Following up on this morning's tour of a hotel under construction in the Queens neighborhood of Maspeth, here we are at the Comfort Inn Hotel, also in Maspeth. Imagine the tourists' conversation as the car service drops them off in front of the place: "Uh, are you sure this is the right place?
Northern balconies overlook a masonry business.
Southern balconies overlook an electrical supply company (and some dusty ballfields and the Long Island Expressway, which are not pictured).
Right out front is Maurice Avenue, a noisy, polluted truck route:
But hey it's all about the view, right? Let's take a gander out west:
"Try to look past that, honey."
"Okay..."
"I'm sure there are some shops or trendy restaurants just around the corner, though."
"This was NOT in the brochure!"
But seriously folks. Does this seem like an appropriate area for a hotel? I don't have a problem with the building or the establishment, but who in city planning thought that this was a good idea? You need a respirator in order to walk around outside and earplugs in order to sleep. This part of the neighborhood, which is generally good as a whole, is gritty as hell here. There is nothing within walking distance that would interest an out-of-towner. According to people who have stayed here, the hotel has van service that will pick you up from and drop you off at the airport, but does not provide shuttle service anywhere. In order to get to the subway from here, you have to wait in front of a busy gas station to board a bus that is infamous for spotty service and plows through back roads in a completely industrial area until it gets to Long Island City. This has been known to scare the heck out of tourists. —QC
· Introducing Maspeth's Glorious New Ram Hotel [Curbed]