Comfort Inn all set, open and ready to go..

The Comfort Inn on 38th street is open for business. Located by the 38th street exit ramp of the Gowanus and only two blocks from the 36th street subway station it is in an ideal location to service out of towners and provide cheap inexpensive hotel rooms. Via the D train from 36th street it is a mere 25 minutes from midtown Manhattan. The well carpeted establishment has a good feel of a prime time Hotel. It also features a breakfast area on the second floor that could easily double as a small restaurant and dinning area should they decide to go that route. I was allowed to take a peek at the place. Perhaps in a week or two I will be able to shoot the rooms so people can take a peek and see the place and get an idea of the accommodations. Let's welcome them to the neighborhood and hope they bring more visitors to the neighborhood and help the local economy continue to survive. The Hotel is owned by the same folks who also own the two Sleep Inns in the area. The Sleep in on 22nd street and 3rd Avenue opened only two months ago and is already doing a bustling business accommodating both tourists and locals who need reasonably priced accommodations  when compared to Manhattan hotel prices.

The small breakfast area on the second floor..

Management feverishly working to get the place ready to take in customers.






[where: 11232]
[where: 11220]
[where: 11215]
[where: 11218]
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Kings Hotel of Brooklyn is Ready for Prime Time

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Without much fanfare and by stealth of night Kings Hotel opened it's doors to the public last week and is already doing a brisk business. I was invited by the people running it to come on over and take a look as they wanted me to include their hotel on the mall I run on the Sunset Park website. I have to say that I was impressed. This is not a slapped together building reminiscent of most motels, rather it reminded me of one of the top notch Hotels I stayed at while I was in Hong Kong. Lots of marble can be seen everywhere. The quality is more in keeping for a hotel in Manhattan. But one thing I learned about the Sunset Park Chinese is that they like to do things with flair and class. The lobby is pleasing and inviting and though not grandiose in size is rather comfortable.


The hotel is designed to be a basic place to stay without frills. It does offer wifi on every floor and HDTV in every room making it a comparatively inexpensive place to stay that just happens to be 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan due to it's proximity (1/2 block) to the 9th Avenue D train station. It is also ideally located to nearby Maimonides Hospital and the Lutheran Medical Center. So if you are visiting patients there from out of town, it's the place to stay. It's also four blocks from the exits on the Gowanus Expressway. All in all if I were going to pick a spot for a hotel in Sunset Park this would be it. It's proximity to Brooklyn's Chinatown with it's abundance of restaurants specializing in asian cuisine makes that an added bonus. It's also three blocks from the Sunset Diner and fifth avenue which rates an abundance of Mexican and other hispanic restaurants. The Sunset Park area has an bundance of restaurants of every culinary taste.



The rooms are standard sized hotel rooms. Being that everything in the place is brand new it gives a very fresh look and appearance. The hotel has a total of 50 rooms with the usual mix of singles and doubles. The bathrooms are brand new and standard fare.



What surprised me were the hallways. Most hotels and motels are usually very carpeted and spartan in appearance, not Kings. The hallways have marble floors and mahogany doors and trimmings and a classic looking green wallpaper.


There is also the Karaoke lounge on the ground floor. Like many karaoke places it has a nightclub spacey look with lot's of neon at the bar. This should do well for visitors from China as that is a popular pastime among the Chinese. It was after all, built to serve the Chinese community of Sunset Park.



All in all we are hopeful that it's a resounding success. If it's marketed right, it can get some tourists and people who need a place to stay within easy reach of midtown Manhattan. If you just need a place to put your head on a pillow at night and want to see a different part of New York City besides Manhattan but want to get to the theaters in short order this place is it. In times when we have to watch our spare change the economy of staying in Brooklyn only a short jump from midtown then this is a good deal. All in all it looks like the Kings Hotel is off to a good start.

You can check out their rates at Expedia, calhotels.us, Hotels.com

Got relatives and friends coming to visit you here in Sunset Park? Tell them to stay at the Kings.


[where: 820 39th street, Brooklyn, NY 11232]
[where: 11232]
[where: 11220]
[where: 11215]
[where: 11218]
[where: 11219]

 

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More Gloomy news for Brooklyn Hotels

The DailyNews has a story on Brooklyn's Hotel's that mentions the Days Inn here in Sunset Park. It's interesting that this should be the second story in as many weeks giving a gloomy outlook to the Brooklyn Hotel business. The Kings Hotel which was slated to open last month has finally opened it's doors a bit late. According to the DailyNews story;

Prices have plummeted as vacancies have spiked, experts and hotel managers said.

In Sunset Park, a hotel room now can be had for the bargain price of $50 a night, or $1,500 a month — cheaper than many rents.

“The owners, they are crying,” said an employee at Days Inn, where rooms fetched up to $199 a night just last summer. “Prices are down a lot. It’s crazy.”

Let's hope that with our messianic president in charge things will get better. On the other hand we could market the cheap rooms to tourists who would otherwise use Manhattan hotels to stay in. If handled right it could create a mini boom. Just imagine, the Manhattan hotels would have to stay competitive. Imagine renting a room for $50 at the Waldorf or at the Grand Hyatt. Now that would be something to see.

