Well … this was a mixed experience. On the positive side, the Ridge was clean, the hot water came quickly, check-in was easy, the roof-top deck was lovely, the common room in the basement was fairly nice (if a bit institutional and cave-like), and the staff (even though I had no in-person interactions with them) were super helpful. Oh, and the location was terrific—very convenient to the subway, restaurants, shops, etc.
However, I was pretty disappointed with the rooms. I use the plural form here because the first room, on the ground floor, opened onto a very busy corridor, and people were coming and going and slamming doors and playing music and having loud conversations at all hours right outside my door. After the first night, I requested a change, and got moved to a much quieter third-floor room, for which I’m immensely grateful to the staff. In both rooms, however, the WiFi was terrible (could barely even send and receive emails, much less download or stream music or shows), the furniture was cheap and shoddily assembled, and the mattresses were very hard and uncomfortable (no mattress pad on top), and the sheets were thin and coarse (but they were clean, so hooray for that!).
So ... I guess that New York hotel rates being what they are, I shouldn't have been surprised, but based on the descriptions of the Ridge on AirBnB and the overall good reviews from other guests, I was expecting at least a little more comfort an personality.
Next time I'll just plan ahead and budget enough to shell out the pile of cash that seems to be the minimum for a comfortable room in NYC.
So ... overall ... if you just need a clean place to stay in a good location, and you're not picky about comfort (or possibly noise), the Ridge will probably serve you well.