The Big Apple and the Big Bean Dip, Part 7

I roll into the Marrakech Hotel, on 103rd and Broadway in the Upper West Side,  two overstuffed bags in tow, one on rollers and one on my back.  I hiked up the two flights of stairs to Registration (no elevators in this place), checked in and paid my toll for three nights of sleep in their abode, then was handed the keys to room 15.   Thankfully, there are no more steps to hike up.

On first glance, the room appeared to be in order, and as expected was clean.   The Indian theme of the hotel was made most prevalent in the window curtains, which were draped in the way you would find them in movies set in the same country.   The air conditioning was a single unit, externally mounted from the outside, and apparently had no automatic shutoff.   It was either on or off, and it was most certainly "on" when I came in.   The place looked like it had, at the least, a fresh coat of paint, though it was admittedly a little smaller than what I was envisioning.  There were also a couple of areas - such as the shower rod having a tenuous relationship with the mounting screws in the wall and the fact that the carpets in the visitors area looked like they haven't been shampooed since Prince Siddhartha was walking this mortal coil - where the fit and finish needed some work.   Finally, while the Marrakech offers wifi as part of it's room payment, the service was not particularly fast or reliable, forcing me to rely on my smart phone as a hot spot. 

So my verdict on the Marrakech Hotel is: it worked for the three days I was there.   The subway stop to the 1 line was within steps of the entrance, and as you would expect in New York, there are plenty of eateries and cafes within walking distance.  The northern part of Central Park is also just two streets away.   I would only go there, however, during off-peak times of the year, and at that, only if they are offering rate specials.   The place has promise, but it is small and there are some issues they need to address.  

The rates vary between $150 - $299/night, depending on the room selected and the time of year.