Greatly dissapointed by essential aspects
Sadly, this report, on balance is mostly negative. But I am hopeful that this hotel will improve in the future.
Currently listed as NYC's fourth largest hotel, the Hotel Pennsylvania is one of NYC's most famous properties. Remember the movie "The Glen Miller Story" with James Stewart...the song titled "Pennsylvania Six Five Thousand"...that was the phone number of this hotel. The hotel dates back to the early 1900's. It's huge.
The hotel evidently enjoys a fairly high occupancy rate, mainly due to its prime location. Located on 7th Avenue just south of West 33rd St., it is right across the street from Madison Square Garden, two blocks east of the Empire State building and one block south of the famous Macy's department store. Within the same block there is convenient access to the subway and Times Square is only one stop away.
The hotel has a great classic entrance and first floor lobby. The first floor is fully staffed with numerous bellmen and other forms of service. There is a gift shop, a dinner, a small convenience store, a coffee shop/bakery, and a full fine dining restaurant on the first floor. If that was all you needed, you are good. (Noteworthy...one of the bellmen was quite helpful with getting a taxi in a hurry to help some folks in our group make their flight.)
The quality of our room on the third floor was quite poor. The furnishings could have been from the 1970's. The bath room was small and in a state of disrepair. The walls needed new paint. The bed was very uncomfortable. The best I can say about the mattress is that every portion of it was neither planar, nor parallel to the earth's surface, nor perpendicular to the earth's gravitational field. We were there with a group and others reported other types of problems in their rooms such as the siting of roaches. Also the walls are very thin.
Another disappointment is that none of the restaurants in the building offer room service. They all appeared to be separate entities from the hotel.
So if comfort and pleasantness of the room is a significant factor for you, I would avoid this location, at least for the near future. I truly hope that such a grand and historic site can be returned to its former glory. Evidently, they do a lot of low budget conference business, but for my money, the rooms either need to be $150 cheaper or $150 better. (Although, right now, I don't think I would stay there for free.) This visit was our first time at this property and I’m sure it will be our last until further notice of improvements.