The Comfort Inn in Flushing is a decent place to stay, and may be the only decent place to stay if you are booking last-minute and need somewhere cheap with subway access to Manhattan. This has all that.
It is located in Flushing, which is the last stop on the Queens subway line ("7" train). It's definitely a trek to get to Manhattan and back. The trip into Manhattan is at least an hour. The 7 train takes you to Times Square, so you may have to transfer to another train to get where you want to be.
Flushing is a bustling, densely-packed, and somewhat gritty Chinese-speaking area. Although it is a bit "urban" and seedy-feeling as is typical of the outer boroughs, it feels safe at all hours. Be aware that cabs are not ubiquitous in the outer boroughs as they are in Manhattan. This hotel is within 3 blocks from the Flushing subway stop: an easy walk.
The desk staff can direct you to local parking. There is a parking lot within 1 block of the hotel which charges $15 for 24 hours of parking: a great value for the city, and practically next best to having free parking at the hotel.
Inside, the hotel is comfortable and passable in all areas. The front desk staff gets high marks for being extremely helpful, cooperative, efficient, and English-speaking. They are able to help with questions about the area, services, transportation to Manhattan, etc.
The rooms are decent, if a bit on the small side; nicely-appointed; and clean. Mine did smell quite strongly of cleaning products, but I didn't really mind this. There was a big, flat-screen TV, but it offered basically a lot of Chinese programming, with mostly just news channels in English.
One major complaint about this hotel is that the walls are very thin, so a lot of noise comes through from the halls. You can't hear into other rooms, but you can hear hallway activity. If you are an insomniac or anticipate this being a problem, consider booking elsewhere. (I had a basement room, and it might be different/better on the upper floors--not sure.) On the other hand, the beds are very comfortable---they have feather beds on top--so my sleep ended up being alright.
Breakfast was good. However, when I showed up 20 minutes before it ended, most of the food and beverage options had either run out or were close to running out. I was still able to get a bagel, bold coffee (my choice would have been regular, but that was gone), and apple juice (would have preferred orange, but that was gone). It looked like they had previously had a lot of other pastries, as well as cereals, hot breakfast meats, fruit, etc. A generally good selection and good quality, but get there early.
There are free newspapers (Wall Street Journal) in the lobby. The lobby area itself is extremely small (two chairs), but comfortable. The elevator was a bit dirty, but other than that the common areas were solid.
In sum: it's a good, basic choice for out-of-town travelers, especially those with cars. But do take note of the long commute to Manhattan, which can be unpleasant at the end of a tiring day. The subway trip is simple (no transfers) and cheap ($2.25) but it is long. Cabs probably won't want to take you there, and if they do, it will be expensive and take even longer, so the train is your best bet.
All in all, probably worth it for the exceptional bargain on the room.
- Flushing Comfort Inn
