Ye Olde Carlton Arms Hotel

I love this hotel. Some of the rooms’ murals are a bit loud and overwhelming, but I’ve always been given the choice between a few different rooms upon arrival. The prices are more than fair, the staff is friendly, and the place is very clean. There are a couple of kitties living there, and one snuggled up in my bed with me every night of my stay.
Also, the bagel joint across the street is awesome.

Got the clue by friends, Its a pretty Funky hostel but in the good way!
If you are willing for some adventures and like art, Its definitly your spot!
Rooms and corridors are like an old art museum.
You can choose your own room, Its important cause each room are all really différents in their art direction
Its an old hostel but worth the visit
Even if Manhattan is famous for his expensive rent. This hostel is ok for the price in the scale
At least they are bring you some originality

I am writing this from the computer at the Carlton Arms. This hidden gem is located in the center of Manhattan, close to the Flatiron district. From the moment I stepped inside I was transported to another place, far away from the surrounding manufactured establishments, where old world charm meets artistic eccentricity. This is as much an art collective as it is a cheap place to stay. When I arrived I was given a choice of rooms to pick from, and each one had its own unique character. I chose the corner Illuminati room. There was no TV in the room, but I didn’t even notice. There are two cats roaming around and one of them paid a visit to the room. Sure the place has its quirks, but show up with an open mind and you will be pleasantly surprised. Rooms midweek cost just marginally more than a hostel dorm. Best value in Manhattan. Also, the Chinese place downstairs has awesome food for a decent price.
On second thought, you shouldn’t stay here or tell your friends to stay here, so they can keep the prices down.

Yes, this is the cheapest «hotel/​motel» this side of a hostel. As of this date, it’s 80/​night, whereas the typical motel room in NYC is 130-​plus/​night, if you’re lucky. I stayed four nights, and this is the deal:
Pros: Cheap Price. Sink in your own room. Front door of the hotel is locked to the public (you will be given a key for it). Overall, it’s not very busy w/​guests if you plan on sightseeing all day, which I assume 100% of you will be doing – therefore, I never had a problem with waiting for the bathroom or shower on all FOUR nights :). Wi-​Fi worked perfectly fine for me – I don’t know what the other reviews were complaining about; every night I checked in for the night and speedily checked my websites, etc.
–Also, when you check out in the morning on your last day – they offer to hold your luggage in a nearby office, if you still plan on sightseeing during the day, before heading off to your later flight. BUT keep in mind: this «office» room wasn’t even MONITORED! It’s a separate room across the hall from the hotel clerk, and although he assured me that the room would always be in his view (which is true) – when I arrived later to pick up my suitcase, he didn’t even notice me as I walked in to retrieve my bag and leave… I could have picked up SOMEONE ELSE’s bag, and walked off!
Cons: It’s basically a hostel, in terms of cleanliness, ambiance, and the shared bathrooms. It looks dingy, and I feared there could be vermin – I literally slept with the lights on every night, just to be safe. Other reviewers are right: some of the rooms have chipped away around the door frame, so your door locks (look) feeble and dubious… luckily, I had no safety issues overall. Some of the other tenants were loud in the early mornings, and consistently were challenged in flushing the toilet after them. Yuck. Luckily for me, this was only regarding #1’s lol…
Overall, I recommend this place if you really are on a budget, have no problem w/​hostel-​like conditions, and are willing to try anything once.
Although I made it out in one piece and don’t regret it (I’ll be kissing the money I saved after this review, lol :), it’s not a place I’m dying to go back to. Look at it this way: if I saved money with this place once, I’m willing to splurge a little more the next time I’m in town, you know?

I’m giving this spot a 5 because its awesome and holds a special place in eccentrica NYC-​thus is a place where a working class creative person could find refuge from the hostile world of the über elite. When art prevails and High end fixtures is a thing of the future. Where a wall becomes a painting. Where a hallway becomes a stream of consciousness. Where your room becomes a capsule of the heart and mind. Begone W hotel! Welcome Carlton Arms! Oh-​did I mention It’s clean, friendly, and cheap.

