Hotel Le Bleu Rates: A Brief History

A buddy stayed there over the weekend- prefectly nice room and all- wierd shower and toilet set up- but fine- and you get a balcony. At $130- a deal.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 10:37 AM

At that price, you can't aford NOT to stay there!

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 10:42 AM

People not willing to pay $365 per night to stay in Gowanus when they can pay less to stay in Manhattan? This is a shocker.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 10:43 AM

Do you guys want this hotel to fail? If so why? Because it's tall? Because it's "out of character"? Just so you can be smug about it and say "I told you so"?

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 10:49 AM

"The main problem with the hotel is location."

UNDERSTATMENT OF THE YEAR!

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 10:50 AM

I personally don't want the hotel to fail but I think the rates offered at the start were simply ridiculous and most people here know that.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 10:54 AM

I wish the hotel much success, it's needed. Le Bleu is right on the BQE access esp at night. Perfect for guys on the lam.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:01 AM

I stay there every night after getting dialysis next door.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:07 AM

The hotel's supporters were all over Brownstoner and they were the ones who were smug, calling people idiots for saying the hotel's prices were too high. They should have listened to the helpful feedback.

The reviews on Trip Advisor for this hotel are terrible. Trip Advisor is heavily used by Americans and Europeans both, in selecting lesser known hotels when they travel to other countries. We chose our hotel in Paris by referencing Trip Advisor guest reviews. The reviews almost all say the immediate area around the hotel is grubby and unappealing. Guests were aware of the restaurants in Park Slope and liked them, but they hated 4th Ave. Also the reviews were saying the service was fumbling and amateur, the restaurant is not open yet so the contintental breakfast consisted of muffins on a plate in the lobby, etc. Also, interestingly, one guy on Trip Advisor exposed the big lie that the R subway is convenient to Manhattan. It took the guy an hour to get to Midtown on the R for his meetings, between the long wait and the multiple stops. And he wasn't pleased with that.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:09 AM

damn thats an awesome price.

when are they going for rent?

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:11 AM

winter = low season. most nyc hotels lower their rates in the winter.

but this IS a p.o.s. hotel..

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:14 AM

Hotels (everywhere) all constantly adjust prices (just as airline seats) to accomodate demand and be competitive.
No hotel sets a 'official rate' and holds to it (sometimes known as 'rack rate').
That is why some people claimed that paid such and such for boutique Soho hotel and so why stay at LeBleu. That hotel was also adjusting its rates for the demand for that day - but on other days no way could get that deal.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:18 AM

This place's only shot at being a "hip" place to stay is with its bar/lounge/restaurant - which isnt open yet.

If the rooftop Bar/restaurant is GREAT then it might work - if not - $200 a night is the maximum this location will bring for a long while.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:21 AM

I disagree the restaurant will be enough. If the Novo were going to be hip rentals for young people, then the Novo would populate the bar at the hotel with cool people. But it's going to be stroller moms and dads who eat at home, living at the Novo and the other condos being built on 4th Ave. Any hotel there should have been built to appeal to the parents of these people.

The hotel location is too unappealing for tourists, and that Park Slope despite the amenities it has is not thrilling enough for people flying across the ocean to visit the Big Apple. They want Manhattan for paying more than $250 a night. They'll take Brooklyn if the price is cheaper. Grandparents would pay more to stay near their families but this hotel wasn't built for them. My parents would hate a see-through shower stall. And couldn't tolerate noise through the thin walls, as described on Trip Advisor by guests who have stayed there.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:31 AM

I've said it before and I'll say it again: you can't beat a hotel that's in walking distance of a Pep Boys

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:41 AM

My parents are nudist swingers. They LOVED LeBleu!

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:42 AM

I dropped by hotel le blue a few weeks ago to take a closer look and the location is only the start of their problems. The construction is pretty shoddy and the staff were unhelpful and not at all welcoming.

Here's a little tip if the management is listening. Some shrubbery outside the lobby to hide the disgusting noise and view of 4th avenue would go a long way in making the lobby more welcoming.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:43 AM

11:31 ... you are talking out of your hairy ass.

Have you looked at the Novo/Crest/others at all?!

Most are studio & 1BR's ... not "family" apartments (2BR+).

Who knows about Le Bleu but most of the new condos on 4th Ave will have young single people or newly-married-no-kids couples in them.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:47 AM

Hey, 11:09--I'm no fan of the hotel's looks or pricing, but I think you're being a tad hyperbolic regarding the TripAdvisor reviews. There is really only ONE that is a true negative--2 out of 5. After that, you've bot two 5/5 a 4/5 and a 3/5.

