What You Pay For
This hotel is old and crowded! The cost of the rooms here were what I would have paid for to share a bathroom in a Hostel. Here I had a private bathroom! If you are in NYC why would you be holed up in your room? There is so much to see and do. My bed was firm, the sheets were clean and the air conditioner worked. I also checked my mattress because I am paranoid of bed bugs. There were none, the mattress was actually white and crisp. I am not hard to please as long as the place I am in has a comfortable bed and a toilet and shower. The people at the desk were not rude, just short and to the point so as to get through the long line behind me. I enjoyed their speediness. We only had to wait on elevators a few times in the mornings when people were headed out. The best feature for us at Hotel Penn was the Ticket, Transportation, Information Desk. They were very helpful in getting us tickets to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, which even included our Subway passes. They told us where to go and exactly what to do! They also helped us pick out a Broadway play and tell us exactly how to get there and what to expect! They were wonderful and I reccommend anyone that is not familiar with the city and is visiting to use them for info and tickets! 
Another good feature of the hotel is that there is a guard at the elevators you have to show your room key too before being allowed to go up to the floors. This is a great safety feature. Hotel Penn is also right across the street from Penn Station and Madison square garden. We turned the corner and walked 1-2 blocks to the Empire State building and walked about 20 min to Times Square and Broadway! There is a park we stopped at called Bryant Park on our way to Times Square from the Empire State building that was very nice! Overall I enjoyed my stay at Hotel Penn although the rooms could have been a little cleaner, I just wore socks on the carpet and in the bathroom! I got what I paid for and I would stay here again! It is NYC where things are inflated to the max, you aren't going to get 5 star accommodations for the price of staying at Hotel Penn, but you get a comfortable bed and a bathroom to yourself! :)