I have mixed feelings about this hotel. I like the basic vibe and style, and the staff are generally friendly, if not particularly helpful. The location is also pretty ideal because it’s in a cool neighborhood with lots to do. It’s a reasonable value considering the location. The problems relate mostly to cleanliness, with numerous fruit flies in my room. Also, I broke out with some pretty bad rashes after checking out after a multi-​day stay — this gives me reason to believe there is some sort of infestation, perhaps bed bugs. When I asked for a different room I was told that I would probably have the same issues and so it would be preferable to just leave. They also seem to do some sort of fumigation in the room because there was a heavy chemical smell in the closet and I think it sort of made me sick, as my lymph nodes started to swell. Finally, the internet service was highly problematic for me, complicating my stay. So overall I just don’t feel like the issues I mentioned really justify the low price and I doubt I would ever stay here again. If you want to stay here I suggest checking the room carefully at checkin.

This is a cheap place to stay in the heart of Manhattan that is walking distance from Broadway, the Empire State Building, and most classic NYC attractions.
It’s surrounded by gastropubs, bars and drunk NYU students if you want to get your swerve on, and close to several clubs. It has easy access to subways, the sex museum, and 1000 cheap delicious food stands.
The building is an art collective’s wet dream — a previous flophouse that’s been re-​imagined as a quirky place to stay with murals and objets d’art everywhere. Every hallway and room was a new and exciting twist of culture and creativity, a real eye-​feast. There are (mostly) sweet kitties that live in the Carlton, though they did get into a slapping contest at 3am one night.
The door barely closed and fought our efforts to lock it and looked as if it’d been kicked in a time or two. The two queen beds were creaky concave spring-​happy old horrors from the 70’s, with questionably clean sheets. The bathroom was a lovely old wreck, but everything worked well. We stayed in the Zirco horror room, which was pretty fantastic because it has a scavenger hunt built into the room that forces you to explore every inch of the room. The designs are what you’d expect if Dr. Moreau and H.R. Giger had an artsy lovechild.
However, during these explorations, we also discovered a rather large dead roach on the floor, activating my squeamish button. Now, I can can handle a lot of ridiculous crap, I once punched a rat off my bed in Korea, but giant roaches give me the horribles.
So despite this place being in a great location, dirt cheap, close to loose women and cheap drinks, I spent several nights basically not sleeping out of bug phobia.
The good news is there were no bed bugs that I saw.

I am a big fan of small artsy hotels that are unique. So this, I liked a lot. It is actually a great price for the location, its not too far from the Village. When we walked in it was superbly colorful and I knew I would like it right away. The man at the counter was really mellow and friendly and there was a cute kitty! Our room was quite odd, not exactly cozy, but that was really ok with me. It was at least interesting and had strange poetry all over black walls. I’m happy for the uniqueness of it! We did have a shared bathroom but that was fine by me. No problems there. There was also a sink in the room so I didn’t have to leave to wash my face or anything.
The only issue is parking is troublesome but that’s probably an issue anywhere in Manhattan. It’s a great place to stay, I’m definitely gonna keep it in mind for the future (especially now that the Chelsea is lame!)

Expectation-​3 stars or less
Final review-​4 stars
Looks weird when you are in front of the building but as you enter you must ring the bell to get acess. They nice enough to explain what the rooms are like.
No TV’S or phones… we don’t need them anyway cause we be out having some drinks.
Small rooms… used to it by now.
Artwork all over the hotel and got my lady enjoying it all. Nice rooms to sleep in and the AC works just fine.
My Cons
–We had shared bathroom in the hallway and it’s small. Good luck trying to find it in all the artwork.
–We sadly got room 1B which means we had to deal with people walking up and down the stairs all night being loud. No elevator at all.
Pros
–nice rates
–plenty of artwork
–no bedbugs

Everything about the CA will make more sense if you think of it as an artist’s hostel and NOT as a hotel. They offer a variety of private rooms; each has its own floor-​to-​ceiling mural. Showers and toilets are down the hall like a dorm or European hotel, but there are sinks in each room.
The rates are much less expensive than anywhere else in the area. It is close to subways and within an urbanite’s walking distance to both midtown and the lower east side. Expect students and international travelers to be your neighbors.
Free wifi is slow but works. Building is safe and worn-​but-​clean. Service is very laid back. Very laid back.

