# The Dirtiest Hotel In America **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 7, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967 "2010-09-07T21:30:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/1 "2010-09-07T21:30:25Z")
I was reading about [the Hotel Carter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Carter,_Manhattan) in Manhattan and it says “It has been ranked the dirtiest hotel in America four years running” OK now once you get ranked the dirtest hotel even once, you’d think it’d inspire people to get their act together wouldn’t you. Here are some reviews of it from the website, [Yelp](http://www.yelp.com/biz/hotel-carter-new-york) So my question is would you even consider staying there? Supposedly it’s cheap under $100 a night for a hotel in Times Square is dirt cheap, but evidently you get real “dirt” ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/2 "2010-09-07T21:40:58Z")
Oh the joy of countless on site homicides and black mold. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/3 "2010-09-07T21:41:41Z")
Hey, at least it has authentic atmosphere. From the reviews: > [@](#): > > There are bums defacating in the lobby. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/4 "2010-09-07T21:46:39Z")
Hey, if you can’t appreciate that filth, squalor, danger and decay are what make New York the pinnacle of world civilization, you’re obviously a bunch of Gap-shopping, Olive Garden-eating suburban [titty-babies](http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/). :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/5 "2010-09-07T21:50:41Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Hey, if you can’t appreciate that filth, squalor, danger and decay are what make New York the pinnacle of world civilization, you’re obviously a bunch of Gap-shopping, Olive Garden-eating suburban [titty-babies](http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/). > > :dubious: I’m alright with that, tbqh. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/6 "2010-09-07T21:57:51Z")
So am I, honestly. (That link goes to a blog where people complain about NY being too expensive and commercialized - but also, too safe and too clean.) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/7 "2010-09-07T22:11:20Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > (That link goes to a blog where people complain about NY being too expensive and commercialized - but also, too safe and too clean.) Nothing a few defecating bums can’t cure. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/8 "2010-09-07T22:12:02Z")
I’ll take Olive Garden over getting shanked for some rat kabobs by a street vendor any day. I’ll take a HoJos over the Bed Bug Inn over there any day, too. But I grew up in the suburbs, so I’m a little sheltered. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/9 "2010-09-07T22:24:10Z")
Ah, yes, the lovely Hotel Carter. I remember it as the home of a couple of really unsavoury nightclubs. First, the Saigon Rose. I shudder at the memory. Then as the home of Sally’s, a transvestite/transsexual hangout run by Sally Maggio, who ran Blues, another trans-whaever joint, a few doors down, then renamed it Sally’s, then moved it to the Hotel Carter, which had a much bigger bar. The drag shows were actually a lot of fun. I guess some would think that the pre-op transsexual prostitutes and drugs available there were a lot of fun too. Definitely a class act. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/10 "2010-09-07T22:37:21Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > I’ll take Olive Garden over getting shanked for some rat kabobs by a street vendor any day. They don’t use genuine Rat Meat ™. That’s just to lure you in. It’s really imitation rat meat and god know what they put in it. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/11 "2010-09-08T00:51:39Z")
What, the dirtiest hotel wasn’t in Albuquerque? I’ve seen fire trucks and hazmat when they bulldoze some of the places out here. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/12 "2010-09-08T01:41:18Z")
This boggles the mind. This hotel is in the middle of Manhattan. Why would anyone want to run a bad hotel in this location? You could just sell the building for $100,000,000 or something. Or just bring the place up to minimal standards and fill the place up with people happy to spend $250 a night for a room. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/13 "2010-09-08T02:48:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > This boggles the mind. This hotel is in the middle of Manhattan. Why would anyone want to run a bad hotel in this location? You could just sell the building for $100,000,000 or something. Or just bring the place up to minimal standards and fill the place up with people happy to spend $250 a night for a room. At a guess (and that’s all it is), the hotel was or is about half full of SRO tenants, who have some protection against eviction, thus making the building difficult to sell, because whoever bought it would get the tenants along with the hotel. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/14 "2010-09-08T03:10:40Z")
Hmmm, I’m staying in this area for four days starting Saturday - this hotel is available and would save me $500! I thought the $220 a night Mayfair looked dodgy, but I guess I’ll wallow in its defecation and dirt deficiencies. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/15 "2010-09-08T06:49:42Z")
Holy fuck! I read your thread title and before I even saw your OP I thought, “I bet he’s talking about the Carter Hotel.” ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/16 "2010-09-08T09:14:33Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > This boggles the mind. This hotel is in the middle of Manhattan. Why would anyone want to run a bad hotel in this location? You could just sell the building for $100,000,000 or something. Or just bring the place up to minimal standards and fill the place up with people happy to spend $250 a night for a room. > > At a guess (and that’s all it is), the hotel was or is about half full of SRO tenants, who have some protection against eviction, thus making the building difficult to sell, because whoever bought it would get the tenants along with the hotel. Hm, I thought if you demolitioned the building you could evict the tenants … and this building sounds like it really _really_ needs to be demo’d and rebuilt. It can’t be up to health/safety codes :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/17 "2010-09-08T09:47:26Z")
In about 1981, I went on a trip that was offered through my high school. There were a couple days in New York City, and I remember the hotel was about a half-block from Times Square (to the west of it, I think). I’ve gone looking for it on recent trips, but never could find it (if it even still exists). It may have been the Hotel Carter. I might even recognize a picture of the lobby. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/18 "2010-09-08T13:21:06Z")
The reviews and pictures on [TripAdvisor](http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60763-d93421-Reviews-Hotel_Carter-New_York_City_New_York.html) are just as fascinating. TripAdvisor mentioned this hotel as #1 on their places to avoid list. I can see why. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/19 "2010-09-08T13:33:54Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > Hmmm, I’m staying in this area for four days starting Saturday - this hotel is available and would save me $500! I thought the $220 a night Mayfair looked dodgy, but I guess I’ll wallow in its defecation and dirt deficiencies. I’ve stayed at the Mayfair. It was nice although it was the smallest hotel room I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967/20 "2010-09-08T14:00:20Z")
Having only stayed at the ‘upscale’ President and Roosevelt in my younger years, I’m jealous! I could have had some cool stories. Now I usually stay at the Alex or the Millenium. Maybe i could find a bum, feed him some bran muffins, and watch the hilarity ensue. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dirtiest-hotel-in-america/552967.md?page=2)