[where: 820 39th street, Brooklyn, NY 11232]

[where: 11232]

[where: 11220]

[where: 11215]

[where: 11218]

[where: 11219]

Kings Hotel already on Expedia, other sites

Kings Hotel is already listed on Expedia and it's not even open yet. It also has a listing at calhotels.us with a starting book date of February 27, so we must assume that is the opening date when it will be expected to be in business. The listing at Hotels.com has a rate function as well, but does not work, I suppose because it's not open yet. So far we don't know the rates. At least we do know the following so far. It has 5 floors and 50 rooms available. It has Karaoke which it touts on the websites. I suppose that we will have to wait till it actually opens to find out the rates. It also advertises internet connections. I would hope so, this is after all the 21st century.

[where: 820 39th street, Brooklyn, NY 11232]
[where: 11232]

Kings Hotel Ready to Open in February

The new Hotel I had written about last year located on 39th street between 9th and 8th avenues and which has been under construction almost forever will soon be ready to open it's doors. The hotel will feature a Karaoke bar among other things. They have recently been testing out all the neon lights that will light up the place making it look like a scene from Star Trek. The owner told me that what delayed the expected opening was the issuance of a certificate of occupancy from the city. All of that has been done and all is set to go.



The Karaoke bar features a really cool neon lit bar table as well as eerie green lighting of the liquor in the back. I assume they will cater to a mainly Chinese clientèle as the HDTV screens on all the walls displayed Chinese videos with Chinese subtitles. We will know much more once the operation begins. I expect that the clientèle for the hotel will be Chinese as well. But, give the swankiness of the place compared to the other hotel/motel on 39th street the Days Inn it will likely attract other kinds of guests.


Does Sunset Park need another hotel? Well, believe it or not, based on the traffic to the main website, Sunset Park has become a sort of tourist attraction. Not as crowded as Chinatown and with an abundance of restaurants. WE do get inquiries from Europeans and Asians. It's proximity to the D train station on 9th avenue and 39th street also makes it ideal as the D runs express into Manhattan after 36th street and makes it into Manhattan on a good day in 30 minutes. No word on rates and all those details yet. As to the argument that it's really in Borough Park (Boro Park) because it's on the other side of 8th avenue. I would say not, simply because Sunset Parks borders were designated to coincide with the zip code 11232 which runs to 9th Avenue. However, that side of 8th Avenue is covered by the 66th precinct which covers mainly Boro Park. This side of 8th Avenue is covered by the 72 which covers all of Sunset Park. But why quibble, I will bet that most of the customers will be Chinese or others with a fair share of people who will be using it to stay while they visit relatives at Lutheran Hospital. It is however even closer to Maimonides in Boro Park. I wonder if the owner took all of this into consideration when he planned it.

On another note, I miss Culver auto body works which used to be located on that spot. I had a number of cars done there over the years. A Buick Skylark, a Beemer and my GMC Jimmy. Everytime I look at the hotel, I will be thinking of the accidents that caused my cars to be at that location. Wonder if the Karaoke place will serve food? Will they have wifi?

Readers may also be interested in the following thread in a recent blog regarding hotel construction in Sunset Park and at Brownstoner there is this.

[where: 11232]

[where: 11220]

[where: 11215]

[where: 11218]

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Happenings (Free Book Talk April 6)

Two Brothers, One North One South

A Book Talk with Author David H. Jones

Sponsored by The Green-Wood Historic Fund

A story of the Prentiss Brothers, Marylanders who fought on opposite sides in the Civil war and are buried side by side at Green-Wood. Author Jones will also give a book signing on his book.

Admission is FREE but space is limited. Call for reservations 718.768.7300

WHEN: Sunday April, 6, 2008 @ 1:00 PM

WHERE: Green Wood Cemetery's Historic Chapel
500 25th street on 5th Avenue.

Following the Book Talk Green-Wood historian Jeff Richman will lead a trolley tour to adjoining graves of the Prentiss brothers, as well as othe significant Civil War Gravesites. The trolley Tour is $20 / $10 for Historic Fund Members.

[where: 11232]

[where: 11220]

[where: 11215]

[where: 11218]

[where: 11219]

It's Confirmed, It's a Hotel

I reported when I started this blog a couple of months ago that the construction on 39th street between 8th and 9th Avenues was going to be a hotel. Those were the rumors and buzz going around. One could also see that the architecture seemed to be more fitting for an office building or a hotel. Now we can confirm that it is a Hotel that is nearing completion at the location. It is ideally situated near the 9th Avenue D train station placing it within a half hour of midtown Manhattan and it is also within easy reach of the B35 and B70 bus lines. One of the work permits at the site states that they are in the process of obtaining a certificate of occupancy for a "transient hotel". When construction will be completed we do not know at the moment. But it appears that the building is mostly already built.

[where: 11232]
[where: 11220]