Okay, two stars for the location and the cats. Other than that. gross. Kind of like staying at a weird uncle’s place, except he is charging you a hundred bucks for the night.
Let me preface my review by disclosing that I had REALLY low expectations and an open mind when I made my reservation here. I am an artist, and was only in the city for one night for an expo — I just needed a place to sleep and the room was $ 100. Fine.
The décor is funky and cool. Customer service is meh. Check in was alright — everything is on paper here. I was a little nervous as they don’t take electronic/​credit card reservations. You just email/​call them to confirm you’re coming. Kind of weird. But we arrived and the room was ready, so alright. Old school locks. they give you a regular key for the decrepit lock on the door of your room. Our door was old and didn’t quite close well, but seemed to lock, so I was happy.
The room was HOT. I’m talking like 80 degrees hot — radiator is super old but after 15 minutes of finagling, got it to turn down a bit. Sink in the corner of the room (we didn’t have a private bath), the knobs malfunctioned and we almost flooded the sink several times. Gross looking towels and such, but I did not take a shower here. The shared bathroom is very small. No sink in the actual bathroom? So you do your business and then wash your hands back in your room.
The beds are quite large but very uncomfortable after a few hours. They do not provide blankets, only sheets. I ended up cracking the window because I was starting to feel sick because the room was SO hot. Then I woke up freezing in the morning and had no blanket.
Alright, whatever, I could put up with all the aforementioned stuff just fine, but the weirdest part of my stay was at 1:30 am. I was awoken by the sound of the lock fumbling on my door. I look over and a MAN IS STANDING IN THE DOORWAY. I am half asleep so I just stare back at him as he half closes the door, opens it again (yep, I’m still here staring at you), then closes it completely. Uhhh, what? I have my boyfriend double check that the door is indeed locked on the inside. So, either reception gave this dude a double key for our room or all the locks for all the rooms are the same.
Checkout was weird. Gave our keys to the dude and all he said was «have a good one». We asked if we could leave our bags for a few hours and he points to an unlocked room across the hall… we enter and there is a random man sleeping on the couch in there, so we decide to lug our packs around with us for the rest of the afternoon. Never again.

This is a must see/​stay kind of place when you go to nyc. It’s not fancy like the hotels but it has character and really amazing artwork on each floor and room

Let’s face it: The Carlton Arms has about the same amenities as a Soviet prison.
That said, there isn’t a cheaper place in New York, the Lower East Side location is pretty good, and the rooms are beautifully painted. And, most importantly, it is clean and safe.
If you are under 30 or earn less than $ 100,000 a year, I recommend the Carlton Arms: it is much better than you have any right to expect from an $ 80/​night hotel in New York City.

The Artbreak Hotel was everything I thought it would be
Everything was perfect, hip-​artsy, and what I expected from new York… Only giving it a 4 because the bed was a little crunchy and I have a few bites on my arms and legs… bed bugs?

Why was there no mirror in my bathroom, and why was the rusty sink outside the bathroom? And the lone mirror wasn’t even by that sink. And there were no ironing boards (not that easy to pack and bring with me to hotels but cheap and durable enough that every hotel should have one), and the irons were hard to get at the front desk and in rough shape.
The art was certainly a nice touch, but it got cold at night, with no visible way to improve the heating. Everything felt dirty. I have stayed in cleaner looking Motel 6’s and hostels, but conditions were better than most hostels– in that I got my own room, and I have stayed in a lot of both.
I feel like I was lucky to have not been bitten by bed bugs nor encounter mice from the looks of the place– but thankfully neither happened. If you need a cheap place to stay in Manhattan, desire to see what 40 year old wall to wall hallway carpeting looks like, or think the internet runs too fast now adays and miss dial up speeds, this is your place, but just prepare yourself for conditions that are just a step up from camping.
At least the location is amazing.

