This hotel needs a complete overhaul. The decor is old and tired. The furniture is in really bad shape but that was probably the case 30 years ago when it was in style. The carpet was a short shag with large stains everywhere. You could see the dirt in the carpet. The television was an old 19 inch Panasonic. It is not a room where you will want to spend time. Walls are cracked, wallpaper is peeling. What is amazing is the fact that there are a considerable number of valet employees and bellman that lead you to believe that this hotel is something it's not. You won't confuse this with a Four Seasons, Ritz or even a Hyatt. After a few hours in this grandma's house replica, you will be begging for a Marriott.

We came to New York for a vacation, which we do often but the hotels we normally stay in were sold out. This hotel was recommended to us by a friend and said it would be great because we would be closer to the beach which was somewhere we had plans to go for a concert. The staff was amazing from the doormen to the ladies behind the front desk. We checked in to our room which was very clean and well kept. The bathroom was not the trendiest but it certainly was clean. We ate in the hotels bar/restaurant and it was amazing!! The serves was unbelievable, the food was delicious and the atmosphere was just as if we were in manhattan. The room service we ordered for breakfast was just as good as the dinner the night before. We journeyed into the city for some shoppong and the fact that the train was directly across the street made it very convenient. Our stay was terrific from start to finish. The price was much more reasonable than Manhattan and that is always a plus. I would recommend new televisions but the bellman said the hotel is working on upgrades and that is on the top of the list.

I recently spent 6 nights here. I had a wonderful experience. First, everyone on the staff is amazing: friendly, helpful, and super professional. So unusual these days. To me, always an indication that management treats them well. My room, the least expensive, was nicely furnished, immaculate, and quiet. I don't quite understand the complaints of others. Maybe I had an updated room (ask for one). Be aware that the building is 30 years old, so if you want everything to look brand new, stay somewhere else. That having been said, I found the public spaces in top condition and immaculate. The glitzy Ceasar's Palace - Fall of Pompeii- style interior decoration of the public spaces wasn't to my liking, and seemed outdated, but it was well done, for what it was. (Gave me a chuckle.) The interior decoration of the rooms is not glitzy, thank goodness. The hotel is located in the best part of Garden City, with lovely neighborhoods surrounding it, and a very pleasant village of shops and restaurants a block away. A train station is just across the street, so, although I didn't use the train, it appears easy to reach from Penn Station in Manhattan (during parts of the day, one needs to change trains). A taxi ride from and to JFK airport costs $60 with tip, or $90 including tip for a town car. The hotel can make pick up arrangements.

We reserved two rooms for a Sunday night stay following a 5:00 wedding at the hotel. Since check-in time is 3:00, we called the hotel on Saturday to request an early check-in. We were told that this could not be guaranteed but would be noted in the reservation. When we arrived at 2:00 on Sunday, one room was ready and we were told they would put a "rush" on the second room, which would be ready in a few minutes. We left our luggage on a trolley with the bellman and went to the nearby town for a quick lunch. When we returned at 3:10, the second room was still not ready (and our bags remained on display in the middle of the lobby). The desk clerk said he was able to locate another room on the same floor as the first room that was ready. This was not adjacent to our first room--it was down the hall, which was acceptable to us. We requested, however, that it not be an "adjoining" room and were assured that it was not. (This process took approximately 20 minutes as the room had been blocked for another arriving guest and had to be unblocked by the manager). When we finally arrived in the room, it turned out to be an adjoining room after all. When we complained, the manager said to hold on for 2 or 3 minutes while he located a non-adjoining room. At 3:45 (approximately 10 minutes later), the manager called back to say it would be another 15 minutes before a non-adjoining room would become available. Since only an hour remained before the wedding was to begin and we still needed to get dressed, we told him we would keep the assigned room. It would have been very easy for the hotel to have blocked 2 adjoining rooms when we made the reservation (or when we called the day before to request early check-in), but this was obviously too difficult for them. The room was a good size but the carpet was stained and torn in places and the bathtub had not been renovated . The bed was much too soft and the linens were unpressed, Holiday Inn-quality--obviously not the upgraded type of bedding that all the better chain hotels are now providing. When we were about to leave our room for the wedding, we discovered that the room safe did not work. We were able to use the safe in our second room instead. No one seemed to care or take note of this when we mentioned it at checkout. All in all, this was a very disappointing experience. The hotel staff could use a few lessons in professional management style. We would not stay here again. The one positive note was that we thought the catering staff did a very nice job with the wedding.

We were at The Garden City Hotel for a wedding and figured we'd spend the night. For starters, the staff was wonderful, and the wedding was awesome, and all was well, until we got to our room. The room was old and hasn't been updated for many, many, many years. It felt like an old very worn out Holiday Inn... Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just that we expected a much nicer experience, especially for the money we were spending. The bed and pillows were not very comfortable, the walls were paper thin, and the hotel is conveniently located right next to a Long Island Railroad station. If you don't mind an EXTREMELY loud train whistle blowing several times very early in the morning, then this might be the place for you. The staff, main areas and banquet rooms were great, but the rooms were awful, and make sure you ask for a room as far away from the LIRR station as possible. Good luck!