Hotel Le Bleu Reviews Trickle In

Oh my gosh, I can't keep up. Is there really a fancy hotel amidst the tire stores and general blight of Fourth Avenue? But, but, how can that be? I mean look at the picture. It makes Fort Lee look like the French Riviera.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 9:50 AM

Let me nip this in the bud ...

"What?! $275 to sleep next to a taxi depot and healtcare center?! blah, blah, blah."

I love Le Bleu! It's a great addition to 4th Ave (and on the Gowanus side, yay!).

I wish them the best of luck (I'm a neighbor) .. it always takes a few months to get the staff in shape and get the systems down.

Can't wait for the rooftop bar and restaurant to open.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 9:53 AM

People have lost their minds.
Anyone paying to stay in a hotel on
Fourth Avenue is too lame for words.
Do the rooms come with sex workers?
There has to be some draw. Do you get free bodywork on your car? New tires?
Unbelievable!!!

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 9:58 AM

Dear 9:58:

I said I nipped it in the bud (see 9:53) so pleeeease shut your pie hole.

If you feel the need to post again, please just type "blah, blah, blah" and we'll know what you mean.

Thank you.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:17 AM

Why do these negative posters WANT the hotel to fail?

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:20 AM

Other posers are not looking out solely for the real estate interests of some neighbor who owns a shithole near Fourth avenue and thinks the new hotel is going to make him the next Harry Helmsley.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:32 AM

Yeah 10:32! I'm with you! We represent the bitter-bored crowd that likes to rant about stuff.

People that aren't like me are LAME!!

You all live in SHITHOLES!

I HATE sunshine! Happiness is for LOSERS!

You ONLY like the new hotel because you think it’s going to make you RICH!

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:45 AM

I'm also very happy to see this in the neighborhood.

My parents are going to stay there when they come in January.

I really can't understand people who talk negatively about things they either don't know anything about, or simply just to do for fun, it would seem.

Would those that hate it RATHER have an abandoned lot?

I don't get it. What's it to you if someone opens a hotel?

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:46 AM

So 10:32 - who are they looking out for; refurbished tire salesmen?

I wish Le Blue had the parking in the back, I wish that Le BLue and the other developers push for more streetscaping and I hope that the bar restaurant is great

but overall its certainly a net positive over what was there (plumbing supply warehouse) and anyone who hopes for its failure is probably just practicing Schadenfreude, wrapped up in fake nostaglia and phoney 'keeping it real'

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:47 AM

Hey 'Mr Nipped',
Let me ask you a question: If you booked this hotel from out of town, at these prices, and arrived to find the wonderful surroundings of 4th ave would you be so chipper? Honestly, this photo says it all. I'm all for the development of 4th ave. It's a pit,(great place to find good prices on tires) but please don't be so agressively blind.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:48 AM

I'm pretty indifferent to this hotel, other than to laugh a little every time I pass by and read the name. There's something utterly ridiculous about a Hotel Le Bleu -- at any location, but especially where it actually is.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:50 AM

The taxi-depot / bodyshop posts are as clueless as they are predictable.

In fact, yes, clearly people are paying hundreds a night to stay near a taxi depot, etc., and hundreds of thousands to own condos near them, and people are going to restaurants and bars near them--and all of that means, eventually, the taxi depots and bodyshops are going to be gone. It may not be Park Avenue, but it'll be a retail and residential strip.

I don't get why that upsets people so much. Relax, you can drive another avenue down to get your flat tire fixed.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:55 AM

@10:48: Well, considering that the reviews of the hotel range 'all over the place' from a 3 to a 5 (out of 5), the actual guests are apparently not so annoyed about the surroundings.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:57 AM

10:48 ... oh lookie here ... 3 reviews from 3 people OUTSIDE of NYC who left "chipper" reviews:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60827-d650459-Reviews-Hotel_Le_Bleu-Brooklyn_New_York.html

Goodness, so far 100% of the reviews on TripAdvisor are positive.

hmm, 10:48 masking bitterness as "I'm just protecting the tourists" ... strange, very strange. Who's the blind one?

I welcome all new condo owners (Novo, Crest, etc.) to the 'hood! Ignore the haters.

-Mr. Nipped

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 10:58 AM

The location:

It's a 3 minute walk to Blue Ribbon Sushi on 5th Avenue, Pacific Standard Bar, and about 100 other shops, restaurants in the neighborhood...many new ones opening every month, in fact.

