This hotel met our basic needs (we were only there for one night), but it was way overpriced! The staff were friendly and knowledgeable and the hotel was clean, but that is about it. I also don't agree with them charging a "resort fee", when this place is faaaaar from being a resort.

We didn't select this hotel but got it through Priceline's Name Your Own Price which I have had great success with in other cities.

With the Hotel Astor they couldn't guarantee that we could get a room with 2 beds for our price unless it was available when we arrived. When we did arrive they wouldn't give it to us with out an extra upcharge. This was contradictory from what was on the web site and what I had been told when I called ahead of time to check availability. In addition we were forced to sign a piece of paper that we would pay a mandatory resort fee even though this was not disclosed ahead of time - as required - and it was for services that we would not be using.
The manager would not back down on this and I was forced to go to the credit card company to dispute the charge.
This all ruined what would have been otherwise a very nice stay.

Much like everyone else, there were good and not so good things about Hotel Astor. First, the good:

1. Location. Just a few blocks from the beach, it was a nice area. Close to boutique shopping & restaurants.
2. Spacious rooms. We only needed 2 double beds, but when we got to our room, we had 2 double beds and 1 king bed. This room was HUGE.
3. Front desk staff. Very friendly and willing to help and offer suggestions on where to eat, things to do, etc. We weren't there very long as we were in town for the marathon, but they were very friendly.
4. Airport Shuttle. It was great and such a convenience. We didn't have to take the bus then and spend 2 hours stopping at every 3rd block.

Not-so-good:
1. Housekeeping. Was there any? We didn't see them, they didn't stop by. Had to go to the front desk for towels and shampoo.
2. Room configuration. One huge room--tons of space but NO area to hang anything, no dresser, no closet-like structure...nothing. Seriously, nothing. We had to live out of our suitcases for the 2 1/2 days we were there. It was very odd.
3. Rooms had no soundproofing. There was a large gap under our door & we could hear everything in the hallway & upstairs. Tough to sleep like that.
4. TV. Was on a swivel, but b/c my friend & I had beds across the room, we couldn't watch TV at the same time--one or the other could watch it.

Overall, decent if you didn't spend a lot of time in the room but would look elsewhere in the future.

After a night at a bad hotel down the street, we desperately took to online booking and got a great rate from Hotel Astor for their 'preferred guest' room. We had no idea what to expect but it worked out great!

We made an online reservation 5 minutes before arriving (too fast to go in their system), and several guest groups appeared the same time, but even so check-in wasn't too bad. The lobby computer we used to print our booking was deadly slow, but happily we later discovered the room wi-fi is great. At the same time as check-in, we arranged our airport shuttle pick-up and wi-fi access (both free), which was very convenient.

The room (suite actually) was quite impressive and clearly updated very recently. The queen bed, AC, big screen satellite tv, bathroom, kitchenette/living room were all respectable and pleased even my super picky fiancée. Check-out was fast and easy.

The only (minor) issues were of design - the room is new, off the normal hallway and not marked, making it a bit difficult to find, The entrance is frosted glass, allowing too much light in the suite at night, especially an issue since the AC output (in the living room) is so loud the bedroom door needs to be closed, heating up the room a bit high for sleeping. These issues could all easily be fixed (room number, proper door, vent AC via a pipe into next room), pushing it from a very good to a great experience.