Sure, all of them mention the location as ugly--but it didn't keep them from giving it an overall high rating. So settle down.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:52 AM

Over 70% of the buyers at Novo and Crest are singles under 35.

11:31....you don't know what you're talking about.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:55 AM

What I don't like about it how it is pushed so far back from the street-it looks so strange and out of place there - why didn't they put it flush to the sidewalk and it would look much better.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:56 AM

Under 35 and parents, 11:55. You don't know what you're talking about if you don't know how one's lifestyle changes after having a child.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 12:18 PM

READ the reviews, 11:52. Don't just look at the number of stars they get. READ them.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 12:19 PM

Okay, Novo investors, guess you're all set to make a lot of money then!

Because you're obviously not protesting too much.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 12:20 PM

This isn't West Virginia, 12:18.

There are not too many under 35 parents in this city buying studios and 1 bedrooms.

Those successful enough in the financial department to be married with kids at that young age are buying brownstones in prime Park Slope.

I know because they are my neighbors.

Oh and my bf works for Corcoran and he said there are very few with kids who bought at Novo. He said most are in their 20's and single.

So actually I do know what I'm talking about.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 12:22 PM

Rates FLUCTUATE according to season and demand, duh. There's no real story here, no matter how much I'd like to rag on this hotel.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 12:34 PM

Do they wash the glasses in your room for that price or do they just rinse them in the sink and wipe them off with a dirty bath towel?

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 12:49 PM

I did read them, 12:19.

The first guy (5/5), total RAVE.

Second (2/5), your boy, the whiner who is too stupid to read a subway map and switch at Pacific off of the R.

Third (4/5), the complaints were the drab location, the lack of Valet parking and the small lobby. They went out of their way to compliment the front desk staff, the quality of the accommodations and mentioned that when the restaurant opens up, that will negate one of their negatives.

Fourth (5/5) was some dude who needed a room fast and took a risk and LOVED it.

Finally, there was "Amit" (3/5), who while certainly not raving, felt it was perfectly decent. Given Le Bleu's pretensions, perhaps this is unacceptable--but the guy felt like it was okay.

So, to summarize--to RAVES, one very positive, one average and one pan. How again to you argue that Trip Advisor reviews are (in your earlier post) "terrible?"

Maybe you need to read your own fatheaded posts.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 12:55 PM

People have been wanting to hate this hotel since the get go.

Makes no sense in a city that needs more hotel rooms.

So fine...you don't like the area...

A lot of people thought the Upper West Side was a hellhole 30 years ago.

Now they are multimillionaires.

Leave the gentrifying to those whose minds are not as closed as a nun's nether region.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 12:57 PM

All the hotels are in the industrial areas west of 4th Avenue because outer borough zoning only permits them in such places, and a couple of other locations like Downtown Brooklyn.

The reason -- an assumption that any outer-borough hotel would only be used for the homeless, drugs, prostitution, "hot sheets," etc.

Well, if those hotels hads been located on 5th Avenue or perhaps even directly on 4th, it would have prospered. Now, guess what we are likely to get.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:02 PM

If the owners built this hotel (and financed it) with the idea that they would be fully booked from day 1 at $365 a night - then I predict that they will be severely disappointed.

If they built this hotel with the idea of getting in early before the 4th Ave boom, and expect a gradual improvement of the area and the ability to sell rooms for a premium then these guys will do do exceptionally well.place

An excellent restaurant and cool lounge/bar with outdoor deck will only hasten to bring about the locations success.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:03 PM

This hotel is directly on 4th, 1:02.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:04 PM

Hotel Le Jolie, this hotel's even uglier sister, has also slashed its rates. Anyone stay there? Do they do hourly?

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:06 PM

i think everyone is missing the point of 11:31 post.
Who is young and hip and wanting to stay on 4th ave no where near anything that most people think of as New York City?
Even if they do have a poor young under 35 year old friend with no kids living in the neighborhood. Why wouldn't they just shack up with them?
and aren't there more parents of the Park Slope parents with the means and need to stay in a hotel in the neighborhood?

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:16 PM

You bet I want this hotel to fail. Why? Because it's developers stole my views of the Manhattan skyline, at what cost to the value of my home I shudder to think. Yes, I hope it fails. I hope it rots from disuse and crumbles into the earth. And that's not smugness; that's bitterness.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:17 PM

Maybe they should call the Jehovah's Witnesses. I hear they're divesting Brooklyn Heights. Maybe it's time to move on.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:17 PM

Do they make chicken cordon blu?

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:17 PM

January 09: Low income housing.