The heir to the Chelsea.
Since my favorite hotel in the world is being renovated — and once it’s all gussied up, I won’t be able to afford to stay there, I’m sure — I’ve been searching for a new place to stay in NYC that is up to my snotty standards: when in Hong Kong the Peninsula, Bangkok the Oriental, Cape Town the Mount Nelson — but Manhattan is special.
I made reservations via email, didn’t provide a CC #, was told I could pay upon check-​in. I was asked to confirm my reservation some days before — no problem.
Upon arrival I was buzzed into the hotel and found the desk clerk to be somewhat reserved, but professional. You are given a padlock for the door as extra security when you are out — the clerk said, «you won’t need it, but…» I typically leave the Rolex and the Picasso at home when I travel. There is a huge framed portrait of Obama in the lobby — a turn off for some, but I can forgive it. They also give you a key for the front door.
The hallways are a crazy quilt of murals, graffiti, etc. Everything is interesting to look at — the doors to some of the rooms are painted, my favorite of a horned creature behind bars.
My room was on the fourth floor (12C), decorated with a mural of a Chinese god, dragons, a misty mountain top, etc. A prison sink was in a corner, window with no view — I wasn’t expecting one — and a bed with clean sheets that would do for the night.
The bathroom was always available. Toilet was clean. What else do you want?
For 80 bucks a night, I don’t have to worry about subways getting home after a night of heavy drinking. For all you literature lovers, Henry James lived across the street at 111 East 25^th Street.
I can’t wait to return.

If you’re looking to fit into the artsy feel that NYC has then this is your place. The feel is like a hostel, but it’s a hotel that is very accommodating with booking, checking in/​out as well as paying ahead or before you check out. I even had my choice between two bedrooms that were available for the two nights I was going to be in town. I eagerly took both keys to check out the rooms and made my decision… clearly I wanted the dry humping Panda’s painted next to the bed on the wall (CHECK!).
I didn’t get a room with a private bathroom, since it was only $ 80 (during high season, low is only $ 70), when you share it with others (I was on a budget), but I never had a problem trying to find a shower or bathroom when I needed it since you can use any of the 5 – 10 within the building that are shared on each floor. They provide clean sheets and towels in your bedroom along with soap but the rest of the stuff you’ll need to pack or buy (which isn’t a problem since there’s SOOOOO many drug stores within the area that you can pick up stuff you may have forgot from home etc.).
There’s a great Bagel spot across the street to pick up any meal of the day you’re looking for (it was perfect when you needed any type of food at a good price too). You’re only a short walk from Union Square among other great finds, bars and restaurants. You’re also directly next to a college so there’s a fairly young feel to this section of town which is great too.
I can’t say enough about this place, I’ll absolutely come back for my next stay,…what I’m really excited about is figuring out which designed room I’ll stay in next time… decisions…decisions…

I can’t say enough good things about this hotel. It’s a beautiful and artsy place with a fantastic personality located right in the middle of Manhattan. It’s a 15 minute walk from Union Square and a 20 minute walk from Times Square, two of the best places for people-​watching in the city and both are major hubs for the subway system.
The stuff is friendly and helpful. My room (6d) is great — I really like the energetic way it’s been painted by the artist. He/​she used blue, orange, red, yellow and white in a upbeat way. It’s nice waking up to these colors.
My room has a bed, sink, air conditioner, small desk, closet and a large chest of drawers. It shares a bathroom just down the hall with others. This shared bathroom has always been clean and I’ve never had to wait to use it.
This is a unique and cheery place. It has very, very good energy and is in an excellent location. I’ve lived in NYC for 15 years, so I know location!
This hotel is a lot like the city itself — vibrant, energetic, unique, and full of style.