People who just write this off becuase it's on 4th avenue haven't been to 4th avenue in the last 2 years.

It's that simple.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 11:00 AM

My biggest complaint is the (ugly) parking lot up front. The hotel gives nothing to the neighborhood aesthetically. Besides, if the taxi depot and health center are torn down they will be replaced by large condos facing the avenue. That will leave LeBleu oddly recessed and the shadows.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 11:03 AM

I think it had to be recessed for zoning ... no hotels allowed flush on an Avenue lot line. I agree it would have been better to have landscaping in front and parking underneath or in back though.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 11:07 AM

10:20 poses the question that I am constantly asking myself. I can't figure out why people want this hotel, and on a larger scale, Brooklyn itself, to fail. There's a certain set of people who seem incredibly bitter about any new development.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 11:21 AM

God, and we were so hoping that this place would be a total failure!

Maybe if we write more tired, snarky stuff we can still make this thing tank.

And what's with B'stoner/Gabby continually referring to the hotel as 'pricey' when in the next breath they are fawning about some $3.2 million bronestone that's 2-3 blocks/5 minute walk away.

No, I'm not a developer, hotelier, broker, condo dweller, brownstone owner, and have no particular agenda.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 11:25 AM

i'm pretty psyched about the rooftop bar myself.

i think it'll be pretty cool.

can i ask...it seems that most new yorkers constantly complain about the disney-fication of new york and hate that there is nothing rough or original about it anymore...so why is it when we have a rougher area, people trash it and wish it were lined with starbucks and duane reades???

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:13 PM

I hope this place is a success. it will speed the transformation of the "wild wild west" avenue. Disregard the nay sayers, they are born losers who can not see the big picture.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:27 PM

Rates STARTING at $270/night??? RIP-OFF!! Give me a f*#king break. That's what the Beacon Hotel on the UWS costs you. And what a difference in location and street appeal. If the Le Bleu's rates were cheaper, maybe people wouldn't be commenting on its less-than-scenic locale. Ridiculous. RIP-OFF!!!!!!

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:29 PM

Brenda,

Good points all. But you forgot to add: ...and we're kind of ticked off because we realize that five years from now all of Fourth Avenue will be expensive and pretentious and phony-Frenchified.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:39 PM

should be called hotel aieuls, because this place will get fat off the grandparents visiting their children's PS 321 kids -- a constituency large enough to support 5 of these fleabags. it looks like the motel in seaside NJ where I banged a hooker after my high school graduation. yeah, it beats an empty lot, but what an eyesore.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:41 PM

12:29. Yeah, guess those coveted brownstones one block away are a rip-off too. (One block = 3-5th Street btwn 5th/6th Ave).

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:45 PM

My parents came to the city to stay 2 weeks ago and stayed at the Beacon Hotel on the UWS, 12:29.

Their room bill for one night, including tax was $412.00.

You may have found a special, but room rates in Manhattan are out of this world.

The people looking to stay at The Beacon and those looking to stay in Brooklyn at Hotel Le Bleu are not the same. It's describing two entirely different demographics.

For a couple coming over from Berlin for a week, 270 DOLLARS a night is not a whole lot of money.

And from what I can tell, 5th Avenue on the weekends are like 25% people from Germany/Ireland/Amsterdam or London.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:46 PM

Hey 12:41. Your hooker, did he treat you well?

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:46 PM

The nipster is in the Hugo Chavez school of promoting free discussion. All who do not agree with him are unpatriotic losers. I think the nipster is off his meds and I think he is the only one writing positive blogs about his eyesore rip-off hotel in one of the ugliest parts of the Boro.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:50 PM

Hey Brenda. You're right, putting that hotel on a highway of hell was a bad idea. They should have built it on the corner of 3rd Street and 6th Avenue. You would have loved it then, as would the neighborhood.

PS people want amenities, including places for visitors to stay, but DON'T PUT THEM NEAR MY PRECIOUS BROWNSTONE OR TREE-LINED BLOCK!

The crack-cocaine of NIMBY.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:50 PM

12:50pm. "...one of the ugliest parts of the Boro" which happens to be about 200 yards from prime $3+mn brownstones in the heart of PS321.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:55 PM

Dear 12:25, Brenda from Flatbush:

Easy hon' or I'm gonna' have to find Flatbush on a map and nip your hairy buds.

Dear 12:50:

You're, like, wicked smaaht ... you made a political reference in your post. Too bad you are a dead wrong unpatriotic loser. Long live the Revolution (of 4th Avenue)!!!

