Avoidable problems
I spent five nights here recently. Obviously, the location is unbeatable if you're interested in Times Square, but there are a few problems that would probably make me look elsewhere for my next trip. I should first say that the lady who checked me in was delightful. She reminded me that having staff with outgoing and engaging personalities can make a huge difference in the quality of one's stay. And most of the other staffers were similarly cheerful and friendly. The bell staff quickly accepted my luggage when I drove through on my way to return my rental car, and delivered it to my room very quickly when I checked in later.
The problems: First, there's a somewhat strange multipurpose gift shop/coffee shop on the eighth (lobby) floor. It may be a concession, and not a Marriott-owned business; it was clear that the staff there was either badly trained or completely untrained, turning what should have taken a few minutes to get a latte into an agonizingly long wait, while one employee behind the counter dealt with one customer's purchases, and two others ignored the growing line at one of the three or four registers available. The latte, once I received it, was about one-third foam. There's an actual Starbuck's on the ground floor, but there, the tables were mostly outdoors, and hadn't been attended to, as they were chaotically arranged and not particularly clean.
The breakfast buffet cost a ridiculous $31 and could hardly have been more ordinary. There was a fairly wide and attractive selection, but nothing was prepared with any skill - everything I tried (and I sampled quite a bit) was virtually tasteless.
The biggest problem, however, is the elevator system. Instead of getting on the next available car and pressing a button for the desired floor, one must enter the floor number on one of a number of consoles in the elevator area, and the system tells you which car to take (the cars are identified by letters, e,g,, A-P). Under a light load, that works OK (although I was on a couple of occasions directed to cars that took off before I got to them, and I didn't loiter), but under a heavy load, it fails miserably, returning an "XX" or "??" instead of a car ID, leaving the user with no clue what to do. After repeated entries, I would get a car ID, and eventually made it up- or downstairs. But it's really disconcerting to be, in effect, told "no" by an elevator.
At $300/night, there has to be a better experience awaiting elsewhere.