Time Square, New York

New York, New Room, Same Hotel Carter

We had arrived in New York. After an hour in the queue for Customs at JFK, we took the express bus to Port Authority, then walked the short distance to our hotel.

That was when our world tour gave us its first proper surprise.

The Hotel Carter had looked like the best hotel in its price range online. Bryan was especially pleased that he and Jody had booked it together. It was a decision that would soon need defending.

The room was dark, dirty, old and falling apart. It was the sort of place that was difficult to describe without making it sound worse than it was. So we didn’t take a photograph. We just wanted to forget it.

Jody cried.

The hotel staff moved us to a room on the 18th floor. It was much nicer, although “nicer” still included a fair amount of dirt. At least it was somewhere we could sleep.

After that, we headed out to Times Square. The crowds, lights and noise made it feel as though we had stepped into a film. Standing there together, right at the start of our world tour, was a moment we would both remember.

We found a quaint restaurant for our first meal. An American burger for Bryan, and a veggie burger for Jody. It felt like a good start to New York, even if the hotel had already made a strong case for being the low point.

Hotel Carter review

Other comments: Warm, not very clean and extremely basic.

Would we stay again? No way.

New York was already delivering the sights and excitement we had hoped for. The hotel was delivering a different sort of experience - one we were quite happy to leave behind.