A disaster put right - the Empire strikes back
We stayed 2 nights at the hotel in mid July 2012. On checking in well after the check in times we were told to wait for an hour as the room was not ready and we were offered complimentary drinks as compensation. As non drinkers we were then offered breakfast vouchers. When we checked our delux king room we were horrified. We had requested a quiet room away from the service area and lifts. We were shown an run down broom closet on the 1st floor overlooking the entrance with lots of B&Ts trying to get to the roof top night club. The room had a curtain and a rail over the fridge as the cupboard, the room was so small that we had to carefully move around the bed not to bump anything. We immediately asked to see the manager, who true to NYC form, was rude and unhelpful. Sorry that is all we have got and yes, that is what you get with a delux king room. I hate to know what the other rooms are like as the delux king is the second most expensive room in the hotel. After we pointed out that the manager's attitude was really not appropriate he did upgrade us to a junior suite for the next night of our stay. This was substantially better and we had the breakfast vouchers so felt that they had tried to make good.
My advice - do not check in on anything other than a junior suite.
Other observations - no free wi-fi even though it was stated as being available and the tea and coffee in the room (if there are such facilities in the room - 1st room did not have this - no space!!) is charged. I have yet to come across a hotel that charges for tea and coffee in the room. The advertised pool deck photo was taken by a wide angle lens as the pool is full with 3 people in it and the loungers are fine if you like to be very close to strangers in your swim wear. The shower and bath amentities are top class. Lifts are slow in peak times - up to 10 minutes.
NYC is such a vibrant city and the hotel is well situated so will remain in demand. But be prepared to pay top dollar and to pay for everything.