Hilton Garden Inn New York/Midtown Park Ave — Attraction in New York

As you may have noticed, there are "mixed reviews" here regarding this hotel. I want to say that of course, each guest will have very individual preferences, needs, and desires, price comfort levels and expectations. We did notice a few inconsistencies when reading these reviews that concerned us, so we made sure to mention the reported noise levels ask for a room much higher up (ahead of our stay) and we were immediately accommodated.||Now on to the good part: Super easy to find, fabulous location, staff super friendly and helpful! Tea and coffee in the lobby area until about 9:55 am each morning -- how nice! Keep in mind, this is a FOUR star hotel, and I'm rating it as Excellent "as such." It is a wonderful and affordable option for those of us who do not require luxury, but functionality and cleanliness. ||Upon checking in (fast and easy) we went up to our room on the 20th floor at the end of the hall and found the room ready and very clean. A card was on the desk for us from Mgt wishing us a great time in the city and for us to have a comfortable and enjoyable visit.||The bathroom was NOT old, nor was it moldy. The room, while snug, was not restrictive. The safe in the closet was in what we considered the right spot and there was a foldable luggage rack in there to put your luggage on when unloading or storing, which we used. Our room had a King-sized bed with a sofa-type seat at the foot and across from it was the desk, chair, and the wall-mounted flat screen TV (which we did not use, as we didn't come to NYC to watch TV or hang out in our room.) The room itself "faced" other buildings and not the front street, but it's all good -- when in a city, EXPECT a city view, okay? The sirens were not NEARLY as bad as someone else said in a review, but yes, you'll hear them, though not intrusively.||The water pressure in our room was excellent and the water got HOT fast -- we loved it. The bed was comfortable and the mini-appliances, which are arranged on a wooden shelf unit, were very helpful to us. There is a Whole Foods Market about five minutes walking distance (on Madison Ave) and we bought fresh fruit and other snacks to keep in our room in between eating out, and for our breakfast (we didn't eat the breakfast in the restaurant due to our dietary restrictions). Our friends, whom we met for the long weekend, were on floor 16 and loved their room, telling us it was clean and QUIET.||Other than the "Sorry for our construction" state of affairs on the main level (and isn't that actually a good thing, to see renovations in progress?) I can think of NOTHING that went wrong and no question that wasn't answered by the staff correctly. (Special shout-out to Richard and Gil)||Upon checking out, we were able to store our carry-on bags with the front desk (they have a room for this purpose and one can also leave them there if arrival time doesn't match the check-in time) and it rained one evening while we were in town and got a loaner umbrella as well! ||We needed a way back to LGA to catch our flight home on Monday and the man at the front desk told us that while they can't call a taxi cab for us, they have an arrangement with a private company. He showed us a rate of $63 for the trip from the hotel to LGA, which was within mere dollars (two-fifty more than our trip from LGA using a city yellow cab) so we went with that and were able to schedule it for exactly when we needed it. The ride ended up being $73 and not $63, but both of us believe that it's because the vehicle that arrived to pick us up was a huge GMC Yukon -- smooth, safe ride and our driver was a really good fellow, too! So, it was well worth the unexpected $10 extra for a ride where we weren't stressing over a rental car, navigating unfamiliar streets, and trying to merge into the airport, etc etc.||Our time with HGI Midtown was really smooth, easy, and enjoyable. I hope your stay will...

