Below average hotel in a good location
I have stayed at several other Holiday Inn Express hotels and have come to expect a no frills but quality product that is clean. Unfortunately, this hotel is nothing like the others I have stayed at. I stayed here only one night on business and would not return again. In terms of the positives, it has a great location on 45th, convenient to midtown. That's about it for the positives however. Here are the issues I noted during my very short stay.
On check-in I was confronted immediately with a lobby full of 3 big laundry carts parked right in front of the front desk and I had to angle my body to wedge in to the hallway to get to the front desk. At no point did the front desk person or the laundry staff (who was standing there) do anything to move the carts out of the way. Usually they give you some amenity for being a Priority Club member, like a bottled water or coupon for the bar - here there is nothing. I had to ask for the wi fi password, which he then gave me.
The room I was given had a strong smell of mildew in the carpets, as well as in the hallway leading from the elevator to the room. Damp smelling, like a wet cat. The room itself was actually below street level, with the window about half way up the wall and opening up to a nice view of the alleyway between buildings (see picture of the view from the room). The room itself is small, although that is fairly normal for this part of Manhattan. However, the room itself is not properly maintained. For example, the bathroom ceiling is cracked near the exhaust fan (see picture), which I assume is caused by mold. When I went to go iron my shirt, I took out the ironing board and discovered that the ironing board cover was cracked, with gross looking stains around the rips. Look at the picture -- there is no way I am putting my shirt on that!
In the morning, I went to the breakfast that is included with the room. The breakfast itself is pretty standard Holiday Inn Express fare. The tables are in a narrow strip area but it seemed adequate for the number of people there at about 7 am. The tables themselves were not being cleaned between guests, but they were not overly gross. But both the waffle machine and the microwave oven were out of order; things can occassionally break and I can understand that, but both of the "out of order" signs were permanent looking signs in stands. See the pictures I took. Isn't the waffle machine the centerpiece of the Holiday Inn Express commercials talking up their free breakfast? 
For the $250 per night I paid it is on the economy side of comprable Midtown hotels, but there are better choices in this price range, such as the Marriott Courtyard a few blocks away.