This asinine project is a total failure walking.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:19 PM

"You bet I want this hotel to fail. Why? Because it's developers stole my views of the Manhattan skyline, at what cost to the value of my home I shudder to think. Yes, I hope it fails. I hope it rots from disuse and crumbles into the earth. And that's not smugness; that's bitterness."

That's interesting. The only thing across from this is low rise building, so not sure it could have negatively impacted your already illustrous Manhattan views.

I think you're probably bitter because you live on 4th Avenue...nothing to do with the views, bud.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:24 PM

Hey 12:55, you actually proved my point by finally reading the reviews. Nobody pays $365 a night for a bad location. Nobody.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:48 PM

This is an instance of bronwstone readers just wanting to bitch about something.

The hotel will do just fine. 300 a night, 200 a night, or 150 a night.

Life will continue on and the hotel will continue to provide guests with a roof over their heads for the night.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:53 PM

i can't wait to hit the dance floor at the club.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 1:57 PM

1:48 works at the 99 dollar a night holiday inn around the corner and his job is janitor/troll on brownstoner.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 2:21 PM

This place is 5-10 years too early. 4th ave does seem to be VERY gradually changing, and when I say gradually, I mean about 3 new places. the place just off of atlantic the mexican joint, that bar down the way, the bagel place, and that's about it.

You can get away with a ritzy veneer and little substance if the location is hot hot hot, and it's just not there yet, and may never be.

One thing is for sure, this place is going down. It will never make it.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 2:48 PM

"This place is 5-10 years too early"

Not an invester, are ya?

Ya gotta be ahead of the curve when it comes to NYC real estate, or before you know it, a neighborhood has already come and been gentrified.

Better early than late, if you ask me.

You clearly are behind the 8 ball and will probably rent for life.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 3:33 PM

2:48 - changing slowly???

Forget the retail - have you not noticed the 5-6 buildings nearing completion within a few ablocks along 4th Ave - these alone probably represent 600-1000 new residents and there are probably 5-8 more lots that are in some state of demolition or late term planning. Even if the latest economic problems end up canceling 1/2 of them you are still looking at HUGE IMMEDIATE changes on 4th Ave.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 4:09 PM

Brenda -- you made me laugh, thanks.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 4:27 PM

Why would anyone want to come to New York and stay in BK in the first place? I mean, seriously.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 6:05 PM

Because they're POOR, 6:05. Obviously, you're some rich, Park Slope Hedge Fund Stroller Mom who couldn't care less about anyone else but little Griffin and Annabelle and all your shallow, pedicure-getting beotch friends! So do me a favor and move to Westchester, already! You make the city I once loved, stink like shite!

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 6:18 PM

This is so cool. You can order Papa Johns and eat it while you watch your fat wife take a shower.. I love 4th ave it is just like Park ave. I am buying an apartment in the NOVO so I can shop at Pep boys and smell McDonalds every day. It is just like the Midwest and New Jersey all wrapped in one little nice package. My life is complete. I love Brooklyn. Brownstoner rocks, too.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 6:46 PM

6:18 = post of the year.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 6:48 PM

If you're down with the McDonald's odor 6:46, you need to buy at that joint on 1st street that's looming over it. All you'll get at NoVo is the faint whiff of special sauce.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 7:03 PM

I can't even believe this hotel is actually real and not some SNL skit. A lux hotel on the Gowanus Canal. Steve Martin could play the unctious and shady front desk clerk and the short comediene with the doll's arm growing out of her head could be the bellhop.
I can't believe somebody financed this.
No wonder our financial institutions are facing a meltdown.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 7:07 PM

I thought that smell was McDonald's!

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 7:32 PM

Wrong, 7:32--that smell is The What, smoking a victory stogie on one of Le Bleu's balconies.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 7:56 PM

"Over 70% of the buyers at Novo and Crest are singles under 35."

First off, that's some might specific demographic info you've got there, wow.

Anyhoo, good luck to Le Doom. Perhaps they have finally found the right price: ONE THIRD of the original.

Can they make it on that? Can they last until the Avenue of the Fuglies blossoms into what it could be, given the necessary time, capital and political will?

My bet is no. I could be wrong, but so far this has been playing out exactly as expected.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 7:59 PM

Le Bleu seems like a great place to do some blow.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 8:07 PM

7:59:

Novo raised prices on 4 separate occassions.

I think they're doing just fine.

They've already made a profit from what I understand, and all of the units aren't even sold yet.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 9:22 PM

The USA is totaly over

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 10:13 PM

9"22 - Nobody questioned how well Novo is doing.

Your insecurity is showing.

But hey, since you've got the Novo scoop, any clue on what's happening over at Argyle? They seem to have stopped working weeks ago.

Posted by: guest at January 15, 2008 11:21 PM