I gave this hotel 5 starts because for the type of hotel and location, I thought it was great. It's not the fanciest hotel of all, but it's just a Hilton Garden Inn, and we got what we expected. The hotel and the room were quite clean, the AC luckily was awesome, no water pressure issues or anything like that. the room was a bit small, but not too small...I mean it is NYC. But there was still plenty of room for a king bed, nightstands, a sitting bench at the end of the bed, a long desk with a chair and a tv with dresser drawers underneath, plus the microwave and fridge. There were three of us, including our 8 yr old son. | We were greeted with friendly faces and the front desk staff were nice, patient and helpful. I liked that you have to use your hotel key to use the elevator going up, it made me feel a bit safer. I also liked that the friendly (and quite fit looking) doorman was often seen downstairs in the small lobby area, that also made me feel comfortable and safe. The location was great as we could walk to a bunch of touristy spots (Empire State Building, Harold Square with Macy's, Bryant Park...), and it was easy to find places for dinner within walking distance too. There is a subway stop very close also, maybe half a block) but we didn't use it. We did walk to the 34st ferry and took it to Randall Island Park and back, and that was really easy and nice boat ride. There were always people walking around and cars going by, so we never felt unsafe or out of place. We used the valet parking at the hotel and it was super easy. It is a little pricey, but again...NYC. We have a minivan so they cost extra as they are considered "oversized", so it was like $80 I think from Sat to Monday around noon. The side street the hotel is on seemed pretty quite compared to the crossing streets, this made it very easy to just pull right up to the front door and park, get a luggage rack to unload, and then at the front desk they took our car key and valeted the car for us. The valet lot is actually right beside the hotel, like connected, although it is a different company. Then, when it was time to go home, they ask that you give them an hour notice to get you car out front for you...but it didn't take that long at all. Our car was sitting right out side the front door of the hotel and ready for us to load up and head out - easy peasy! So, although expensive, it was worth it to me versus some other stories I have heard about hotel parking in NYC! There is a restaurant directly to the right of the hotel, The Ainsworth, and it isn't horrible, but it's not great and quite overpriced even for NYC. We got take out from there the first night, as we were exhausted, and the staff seemed like they were being put out to have customers. The food was fresh, but just not great tasting, not much of it and really expensive...like $16 for a small bowl of guacamole! The hotel doesn't have breakfast exactly, instead they kind of service it though The Ainsworth. The breakfast was good, although also expensive...but a much better experience than the dinner the previous night. There were only a few things I could think of for improvement - 1. The shower door cannot be opened from the side where the faucet is, probably to prevent water being sprayed everywhere...but this also is a problem for fully clothed parents trying to get the water the right temp for children. 2. Be sure to have housekeeping fill ALL the liquid soaps in the shower as the bottles are not very easy for guests to get on the holders if they run out. 3. Discuss with The Ainsworth about being nicer to customers and maybe giving a discount for the hotel guests. 4. Have a room service menu and easier phone option for calling to order for hotel guests. All in all we had a great time and would definitely use this hotel again...

I normally have the best stays with Hilton, as I travel with work and this was the first time in New York, so I didn't know what to expect. I arrived earlier than check in, so they did hold my bags for me which was a great touch. However, it went downhill from there. When my room was ready, I was not extremely happy about the size of the room, but I am assuming that a lot of hotels have smaller rooms so not a huge deal. I informed the front desk staff before leaving to go to a show at 7:00pm that my room seemed to be getting warmer although the air conditioner was set for 70. (When I arrived in the room it was 74, when I was leaving it said 76.) After coming back, I called Guest Services and informed them that the room was still warm. They immediately sent someone up that "fixed it". We went to the show and came back and at this point the thermostat said 78. I called again in hopes that something could be done. They sent another Maintenace man up to my room to now take another look. He informed me after being in the room for 10 minutes that they air was "no more good". The time is now 11:30pm. I go down to the front desk and ask what else can be done. Donavan, who I must rave on, he was having problem after problem (from other guests) and remained calm and professional. He was the best part of the trip). He informed me that the hotel did not have any more double beds and all he could do was offer me a king room and change me in the morning to double beds. I complied. We packed up all of our things and moved rooms after midnight. I walked into the king room, and it was 3 of us and there was NO WAY we could all stay in this room even if it was for one night. I went back downstairs and informed Donavan that unfortunately was not going to work. He informed me he would give me another king room, and in the morning, I could decide to stay in those rooms, or they would move me to a double room. We finally settled into our separate rooms at 1:00am. I woke up the next morning to get dressed and since we had already unpacked our separate rooms, before our excursion scheduled for that morning, I decided that we could just stay in our separate rooms. I came down after getting dressed and there were new team members at the front desk. I gave my name and room numbers, and they informed me that I would need to pack all of my things up and move to another room. (they said everyone was made aware of the situation and I needed to move) But they didn't have any rooms available but because I had someplace to be I could just pack all my things up and bring them downstairs. (If anyone is counting that is the 3rd time I've moved. I come back for the day, and they did move my things to a new room. (now two double beds). I came back downstairs because I was not sure of the ice situation. (I was on floor 5 and no one informed me we had to travel to floor 6 to get ice). While I was downstairs, I was listening to the staff talk about a room had been inconvenienced and they were going to send fruit, meat, etc. to their room and management told staff to please make sure they apologized for the inconvenience, and they would be making accommodations to their account. At this point I was furious as I was moved 4 times in my two days stay, and no one but Donavan had even apologized or reached out. I do understand that things happen but the way this was handled was in my opinion terrible and I spent $600+ for the hotel. The location was nice, but the hotel was not. Again, I always have great experiences at Hiltons, so I was a bit let down when this...