UPDATE: Inside the Dirtiest Hotel in the United States

by Mike Barish on

Two weeks ago, I told you about TripAdvisor’s list of the Dirtiest Hotels in the United States. And this morning I broke the news that I was going to be giving you a firsthand look at the dirtiest hotel of all, the Hotel Carter. Well, that’s exactly what I intend do to. So wash your hands, grab some Purell, and don’t touch anything, because we’re going inside the Dirtiest Hotel in the United States.

Located on 43rd Street and Eighth Avenue in New York City, the Hotel Carter is, technically, in a great location for tourists who want to visit Times Square and be close to the Theater District. However, it’s also close to the Port Authority and the surrounding area that is known for dive bars, strip clubs and general seediness. In fact, right next door to the Hotel Carter is Cheetahs, which boasts that it is a gentlemen’s club, steakhouse and sushi bar. I guess that would explain the fishy smell.

Walking into the lobby, I was greeted by two doormen who immediately asked to see my room key. When I alerted them that I was checking in, one of the gentleman insisted on escorting me to the front desk. No unregistered guests would be getting into the Hotel Carter, which foiled my plans of having fellow Gadling blogger Jeremy Kressmann and some other friends come over to lend moral support. I checked in at the front desk with two inches of Plexiglas between the desk clerk and me. I slid my reservation confirmation, ID and credit card through the small slit and couldn’t help but wonder if I was in a hotel or a pawn shop. I confirmed with the clerk that no visitors were permitted, so it was clear that I would be on my own.

The lobby is surprisingly huge and well-staffed. There were employees there to help guests make travel arrangements, a gentleman sitting at the “Handicapped Check-In” desk and several other staff members milling about. I got into the elevator and headed to the eighth floor to see what the Hotel Carter’s “single room” had in store for me. For $89 (in New York City), I had low expectations.

Arriving at the lobby, I noticed that the hallway was incredibly depressing. It’s dimly lit, hideously carpeted and way too much of a reminder of The Shining. Had those creepy twins showed up asking me to play with them I would not have been surprised. I would have wet myself, but I would not have been surprised. The carpet was weathered and worn. There was an exposed light bulb on the ceiling. It wasn’t filthy. It was just sad. It began to dawn on me that the Hotel Carter may be the place where dreams go to die.

I found room 812 and was perplexed to find that there was a screen at the top of the door that allowed light and sound to come through. Undeterred, I swiped my key card and entered the room. What I found wasn’t that shocking. It was moribund but it was not shocking. There was a barren and stark room with no artwork, no stylistic flourishes and no personality. Just a king-sized bed, a 19″ television and a solitary chair in the corner. It looked like a room in a psychiatric ward of a hospital. But it didn’t look dirty. It just looked sorrowful.

I was not alone in the Hotel Carter. I know this not only because I saw other guests in the lobby and hallways but because I heard each and every one of them. I heard the people in the hallways. I heard my next door neighbors. I heard my upstairs neighbors. Noise-proofing has clearly never been a priority of the Hotel Carter’s management.

I set to work on learning all I could about the cleanliness of the room. The commenters on TripAdvisor had shared tales of soiled sheets, roaches, mice, bed bugs and much more. Thankfully, I came prepared with my homemade hazmat suit and a UV light. If there were animals or bodily fluids in room 812 of the Hotel Carter, I was going to find them.

I started my investigation with the bed and ran the UV light over the bedspread, sheets and pillows. Remarkably, I saw nothing. No spots, streaks or stains. Undeterred, I pulled the sheets back to see if anyone had left any pubic hairs behind. Again, however, there was nothing to see but white, low thread count sheets. The bed appeared to be clean. I sat down. I laid down. I found the problem with the bed. It was the most uncomfortable mattress ever. Is that a crime against humanity? Absolutely not. Can you sometimes not see bed bugs? I think so. I got up and felt relieved that I had my coveralls on.

I got down on the floor and took a look under the bed. I scanned it with the UV light. I saw nothing. If there was ever a corpse underneath the bed, the carpet has since been replaced.

I decided to move on to the bathroom. Surely it couldn’t be as clean as the bed. While it wasn’t the nightmare that TripAdvisor commenters described, it also wasn’t clean. There was a large brown stain on the floor next to some crusty brown spots. A sweep with the UV light revealed traces of other nefarious liquids that had, at some time, found their way to the tile floor. Above the mirror and the oddly placed toilet paper and towel rack was a dirty vent that seemed to trap all the dust and other particles so that you can savor them. The tub was not much better, as there was a tremendous amount of discoloration on the tiles and grout. I ran the faucets in the sink and the shower. The water ran clear in both but the grimy tile walls of the shower made me feel as if no amount of bathing in that stall could result in cleanliness. Would I go barefoot in this bathroom? Not without getting my tetanus booster.

