We shortlisted a few hotels and apartments for our stay in New York. One of the main criteria was the room size, the availability of in-room kitchen, laundry facilities and the number of bathrooms in the unit. Next, of course, was the location. To have a big unit in a good location and not overly pricey for a party of six in an urban city like New York was not easy to find. We finally decided on The Mint House on Pine Street which satisfied almost all of our requirements. As we we would be staying there for about a week, we took up the Mint Pass which was chargeable but Mint Pass holders get a 30% discount on the reservation, which was quite worth it.
Location
The location of The Mint House was quite ideal. It was within walking distance to One World Observatory, Wall Street and Battery Park, where you can take the ferry to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty. Within walking distance was also the grand Brooklyn Bridge where traffic is usually heavy. So to take nice photos of the bridge, it may be a good idea to walk there. Times Square was not within walking distance, but easily accessible by public transport.
No Drop Off
We were quite excited to see this apartment when we reached New York as the photos on the website looked really good. We were not expecting that the vicinity of the hotel looked like it was under construction and that there was no drop off point. Our car was going in circles trying to find where to drop us off at the lobby for check in, but there was none. You just have to drop off by the roadside, unload your luggages and walk. You couldn’t even see a signboard showing The Mint House anywhere. And the building was supposed to be one of the tallest building in NYC so one might assume there should have some drop off point or lobby or something. Part of the building was used for residential purpose, so by right, there should have some drop off or underground carpark or something? But we didn’t find any so it’s a little peculiar.
Stairs
The next unexpected feature was the staircase leading to the lobby. The infrastructure and facility seems totally unprepared for a hotel usage. There was no ramp, no stair lift or any other way to enter except taking the stairs. Ok, luckily we didn’t have many big luggages but still took some effort to bring up and down (during check out) this flight of stairs.
Amenities
The hotel lobby was brightly lit and cheerful with good reception service. We could get some snacks and hot chocolate at the lobby or just hang around to have a rest. The best part was the supermarket which was just at the basement of the building! It was so convenient! We could stock up on all the necessary groceries. Check out the room tour video!
We really loved the kitchen facilities. There was a 4-stove induction cooker, microwave oven, conventional oven, a large fridge, an island kitchen with sink and dish washer, equipped with dish washer detergent. Utensils like pots and pans, spatula, tongs, crockery and utensils were also provided. It was a really well equipped kitchen. Dish soap, sponge, cloth were also provided.
This time round, we were relieved that kettle was provided and in fact, there were 2 types of it! One electric kettle and one for boiling over the stove! Grateful for kettles! We also had drip coffee set and coffee machine with filter and ground coffee powder and tea provided. Thankfully, the coffee was so much better than that at Disney’s.
Before checking in, the guest services sent us a link where we could request for additional supplies! We were so impressed! We ordered an air fryer(!), some deodorant, clothes lint roller, food storage container, dental kit and hair spray. You can even request for things like phone chargers, computer monitor (!), travel adaptor, blender and slow cooker!
Next is the washer and dryer complete with laundry detergent. The only problem was the dryer stops working after every cycle or even before the end of the cycle. The first time it broke down, we called for housekeeping service and they fixed it by trying to soak out all the water accumulated in the dryer during the cycle. Subsequently, I just followed the same. But it was really tiring to keep having to soak out the water a few times during each cycle. I wonder how a dryer can have such feature, shouldn’t they have a better way to drain out the excess water? Anyway, we still had to do our laundry and it was so much more convenient with in-room washer and dryer. I did the laundry like almost every day. Sometimes twice a night. We could always ask for a refill of the detergent if we ran out.
But we really loved the kitchen. We cooked our breakfast on most days and dinner occasionally with groceries bought from the supermarket. We even had drip coffee (coffee powder provided by Mint House) and home baked cookies using cookie mix from the supermarket! The kids said it was the best chocolate chip cookies they ever had. Aww.. appreciated.
Both bathrooms come with a low height bathtub and detachable shower head. Soap, shampoo and conditioner were provided in dispensers as well. Each bathroom also comes with hair dryer. It was really a luxury stay and we enjoy the room a lot.
One thing to note was that our room was located on level 5 of the building, which was probably very low floor considering the neighbouring buildings. The whole apartment was very dimly lighted and even during the day, when all the curtains were opened, the room was still dark and gloomy. It looked nothing like the photos on the website where all the pictures were bright and cheery. The brightest area was along the corridor. I ended up packing my luggages along the corridor on the day before we check out as all other rooms were too dark to see at night.
Housekeeping service was available every other day, but there will be a round of daily supplies refresh so we were quite ok with it.
Goku Kitchen Restaurant
The next best thing staying at this apartment? We found a Dragon ball themed restaurant, Goku Kitchen, just the ground floor of our building! We (especially our fan boy) absolutely loved the soup dumpling (xiao long bao)! The curry chicken rice was also our favourite. The curry recipe was a Malaysian recipe according to the shop owner, which, no wonder it tasted just like what we have back at home. Our fan boy was most fascinated by the Dragon Ball figurines display in the shop. We couldn’t help but dress up in his Dragon Ball cosplay outfit, which I packed along for some reason, and re-visited the shop after our meal just to take a photo. And we did go back for dinner for like, another 2 more times(?) because we love the food so much, and of course, because it was Dragon Ball. We also love the service there. It was a nice cosy restaurant and serving food that makes us feel just like home.
We didn’t try the Michelin starred restaurant at the lobby and also didn’t go for the rooftop bar. I guess the Goku Kitchen suits us better.. haha..
We had a great stay at the Mint House. It was so comfortable and well equipped besides the dim lighting and the inconvenient staircase, so we will definitely recommend this place to anyone.
Baby Adventures 