Like so many other guests before me, I checked this hotel out on TripAdvisor first. It sounded OK and the price seemed competitive, so given my existing familiarity with many other Starwood properties, I chose the hotel for my stay in the NY Metro area. This review is going to include a wide number of points, so let me first talk about the good stuff, then I'll deal with the areas of greatest concern, which simply must drive the rating down...

Location: The hotel is located close to mass transportation and to one of Brooklyn's popular shopping areas, the Fulton Mall. It appeared for all intents and purposes to be a relatively safe neighborhood, with foot traffic late into the evening. Getting to Manhattan is quick and easy, but getting to La Guardia is less so. The area is frequently described as being "in transition," but more than that, it is an area where there is some legitimate animosity about the encroachment these new properties are having on the old neighborhood, so don't be surprised to see posters or graffiti in opposition to the 'modernization.'

Design: The hotel is visually well-designed, and for those familiar with Virgin Atlantic Upper Class and all the associated perks, you'll find yourself in rather familiar territory. The decor is upscale, chic, yet not austere or cold.

Rooms: The rooms are nicely laid out, and the beds are phenomenally comfortable. The pillows are also exceptional and they are generous in letting you have more of them if you like, which I did. The bathroom and shower are nice, with very good water pressure, but there is no comfort lock on the door, and because of the strange manner in which it is deployed, the shower handle could very easily be bumped by a child with rather unpleasant results. The WiFi signal is good and complementary. The flat panel televisions are nice, but reception is occasionally spotty with regular image degradation or signal loss - this was not unique to one room.

That was the good stuff, and if you only read that, you'd think holy smokes, what could have happened that caused this not to be rated as a 5-star dream hotel... So here goes:

I mentioned that the location is good for public transportation, but the staff and local cab companies have difficulties with the location. A staffer told me he had no idea how to reach the hotel by automobile, and repeated efforts to find the place by name left cabbies clueless.

Next, this hotel, despite all its wonderful features, has some major problems the first of which is that the nightclub that was put on the top floor renders at least the top 6 floors utterly useless if you intend to sleep from Thursday through Saturday night. You see, the club is only accessed via an entrance a few doors down next to the adjacent Sheraton, but the elevator shafts for Aloft all terminate right on the dance floor! So the noise from the club doesn't only reverberate through the floors and walls, it also echoes down the shafts so that even 5 floors below, the din is like having a party outside your room until 0300 each night!
The staff is apologetic about this, but they insist that management leaves their hands tied regarding the noise. Either way, the problem is that they can't decide if they want to be a night club with some rooms, or a hotel with a club on top. Until this issue is resolved, don't bother booking a room above the 18th floor when the club is open. Incidentally, this is not an age thing, or a hip thing, this is a hotel thing. Partying should always be optional, not mandatory. When you retire to your room, you should be able to do so at any hour, on any day.

Room service stopped a full 25 minutes before closing time, with no explanation, no excuse, and no apology. Like a number of staff-related incidents, the prevailing attitude was essentially "tough luck, dude. If you wanted to eat, you should have done so earlier!"

And now we've arrived at the main point of contention. While some staffers were responsive and tried their best to work with customers (Alex Siegel comes to mind), others went out of their way seemingly to make sure their arrogant smugness couldn't be overlooked (Steve Broward comes to mind as the superstar of rudeness). I'll grant you that the staff is young, and the hotel is geared toward a younger hip crowd, but that's the same crowd that Virgin Atlantic Upper Class caters to, and you'll never see them sacrifice the comfort of guests so the revelers can rule. Moreover, being young is no excuse for being rude. In over twenty years of a career in which I've lived in hotels for years at a stretch, I've never been spoken to by a hotel staffer with the tone and rudeness of Mr. Broward, who told me pointedly that "my questions and conduct were not very 'loft-like!'" In other words, questioning problems, asking for resolution, and not embracing a careless shrug as an acceptable response made me us undesirable guests.

The problem in general terms is that rather than trying to make guests feel special, the vibe is that you should be glad you got to stay in their way hip and cool hotel, and yes, go ahead and thank them for the pleasure! A hotel that is looking for longevity never banks on their guests not getting older. Nor should hotel staffers start believing their press releases are a reflection of their personal greatness. Their conduct is what distinguishes them, and smugness is never becoming, particularly not with guests.

As with all things in life, it only takes a few rotten apples to trash the barrel, but until those points are dealt with, the rating can't go up.

So while the service of some was pleasant, the overall experience was trashed. Similarly, when undisturbed by the club, the sleep quality was great, but the club dominates the scene from Thursday to Saturday. The value when undisturbed was great, but the racket made that difficult.

I stayed at Aloft last weekend with two friends. We chose the hotel for its proximity to an event we planned to attend, but were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed being at the hotel!

The location is great, a block from the subway, near shopping, but on a very quiet street, and near a fabulous breakfast place (Junior's on Flatbush Ave., which was recommended by the very helpful and cordial concierge staff).

Intelligence and care were apparent in every detail, giving a sense of spare luxury based upon fine design sensibilities rather than expensive materials.

everything was scrupulously clean. The lobby was fresh, comfortable and airy, with a pool table, fun furniture and healthy snacks and coffee available 24/7. Even the elevator was cool. The music and the lighting in the elevator inspired us to dance on every trip!

The rooms were very thoughtfully designed, making every inch count. Beds were extremely comfortable, with very nice linens, and the room was quiet. We liked the ecoconsciousness in a separate recycle bin in the room, a green linen service option, thermostat and several other touches. The bathroom was so nicely designed, it was a pleasure to use.

I had the sense that every penny we spent went toward our personal comfort rather than extraneous fanciness.

An independent valet parking company offers different options: full-service or self-service, both with unlimited in and out, for a fairly reasonable price. Be sure to think about which one you really want. I chose the more expensive valet service, but then ended up not using it, because the subway was so convenient, thinking I could convert to the cheaper plan when I left, since I didn't use the valet service, but they wouldn't change it retroactively. This wasn't the hotel's fault, though.

I live in Norway, and know the price of hotels.

I wasn't expecting much for the price, or should I say average, but Aloft was a true find. You walk inside to a wall fountain and good music. The staff isn't boring and stodgy, and actually looked like people your own age. The hotel has a feel of a really upscale youth hostel, with a dining area in the lobby, but then there are cool "Dr. No" spin chairs and you realize this ain't your Grandma's hotel.

The rooms are spacious (it's New York and there was space for a giant bed), and there are truly unique touches, like the retro alarm clocks and Bliss products. Internet is free, the gym is free (and they have headsets if you don't have yours), there are treats for visiting pets, and the best part is the elevators. It's a dance party in every one.

The only bad part was the room with connecting door. The door was like paper. When I asked to move, they said no problem, and I was whisked off to a new room.

After Aloft, I stayed in a Hilton in DC. BLAH! Charge for net, charge for gym, old and tired and really boring, at much more the rate of Aloft in NY. I felt burnt. Two thumbs for Aloft.

The one-way streets (same street going in different directions) was weird, but that wasn't the hotel's fault.

My wife and I were visiting our son over Christmas and stayed at this modern hotel in Downtown Brooklyn off the Fulton Mall. It was modern, the rooms were large and the rate of $160 was well below Manhattan rates at this time of year. Indoor pool and jacuzzi were available. 40 inch flat screen had real HD quality. Easy access to subways. It was 5 blocks from Brooklyn Heights. Great views of the city. One drawback is that the neighborhood is in transition so there is construction on the block, but I heard nothing from my room. Enjoy.