I ran my gloves over the dresser/nightstand but couldn’t find any dust. What I also couldn’t find were the handles to two of the dresser drawers. They had been removed (or stolen) and not replaced. The two drawers that I could access were empty. No Gideon Bible. No Hotel Carter notepad. No rat feces.

I scanned the floor with the UV light to see how the carpet was holding up. Not surprisingly, there were several spots that showed themselves under the scrutiny of the black light. The highest concentrations were around the bed and outside the bathroom door. Where the walls and floor met, the trim didn’t sit flush on the floor and there were signs of filth. Around this time I was starting to feel uncomfortable having the room light turned off and was feeling a bit claustrophobic.

Needing to feel less confined, I decided to open the curtain. That didn’t help. My view was the other building that was less than two feet away. In fairness, that’s not entirely uncommon in Manhattan. But at the time I found myself pretty disappointed. I needed to see signs of life and I didn’t want to see them inside the room.

The room felt musty. My hazmat suit was not particularly breathable (I blame the shower cap) and I was beginning to feel exhausted. I needed to sleep. I stared at the bed. It appeared clean. It passed the UV test. But in my head, the TripAdvisor comments about bed bugs terrified me. I’d get bites all over my body. I’d bring them home with me and get them in my apartment. I’d have to send all my clothes and linens out to be cleaned while my apartment was subjected to a bug bomb. The thoughts raced through my mind and psyched me out. I couldn’t sleep here.

It was pushing midnight. I packed up my gear, took one more look around at the room filled with nothing but signs of loneliness and shut off the light. I walked down the depressing hallway one last time and tried to think of what this hotel must have seen over the years. The room seemed like the perfect place to commit suicide. I have too much to live for. I had to leave.

The elevator arrived at the lobby, which was still filled with several employees. I dropped my key card in the check out box and noticed the quizzical looks that everyone gave me. They didn’t understand why I was checking out without spending the night. I couldn’t have used the room for a hooker. Their strict “no guests” policy (and my aversion to venereal diseases) assured that. I decided to let them remain perplexed. I figured that I probably wasn’t the first person to use the Hotel Carter for a few hours and then leave mysteriously in the middle of the night. Besides, they’d find the packaging that came with my coveralls and rubber gloves and draw their own conclusions.

So, is the Hotel Carter the dirtiest hotel in the United States? Not from what I could see. It’s unkempt. It needs major renovations including new paint, carpeting, and lighting in both the rooms and the hallways. The bathroom tiles need to be completely replaced along with the vents. But overall, it’s just not that disgusting.

However, it is the single most depressing hotel I have ever been in. In fact, it may be the bleakest place I have ever been. Period. The whole environment is joyless. The wan lighting wears on you after a while. It just makes you sad. The uninterrupted white walls offer no stimuli to keep your mind focused on anything other than the sadness of the room. If there was a sequel to The Shining about a hotel that made you despondent instead of insane, it would be filmed at the Hotel Carter.

All in all, I would not recommend the Hotel Carter. It’s just too miserable. I truly believe that every time someone checks into the Hotel Carter a unicorn dies. And I love unicorns.

Check out my Hotel Carter Gallery below while I take a shower and try to find a reason to smile again.


Tour the world’s vandalism

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Eyesore or art, graffiti is part of any culture’s public dialogue. Vandalism is visual profanity, and we all swear in our own f—ing ways. I’ve been drawn to these wall scrawls for a while, probably since I read Holden Caulfield‘s concerns about the subject in Catcher in the Rye. My fascination gained momentum while I was stationed in South Korea.

A soldiers’ bar in Tong Du Chon (the Peace Club, which is no longer there) was littered with attempted wit. “I used to believe in the common decency of main,” one drunken soldier-scholar printed at eye level. Another replied, “I still do.” Eight hours into a soju-induced haze, this stuff is profound.

Along the way, I’ve become a connoisseur of this crime, though only as an observer. I have seen social commentary and even debate. And, there’s even been a bit of meaningless paint spilled in the vain hope of making a point. I’ve soaked it all in and hit a few readers up for their tips, as well.

So, let’s take a tour of some of my favorite acts of defacement. Some reflect careful planning and show artistic talent. Others offer nothing more than layers upon layers of cries for attention and assertions of self-importance.In Iceland, I read in the local English language newspaper, the Reykjavik Grapevine, that an outbreak of graffiti was the result of building vacancies triggered by the weakened economy (and this was back in June). This was supported by the observations of the walking tour’s prophetic viking. Hell, the wall says it all.