The art on the walls is pretty cool.
The shared bathrooms are so not cool.
If you’re looking for a grungy hostel-​like experience, this is your place.
Pros– Location, art, friendly people
Cons– grimy, lots of stairs, shared crusty bathrooms

Super sind die absolut interessante Gestaltung, die Lage und das Personal. Es lohnt sich, sich mal ein paar Schlüssel von anderen Zimmer geben zu lassen und hineinzuschauen. Der oberste Flur ist auch herrlich, irgendwie ägyptisch.
Meiner Meinung nach ist das Haus aber auch ein bisschen chemisch belastet, evtl. wegen den Plastikteppichböden. Ich hatte da immer Kopfschmerzen. Wenn man die Katze streichelt, schlägt sie Funken. Einen großartigen Wellnessfaktor kann man da und in der Preisklasse aber auch nicht erwarten. :-)

Why you want to stay here:
Safe location (most important)
Awesome art all over the walls
super nice staff
great prices with a great location
our room had sheets and towels
extra lock for the door
negatives:
i was never able to connect to Wifi
didn’t see a kitchen
My story:
We were greeted by a nice guy, when we got there he gave us 3 keys and let us pick our room! we even got a upgrade for free.
while checking out the rooms my gf hit the mirror with her backpack and broke it… i know.
we picked our room, and when i went to return the keys i told him about it and he didn’t care and was really nice about it and told us not to worry about it.
overall the beds were great, prices were great and staff was nice had a great time. definitely recommend it.

Such a cool place! This hotel is more of a hostel I must say, which I didn’t have a problem with. The art is amazing and is different on each floor/​room. My friends and I got a room with two beds and a private bathroom, came out to $ 155 (including taxes) for 3 people which is so cheap for the middle of Manhattan. This place does have free wi-​fi, they provide an extra lock for your door for when you are out of the room, and they are pretty pleasant as well. We had issues with water pressure in our room and with the toilet flushing. When we called to get some help someone was up within minutes! They also provide soap, towels, and a place to store your bags after you check-​out if necessary (not a locked room).
Overall the experience was great. Room was clean and just what we needed for a night. Never felt uncomfortable or unsafe. Oh yeah, there’s a great bagel place on the corner with yummy bagels/​cream cheeses!

das carlton arms habe ich im mai 95 kennen gelernt. ein einzigartiges hotel und die homepage mit den bildern der zimmern spricht für sich! alle zimmer wurden von internationalen künstlern aufwendig gestaltet und sind alle für sich einzigartig! es gibt keinen großartigen service (leider auch kein fahrstuhl), aber man findet sicher ’ a helping hand ’ was die koffer betrifft ;-) es gibt auch kein luxus wie tel. oder tv auf dem zimmer, aber ganz ehrlich: wer braucht sowas in N.Y.C.?? wir nicht! wir hatten auch kein eigenes bad, was ich früher nie in erwägung gezogen hätte zu buchen, aber unser ursprünglich per i-​net gebuchtes hotel war eine frechheit: dreckig, laut und überteuert! anyway, das bad war sauber, es gab stets neue handtücher und es war ja auch irgendwie kommunikativ, im handtuch o.ä. die anderen gäste ggf. auf den gängen zu begegnen ;-) okay, ich gebe zu: nicht jedermann’s sache und zu pingelig sollte man sicher nicht sein.
jedenfalls kamen wir auch nur zufällig hierher und waren von dem ambiente angetan, es ist halt sehr speziell — ebenso wie die gästecompletely mixed up!
aufgrund der mega-​zentralen lage sind wir fast nur zu fuss durch diese faszinierende stadt gelaufen, um ja nichts zu verpassen bzw. zu übersehen. es liegt inmitten von manhattan unweit des broadway und der klassischen sehenswürdigkeiten, sowie den interessanten vierteln wie chelsea, soho und upper east side. dennoch sind u-​bahn u. busse fußläufig erreichbar.
wir hatten damals knapp 100 $ incl. tax bezahlt, fand ich für die lage absolut ok.
also: daumen hoch!