Best location in Manhattan
Our stay at the Hilton Garden Inn was overall very positive. The location cannot be beat. A subway stop is immediately outside the door for the A-C-E lines. Other subway stops are easy walking distance for other lines. Many good restaurants are within 2-3 blocks. It is centrally located with Soho to the north for shopping and great restaurants. Downtown is a 10 minute walk with the World Trade Center, riverfront, Battery Park, etc. Crowds are MUCH less than in tourist meccas like Times Square. Taxis were readily available at all times. 
The staff was friendly and helpful. The front desk staff always greeted us warmly and they appeared to all have excellent English language skills. They were helpful in answering questions about subway tickets and also made restaurant recommendations. Cleaning staff are mostly foreign and do not speak any English. We did not try the restaurant in the hotel.
Our room was clean and comfortable. We had a nice view of the city streets- we could see to Canal Street, Avenue of the Americas and Beach Street. The room is small but this is typical of ALL New York hotel rooms. It had a small refrigerator, microwave and desk. We had plenty of drawer space. We slept great and especially appreciated that we could set the room fan to run all night as a noisemaker. We did not test the special adjustable beds. 
I would definitely stay here again on my next trip to NYC.