Hotel Review - The J House Greenwich in Riverside, Conn. - NYTimes.com Tom McGovern The pool and cabanas at the J House. Rooms start at $129. In the Riverside section of the New York City suburb of Greenwich, Conn., this extensively renovated former Howard Johnson does double duty as a midrange business hotel and a hangout for the stylish ladies-who-lunch crowd. Opened in May 2012, the J House has an industrial-gray facade, with walls of concrete, synthetic stone and glass, while the interior is a mix of faux fur, offbeat Pop Art and kitschy sculptures. The 86 rooms are spacious and gadget-rich, but at times confounding. Most rooms overlooking the pool, for example, have balconies that are inaccessible because their doorways are sealed. Directly off I-95, with its back against the highway's largely ineffective sound barrier, J House's location on the old Post Road (now East Putnam Avenue) betrays its previous life as a roadside chain motel. It's a five-minute drive from Stamford's busy business district and a 10-minute walk from the Riverside stop in Greenwich on Metro-North's New Haven line. Our brown-carpeted, gray-walled room had a frosted-glass wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom and a mod burnt-orange swivel chair. It offered a proliferation of screens - a large HD TV, a small LCD television embedded in the bathroom mirror and an iPad, which controlled everything from the blinds to the room service menu. But beyond the gadgetry, a Keurig coffee maker and an empty fridge, the space was sparsely furnished and had a bland utilitarian feel. Fortunately, the room was well soundproofed. In keeping with the hotel's penchant for gadgets, the toilet-bidet combo had more buttons and functions than a clock radio. A heated seat gave the unnerving impression it had recently been occupied, while the motion-sensing lid had a life of its own, automatically opening when someone walked by. Oddly, the most basic necessity, toilet paper, was absent when we checked in, requiring a request to the front desk. On the plus side, there were L'Occitane products and attractive Kohler fixtures. The main lounge has long, low slate-gray sofas; nearby is a chocolate bar. The outdoor bar has a pergola illuminated by white globe lights. At night, well-heeled locals chatted over glasses of wine and pricey cocktails. The pool is by a parking lot, but cabanas - white vinyl enclosures with chandeliers, beige canvas couches and flat-screens - made for pleasant lounging. The hotel's stylish restaurant, Eleven14 Kitchen, serves New American food often accompanied by the now-familiar buzz words like "gluten-free" and "organic," and high prices (the most affordable breakfast option: a bagel with herb cream cheese at $9). The dinner menu includes pastas, salads and surf-and-turf entrees like organic salmon and rainbow chard ($24) and an excellent burger with Amish Cheddar ($22). Service was problematic: one server couldn't answer basic questions about the wine list (dry or sweet); water arrived in badly cracked glasses. Room service, which will deliver poolside, is available only from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Despite J House's sometimes baffling idiosyncrasies and hit-or-miss service, its relatively reasonable rates make it a good option for business travelers who prefer their hotels with a bit of personality. The J House Greenwich, 1114 East Putnam Avenue, Riverside; (203) 698-6980; jhousegreenwich.com.