The Benjamin does not seem up to par with other NY hotels in the area, either in price or value. Although the room was relatively clean, the furnishings and carpets were old and worn. The hotel has definitely seen better days but the rates will lead you to expect something more. You're better off at the nearby W or DoubleTree. Wouldn't stay here again.

Having just returned from The Benjamin I am totally disappointed. On arrival we were given a corner suite with a king bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room. The sofa bed which was being used by my daughter was opened out and to our surprise was broken and the mattress was worn and torn. We went to the front desk and they applogised and told us to come back in about 40 minutes and they would have a different room for us. We then left our luggage in the first room and returned about an hour later to find our second room was not ready. We were told to go back to the first room and they would ring us when the new room was ready. Another hour later nothing had happened so we went to the front desk and they eventually found us a different room.
To cut a long story short the sofa bed was still unsuitable. These sofa beds are 10 years old according to the label on the bed and the mattresses are so thin you can feel the metal bars sticking in your back. They really need replacing.
After further discussion they agreed to place a second mattress on top of the original which made it a bit better.
For the money you pay for this hotel this is not the quality you expect.

This review is from May 2008, but I forgot to confirm that it was posted, so I'm re-posting it.

I stayed at The Benjamin last weekend and I had a very good experience. I live in Brooklyn and I treated myself to a "birthday" present by booking a one-bedroom deluxe suite. I stayed at The Library Hotel back in March and I'm working my way through some of the top hotel choices in the city.

Check-in was quick and easy. I walked into the hotel and was in my room in less than 10 minutes. Check-out took two minutes and my bill was accurate. I booked a non-refundable room directly through the hotel website about a week prior to my stay and I feel like I got a very good price. There are only two elevators, so service can be a little slow at times, but I never waited more than four minutes.

All of the staffers I encountered were extremely courteous and helpful. Management sent up a birthday cake (a very tasty chocolate concoction) and note a few hours after I arrived, a very nice touch. The front desk wished me a happy birthday in person and on the phone, as well. When I called for pillows and room service my requests were met in a reasonable amount of time.

My room, #2601, was huge. It's on the top floor of the hotel and has a rather large terrace where my friends and I enjoyed drinks and cigars (remember, no smoking inside!). The terrace overlooked Lexington Avenue and it had a nice view of the RCA Building and Waldorf Astoria. It's certainly not as good as having a view of Central Park, but I liked the cityscape view and I spent a lot of time on the terrace.

The room was reasonably well-appointed and the furniture was clean and comfortable. The work station/desk was big and helpful, and hooking up to the high-speed Internet access was a breeze (my only complaint here is that I think it's stupid for hotels to charge for 'Net access). Climate control was fine and this particular room had both east and west exposure, so I just opened the windows and sucked in the city air. Big, flat-screen televisions were in both the living room and bedroom. Lighting was very good and all of the lights worked.

The galley area included a sink, microwave, dishes and a refrigerator. Room service was quick. Food was average, but I only had a late snack, so I'm not sure what an entree is like. A little pricey, but that's to be expected. The main thing missing in the room was some sort of dining area/table.

The bedroom was nice and big, and the bed (a king) was extremely comfortable. The pillow menu was a nice touch and I took advantage of it. Huge walk-in closet with safe and bathrobes.

The bathroom was rather small, but the shower was great. It's difficult to get big bathrooms in older hotels (this, I believe, is a renovated apartment building), so the size of the bathroom wasn't a big deal.

I had a drink in the Emery Bar and it was a nice little place to catch a quick one. Service was a bit slow because it was crowded and the bartender had to service tables also, but she was working hard and was very pleasant.

Everyone has different experiences, but I'd like to address one of the previous reviewers who said they felt they were looked down upon by the staff. I didn't get this vibe at all. I wore jeans and a t-shirt throughout most of my stay and I was looking a bit disheveled when I arrived (too much birthday celebrating the night before). I never once felt that I was looked down upon and I was treated with the utmost respect. My friends who visited me were also wearing jeans and t-shirts and they didn't catch any negative vibe.

I really enjoyed my stay at The Benjamin and I would suggest the hotel for business and leisure travelers.

Some pointers for folks staying here:

- There is a diner two doors down from the hotel that serves good grub and is fairly inexpensive. Additionally, there are a couple of quick-service restaurants on the same block on Lexington that were inexpensive. Cafe Metro (51st/Lexington) offered up good salads and sandwiches and I picked up breakfast there. There is a large convenience store two blocks away (51st/3rd Ave) that was a good place to stock up snacks, drinks, etc. Plenty of restaurants nearby and some good bars within a few block walk.

- The 6-train is right across the street. It's one-stop south to Grand Central Terminal, where you can transfer to the shuttle (nominally known as the S-train) and take it one-stop to Times Square. From there you've got a number of subway lines that will take you virtually anywhere in the city. The E-train is also one-block north and you can take that to shoot from east-to-west in midtown. As always, when visiting NYC, I suggest you take a few minutes to study the Subway map. It's actually very easy to navigate the system and it's more convenient than virtually every other local train system I've ever used (in the U.S. and overseas). The Benjamin may not be centrally located, but it's well-located and provides good access to public transportation and easy transfers to get around the city.

We spent four days in NYC. Our first visit to the Big Apple. We travelled with our 12 year old son. The best part of my stay was coming back to a clean and quiet room at The Benjamin. The location was perfect. It was around the corner from The Waldorf Astoria which is a stop on the double decker tour bus route. Everything about our stay at the Benjamin was perfect. My son particularly enjoyed the choice of pillows from "the pillow menu". The room was clean and we had a small kitchenette with a microwave and fridge which was handy for wine, popcorn, etc. There was ice tea in the lobby which was a nice treat after a hot day of site seeing. We would definitely return to the Benjamin!

London, Ontario, Canada