Going RTW: Holiday Inn LaGuardia NYC

After my long wait in the queues for passport control, I was kind of tired. So I asked the chauffer to drive me to the hotel and dozed off for 20-30 minutes in the car itself.

On arrival, I found myself in a small little cute hotel, which was good enough to spend one full jet-lagged night before heading on for Colorado Springs. Surprisingly, while the redemption rates for this one were 25,000 IHG Club points per night, those for a Holiday Inn Express nearby were 30,000 IHG Club points per night. I did not want to head into New York City for this night, because I’d otherwise have a hard time getting back to the airport next morning. Not a bad value for a hotel which usually retails at about $193 per night, I thought to myself. A 0.7 cents per point value.

At check-in, I was presented a small polybag with my welcome amenities, and a coupon for a drink at the bar. The bag contained an energy bar, a bag of mini pretzels and a bottle of water. I was thanked for my loyalty as well, and provided the internet access code.

The property was pretty well-kept and I proceeded to my room, which had a view of the CitiField from the window. The room was already serviced for the night and chocolates had been placed after the turndown.

Onwards to the room

The Room with a view

The Working area

The coffee machine

I was tired and a bit hungry, so all the snacks that came along were finished up as soon as I got to the room. I decided to take a shower, get some coffee, and then pop out for a drink and some dinner at the sole restaurant in the hotel. Like is to be expected, this was a functional bathroom, and no fancy amenities to be expected as well.

When I got down for dinner, I realised there was some sort of a game going on and hence the entire restaurant/lounge was full with everyone cheering for the teams and glued to the TV. I went out for a short bit and got some fastfood instead (there were not many eating options around), and got back to sleep. However, guess what did they forget to replace? The airconditioners. This was from the age of the Flintstones and rambled all evening, or may I say cranked.

The Jetlag however soon caught up with me, and I slept away for the next few hours since I had an early morning flight to catch. In the morning, when I arrived, the first (and second) airport shuttles were getting ready for the airport trip, and there was a whole bunch of crew who wanted to get on those. The driver of the shuttle tried to give them preference, but I had to announce I had a flight to catch (doesn’t everyone?). Thereon, it was a quick hop on their first airport shuttle to the airport, and 10-15 minutes later, I arrived at the terminal from where United flights fly at LaGuardia.

I think I’d forgotten living in a functional airport hotel for a while, since the other ones I usually stay at, such as the Sheraton Brussels Airport have bigger and better facilities along.

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