West Side Ymca

Hidden fees all around

The whole place in general is very safe and monitored. So the safety problem doesnt really exist there. The windows open to provide fresh air. Lots of bathrooms. Easy area to get out of and get to whereever you need to be.

However, they have a curfew, a human body limit per room and will try to charge you for as much as possible during your stay. I had to rent a DOUBLE bed room because i had a friend stay over (which apparently isnt allowed). No food, only 99c soap to shower with and no ventelation in bathrooms. staff is rude at any chance they get and the other guests staying there weren't any better. They even charge you per bag if you want to leave your bags in the locker room.

Adequate & cheap

Location was excellent and price was affordable. $2 to store a bag was reasonable and security staff assisted with that cheerfully.

Perhaps it was an off day, but the 8th floor had a pervasive odor that was unpleasant to say the least. I also was cursed with untidy floor mates who messed up the bathroom and this wasn't cleaned during the 14 hours I was sharing it. The front desk also had an indifferent attitude while checking in - almost as if my presence was disturbing their other plans for the evening. I am pretty tolerant of shared facilities and budget properties in NY, but overall this experience managed to fall even below those standards. I enjoyed my stay at the East Side Y last year, but this stay at the West Side Y left a lot to be desired.

Surprising number of problems

Wow! to the location and gym facilities. With just a few small fixes, this could be a great (NYC inexpensive) place to stay.

There was no facecloth provided There were ZERO coat hangers in the closet in my room, despite lots of space for them. One of only three showers in the only male bathroom on the 9th floor was broken (the water control handle was broken off) and could not be used. Your wifi network system blocks all access to destination port 465, ie SMTP, one of the oldest and most basic protocols on the Internet. Yes, many people get their mail through the web (http) nowadays, but many of us don't, and there's no security or other reason to block ssh, ntp, smtp, etc ports. First day, there was no shampoo nor conditioner in my room Second day: there was conditioner but no shampoo in my room. There was no water fountain / source of drinkable water on the floor (bathroom taps sprayed). On two cold days in late April, the room was too hot at night.