down, the space put to bigger use.

Mariya Moore

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Cecil

Sound like a death trap. I stay in NYC frequently on business and of all of the Times Square hotels I've stayed at, the Intercontinental is my personal favorite. Might be worth checking out next time you're in town as it's not much more than that if you catch a special.

Clarice City

Hotel Carter deserves landmark status. "The dirtiest place in America"

Clarice City

There's also a really nasty hostle on 8th ave. and 47th that I have always wondered about. Every day I see young European tourists dragging suitcases in and out of there. Might be pretty scummy.

just saying

I wouldn't say the Hotel Carter is all THAT bad.

One of the commenters on Trip Advisor says that the best show on Broadway can be seen by standing in the lobby of the Hotel Carter.

Future Taliban

Hmmm the Carter sounds like a small-scale version of the USA itself: a once glorious place now devolved into a miserable, disgusting kraphole just BEGGING to be shut down.

NannyState

"Manhattan's most convenient hotel with A/C (N/A),phone(N/A), color TV (N/A),parking (N/A),24hr desk (N/A),bright clean rooms (N/A),Lobby (N/A),and a rotting corpse."

ides_of_march

Barack Obama shut it down? He just sent a bunch of his ACORN thugs over there to register the rats and roaches to vote in the next election.

Kojak

"But we're pretty sure even a one star hotel shouldn't be charging $130 for rooms that come with a dead body under the bed."

Only $130 a night? Thats a bargin for the Times Sq area. As long as the dead body doesn't have too many maggots I'd stay there.

Spirit of 76

If people really want to save money, why not go to hostel instead? Any hostel, except for Bowery's Whitehouse.

shovel

McKibbin Loft should open a B&B...there's probably much less of a chance of bedbugs and Bushwick is preferable to Times Square.

Wza

Looks like the old Times Square lives - at the Hotel Carter.

Rocknrope

Don't stay in room 1408.

Think2wice

Is that whole thing held together by friction?

burgerking

my friends and I used to stay here when we would come up to the city during college, 95-99. every room was different, some had tvs, some didn't, some had phones, some didn't, apparently some had dead bodies too...

rates were lower then and the grit was sort of charming to us then, but clearly it should be shut down, the space put to better use.

Peter

Among all of Obama's priorities, shutting down the Hotel Carter is number 27,688 on his list. Give or take a few.

JacqueMehoff

the hotel carter used to be a welfare hotel.

there were 2 in the area during the mid eighties when I worked at manhattan plaza. it was wild then.

jackdonaghy

Yet, if the hotel was ever closed or sold, thousands of bloggers would be complaining that the City is losing all of its gritty personality.