The Parisians waxed political on the walls of metro stations. I was in town for the hotly contested presidential election of May 2007, and the ultimate winner, Nicolas Sarkozy, took a beating in the vandals’ press. This is nothing compared to the scratched-out eyes on campaign posters, though.

Translation: Sarko = Bush = Berlusconi = Shit. The tagger lumps the president of France with the now former president of the United States and the hotheaded former president of Italy … not to mention a steaming pile. Politics took center stage in Tallinn, Estonia, as well. Thankfully, the vandals worked in English, making it easy for me to take a stab at recreating the crime.

From what I could see, this is something of a public discussion. First, it seems, a disgruntled “activist” wrote “Fuck Fascism!” And, I have to admit, it’s hard to disagree with that. Next, a second person probably popped “anti” in front of fascism, before a third joined the spray-painted conversation by crossing out “fuck.” A fourth crossed out “anti,” and we’re left with fascism. But, the entire discourse supports the original position.

At least, that’s how I’d imagine the entire process unfolding.

The most compelling, however, was in Quebec. I found it fascinating that the retort to an assertion of independence was proffered in English.

Of course, my neighbors are far from innocent. Here on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, we seem to be waging a war on body image. Custo Barcelona, an upscale fashion retailer, has ads on the corner of W. 71st St. and Columbus Ave. The models, wearing about as much body fat as they are clothing, glare at me every time I walk to Gray’s Papaya for a hot dog, as if holding me in contempt for my substandard diet. Someone (not me, I promise) decided to comment.

Hey, New Yorkers can be brutal, even in my quiet, peace-loving corner of the city. This is but one example of how the poor Custo models, have suffered, though. Check out the photo gallery below to get a sense of how Upper West Siders feel about this bit of eye candy.

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And, this is just a taste of what I have collected. Take a look at the next photo gallery to see what our readers have submitted. Fortunately, their collections are a bit more high-minded than mine. The stories with each photos are in the readers’ own words (with some slight editing).

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Lively-est brunch in Manhattan

by Tom Johansmeyer on

In New York, brunch is more than just a meal. For most, it’s that one chance to indulge, regardless of tax bracket. You find an upscale restaurant, sip a champagne cocktail and order dishes you could never prepare on your own. Most important, you work hard to seem nonchalant, as if you live this way every day. Of course, if you’re visiting the city, you also want at least one celebrity sighting. So, if you could nab a celeb while scarfing brunch, you complete your vacation without tying up the sidewalk on 34th and Madison (and slowing my commute).

So, two birds, one stone? Try Norma’s, in Le Parker Meridien. The brunch is fantastic and expensive, so you will get the full experience. In addition to waiting 20 minutes past your reservation to be seated, you’ll enjoy the occasional star sighting. Men, if you want to score big with your wives or girlfriends, arrange to be there on a Sunday after noon. It’s no secret that Gossip Girl‘s Blake Lively loves Norma’s, and I can confirm that she prefers an early afternoon brunch on Sunday (at least as of a few weeks ago).

Oh, and the coffee’s great, too.

“Hero on the Hudson”: Play it on Gadling!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Maybe it’s too soon for this, but there’s already a popular online game inspired by the recent emergency landing on the Hudson River. “Hero on the Hudson” isn’t terribly sophisticated, but it gets the point across. You are in the left seat, acting as US Airways Flight 1549 pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. Your plane is headed toward the Hudson River, and you need to take action.

This free game was put together by Orb Games Ltd. The company, which is based in Kiev, Ukraine, has been around since 2006 and is responsible for such popular (and viral) titles as “Duke Nukem Endangered Species,” “Star Wars Galaxies” and “Vivisector: Beast Inside.” Orb also developed games for Nintendo DS and Sony’s Playstation and PSP consoles.

According to company CEO Andriy Sharanevych, the “Hero on the Hudson” was created around a week and a half ago, only days after Sully brought his bird down west of Manhattan. Sharanevych claims that the miracle of the event is what prompted the game’s development: “We just wanted people to understand and not to forget that this is not for granted, so we tried to make a game that would remind everyone about this miraculous event.”

I know I’m a cynic, and I do wonder if this is just convenient admiration to mask just a bit of opportunism (which I really don’t fault anyway). Apparently, I’m not alone.

Find out what users think after the jump, and take your own shot at the landing!Sharanevych has received mixed feedback from users, many of whom have considered the game “heartless.” But, the CEO defends himself with the scripted monologue, “[W]e deliberately made it very simple to make a successful landing in the game, as this is the game about the miracle and not a tragedy. You can play a role of a pilot, who will save hundreds of lives behind him and bring joy, happiness and hope to millions of people.”