-Mr. Nipper

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 1:04 PM

Sorry, 12:46, but maybe your parents got a suite, or booked on a sold-out night.

These are the current rates (copied and pasted from their website):
Single Rooms $220 - $295
Double Rooms $235 - $325
Suite $295 - $550

I booked 4 nights for extended family and their rate was 250/night, on Broadway, not next to a tire shop and garage. The Le Bleu's rates are ridiculous, hence the comments on its location.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 1:12 PM

"Rates STARTING at $270/night??? RIP-OFF!! Give me a f*#king break."

You obviously have not stayed in an upscale Manhattan or Brooklyn hotel recently. This is quite a value, actually.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 1:20 PM

To the people who are thinking this hotel will be filled with PS321 Grandparents - I doubt it - The bathrooms are separated from the main rooms solely by GLASS. The vast majority of 321 PARENTS shouldn't be that comfortable with their nudity so I have serious doubts that the Grandparents will enjoy staying in rooms like this.

IMHO this hotel's success and failure depends largely on the ability of the rooftop restaurant and bar to create a 'scene' in an area that (despite plenty of $) is far from hip.

I'm rooting for them,

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 1:25 PM

"IMHO this hotel's success and failure depends largely on the ability of the rooftop restaurant and bar to create a 'scene' in an area that (despite plenty of $) is far from hip."

It WILL succeed simply because hotel rooms in NYC are at a premium. The fact that Manhattan hotels are always heavily booked has spurred this sort of development, and it will increase as years go by. So get used to it.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 1:31 PM

"Is there some reason that this place looks really nice on its website, and in renderings, and looks far less nice in person?"

yes, it's called "fraud."

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 1:45 PM

Check back through earlier postings on Le Doom and you will notice an interesting pattern:

September 7, 2007
"Le Bleus website now shows them beginning at $365..."

November 5, 2007
"the Gowanus hotel’s prices (which start at $306 a night)..."

December 4, 2007
"Le Bleus website currently shows rates starting at $270 a night..."

Perhaps they've found the sweet spot. Only time will tell.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 1:53 PM

you guys are nuts. hotel is ok addition to a hood that had nowhere to stay but a couple of b&b rooms.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 4:07 PM

The nipster is in the Hugo Chavez school of promoting free discussion. All who do not agree with him are unpatriotic losers. I think the nipster is off his meds and I think he is the only one writing positive blogs about his eyesore rip-off hotel in one of the ugliest parts of the Boro.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 12:50 PM

Sounds more like the Dick Cheney school

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 4:26 PM

Dear 12:50:

This is The Nipster.

Would you care to go quail hunting with me?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney_hunting_incident

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 4:32 PM

viva Le Bleu. The taxi stand makes this hotel a great launch pad to see the rest of new york.
build it and they will come.
price it high and they will think it is worth it.
There is a market for rooms near brownstone Brooklyn.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 4:53 PM

Mr Nipper,
10:48 here, you sure are a witty one. I was not 'protecting the tourists' (why that is strange to you I can't really figure out) if you think that means I am not a native-Brooklynite guess again. Born and raised here. I just know that this photo above is sure as hell not on their promotional material. Come on buddy, look at the picture. It's like a diamond ring placed on a bed of dog sh*t. Tell me honestly, would you stay there for that kind of money? Oh, and yeah, telling others to 'nip it' that's really comical. Who died and made you "The Nipper"?

p.s. I like what brenda said.

Nipsy Russell

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 5:11 PM

5:11. The hotel is sitting in dogshit because that's they way it is with these Brooklyn brownstone neighborhoods. They are islands of sanctuary immediately surrounded by crap.

As others have pointed out on this thread, this location that everybody hates so much is practically within snowball-throwing distance to prime Park Slope.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 5:47 PM

How come the Nipster has a Boston accent?

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 7:28 PM

$219/night and falling...

Posted by: guest at January 2, 2008 8:41 PM

am staying there now - so far so bad - rooms are good, but everything else is not. same price as the rivington, awful reception service, like being berated by a mid-west motel clerk, NO bar/restaurant, despite glossy pics on website, NO room service (!), great view of a u-haul yard, geez, if this is what passes for boutique hotels in NY this place is in big trouble - doubt it will get word of mouth if it goes on like this and it needs it in this location. Am stuck here for two days, so will update.

Posted by: guest at June 4, 2008 4:38 PM