August 2012
The location of the hotel can not be faulted, some 100 yds from Times Square.
However we booked this hotel on the understanding that it was a special place, built in the 1920's and had a fantastic atmosphere, with art deco features and a fantastic lobby / entrance area - all confirmed on the hotel website and tour brochures.
It was a big surprise upon our arrival to find that the hotel was undergoing major renovation and that the wonderful lobby was all behind what we were told were false walls - why were we not told about this at the time of booking ? Why does the website for the hotel make no mention and still has the pictures of what it was like before the renovation started.
The staff were very courteous and helpfully as all New Yorkers are, but at times they could not handle the volume of people at the desk and long queues formed, which was frustrating and wasted time when you only wanted to address say a minor matter and had to wait in queues of people booking in / out. They also lost a personal item of property that I had left for collection by a New York resident / friend.
We came to New York on a one off holiday of a life time and paid a lot of money, booking this hotel over and above other good hotels in the area. I felt this hotel was nothing special and because of the renovation work fell far below the standard we expected, the brochures in the UK and website are somewhat of a misrepresentation.