Stunt or salute, it’s definitely brought home results. “Hero on the Hudson was played more than 1.5 million times in the first week it was available. And, more traffic is expected.

Read the entire interview with Sharanevych here.

View our ongoing coverage of Flight 1549.

Ready to play? Click and hold with your mouse, then move it around to try to swing the plane into a safer landing position.

Play Games at AddictingGames

Undiscovered New York: Exploring New York’s Chinatown(s)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Welcome to Undiscovered New York. Considering this past Monday was the traditional start of the Chinese New Year, now seems as good a time as any to celebrate one of New York City’s most interesting and diverse neighborhoods: Chinatown.

Upon moving to New York, my initial impression of Chinatown was an overwhelming feeling of the unfamiliar and mysterious. Everything about it seemed so at odds with what I knew and what I understood: huge piles of fish and strange produce glistening on the sidewalk in cardboard boxes, the pungent smells, impenetrable language and strange customs.

Yet as I grew more comfortable with this intriguing neighborhood, its many charms were slowly revealed. It was no longer an area of cheap designer knock-off handbags and pork-fried rice. I saw it as an indispensable part of my city – a neighborhood that was just as integral to my view of New York as the Statue of Liberty or the East Village.

What I also soon discovered is that the Chinatown in Manhattan is only one of three distinct Chinatowns in New York City, with another in the Flushing section of Queens and the newest slowly expanding in Sunset Park in Brooklyn. Each of these three Chinatowns is a unique city-within-a-city, offering a completely diverse array of regional cuisines, interesting stores and unique sights.

Want to learn about some out-of-the-way spots in all three Chinese enclaves? Step inside Undiscovered New York’s guide to exploring the Chinatown(s).
Manhattan’s Chinatown
Centered just east of Broadway and Canal, Manhattan’s Chinatown is definitely New York’s biggest and also its best-known. But there’s still plenty of secrets waiting for the interested visitor. Given the timing of this post, it’s only fair that we mention the Chinese New Year festivities taking place this coming weekend. The big event is arguably the Dragon Parade on Sunday 2/1, which features dancers parading in elaborate dragon costumes down the area’s sidestreets.

Anybody with a hankering for some authentic Chinese food need only point his nose towards one of the area’s many eateries. Dim Sum is one Chinese tradition that’s not to be missed. The meal typically features a variety of small plates like dumplings, spare ribs and Jin deui served in a communal, buffet-style setting. Head over to the Golden Unicorn, grab a seat and watch the servers roll by in a constant parade of carts with interesting foodstuffs. Joe’s Shanghai is another area favorite – they’re known for their soup dumplings filled with steamy broth. Make sure not to put the whole thing in your mouth all at once!

It’s often said that the Chinese are experts in non-traditional herbal medicines. If you’ve ever been curious about Chinese herbal remedies, Chinatown is a great place to learn more. Kamwo Herbal Pharmacy markets itself as the “Largest on the East Coast.” The store feaures over 1,000 different traditional Chinese herbs and ingredients as well as treatments from a licensed acupuncturist.

Queens’ Chinatown
Though Manhattan may have the most famous Chinatown, Queens’ Flushing area may have its most diverse. The area boasts residents from neighboring Taiwan and Korea as well as areas of China as far-flung as Fujian to Lanzhou. One of the best ways to experience it all is by stopping in to one of the area’s numerous food courts. The Flushing Mall features a particular favorite – this otherwise mundane shopping mall features a mouth-watering food court in its basement spanning Sichuan, Taiwanese and Cantonese cuisines.

Flushing also boasts all kinds of quirky shopping sure to please even the most jaded visitor. Magic Castle is a Korean (one non-Chinese pick, sorry!) pop culture store that sells Korean pop music as well as stationary and toys like Hello Kitty. World Book Store features all the latest magazines straight from the Shanghai newsstand.

Brooklyn’s Chinatown
New York’s “newest” Chinatown is probably also its least-visited. Tucked into Brooklyn’s more remote Sunset Park neighborhood it tends to escape notice from visitors but is still well worth a visit.

Like the other Chinatowns, one of the principle attractions is the amazing, authentic Chinese cuisine. Start your visiting by gawking at some strange Chinese foods at the Hong Kong Supermarket, one of New York’s biggest Chinese supermarkets. Sea Town Fish & Meat Market is another interesting local retailer, offering one of Brooklyn’s biggest selections of Chinese specialty seafood items. When you get tired of “looking” at Chinese food and want to eat some, make sure to visit one of the area’s many street vendors for some authentic street food.