Hampton Inn by Hilton New York Times Square — Hotel in New York

LOCATION: As advertised, this hotel is located in Times Square. It is within three blocks of Rockefeller Plaza, Radio City Music Hall, the M&M Store, Hershey’s World, and numerous Broadway theaters. The TKTS booth, where one can buy discounted Broadway tickets, is very close by. For those looking for souvenirs, many souvenir shops are a stone’s throw away.||GETTING THERE: For those taking the subway, the 49th Street station is only a block distant. Of course, taxis, Uber, and Lyft are alternatives. I do not know if the hotel offers parking for those who have their own vehicle.||THE STAFF: The staff is wonderful and bends over backwards to make patrons feel welcome. I was surprised when one day a staff member showed up at my room with a piece of lemon cake. My sister, who stayed in a different room, got a large chocolate chip cookie. I also received text messages from management to check and see how I was doing.||ROOMS: This is where the “but” part of this review begins. The rooms are reminiscent of those one might find in European hotels, meaning they are relatively small. Mine had a king-sized bed, desk, large-screen TV, nightstand, small refrigerator, a microwave, and a decent-sized bathroom. There was some storage space. However, there was no closet, and so I had to put my large suitcase on the opposite side of the room between the bed and the wall. A couple staying in the same room with more than one sizeable suitcase might have found it a bit tight. ||The other thing I need to mention is the safe. I always use a room safe when traveling to protect anything I consider valuable. This is the first room I have ever stayed in where the safe was located literally about two inches off the floor. I feel the need to point this out, for anyone who has difficulty bending over or otherwise reaching low spaces will find using the safe tricky. If you are someone who does have such physical restrictions and wants to use a safe, I recommend contacting the hotel to see if you can get a room with a safe located in a more accessible location.||BREAKFAST: The breakfast includes hot fare – scrambled eggs or omelette, potatoes, and sausage or bacon – breads, bagels, muffins, fruit, oatmeal, cereals, yogurt, juices, and coffee. Be aware that the breakfast is on two levels. Most of the items are on the lobby level. However, some items, including muffins, a yogurt machine, yogurt toppings, and other fare are a level down.||This brings up another “but.” Breakfast is served from 6-10 am, and after about 8 am, finding a seat can be problematic. The breakfast staff works diligently to clean off tables so they can be used by those staying at the hotel, but that does not guarantee finding a seat during the busiest hours. While one can take their breakfast to their room, a person who is alone, and holding a plate in one hand and a drink in the other, will find it virtually impossible to take all of that with them and simultaneously use the key card system to access the elevator. ||WORKOUT FACILITY: There is a gym in the hotel that has two elliptical machines, three treadmills, two Peloton bikes, an adjustable bench, dumbbells up to 75 pounds, medicine balls, mats, and a multi-use cable machine with weight stacks. For a hotel of this size, I was surprised to see just the single adjustable bench. As there is space, I hope the management will buy one or two more of those benches so that patrons do not have to wait if the existing single bench is occupied. And in light of the space available, I think an adjustable leg extension/curl machine would be a nice addition for those wanting to do a lower-body workout. ||ELEVATORS: I need to bring up the elevators. On the one hand, they provide necessary security, as a person needs to use their room key to access the elevator and select their floor. On the other hand, trying to get an elevator during prime hours, such as when people are checking out, can be a chore. I left my room at 9:30 am to check out. It took 10 minutes for an elevator to arrive, and it was full. After waiting another five minutes, I decided to lug my 40-pound suitcase down 20 stories’ worth of stairs to the lobby. My sister had it even worse. She had two suitcases. She left her room around the same time and spent about 25 minutes waiting for an elevator that was not already full. Apparently a family who was waiting with her decided to contact the front desk staff, who saw to it to open a cargo elevator. While I cannot say that getting an elevator is always this problematic, it does suggest that one should check out early in the morning. ||To summarize, this hotel offers a great location, and I cannot say enough about the staff. But there enough negatives that when I return to New York, I will likely stay at a...

We booked this hotel for our 7 day trip to NYC. We have stayed in NYC in other hotels twice before.|Reading other peoples reviews before going we weren’t 100% how our week was going to be but all I can say is our experience was overall positive.||We checked in with no issues. We had to pay $700 retainer fee/deposit for the 7 nights which I put on our credit card. Credit over debit is better for any issues in getting money back.|This hotel did not charge any resort fees which others in NYC do so that’s the first positive.|And our retainer was released on check out with no issues.||As I was aware of issues with the elevators I requested a lower floor room which was granted. Obviously this wasn’t a guarantee so if you require one maybe call/email the hotel. The positive here is you can take the stairs if you’re mobile enough to do so and miss the queues for elevators. Negative is no amazing views of the city. However for us we were happy to go with the lower floor over a view.||The elevator system is strange. Key card tap to access the floor required and then pin in floor number which then tells you which elevator to take. Think there was 5 in total. |You then wait to see if you can get in it. So if your need to use the elevator maybe give yourself 20 minutes to get up/down. We didn’t use them other than checking in and out with luggage. So we didn’t have any issues but we understand the frustration of other peoples reviews from what we saw.||Breakfast was 3/5. Spread out with coffees served in the lobby. Handy for a takeaway when leaving but not the best walking about with hot coffee and some people didn’t put lids on which could be a health and safety issue if it was spilt on someone. |Food was good for being a budget hotel. Don’t expect amazing food when it’s a budget hotel that comes with breakfast included. For this I don’t think you can complain. Hot food, cereal, bagels, toast, English muffins and waffles with apple and orange juice served in the main seating areas next to reception. But more food served on the floor below which people seem to miss. Stairs down at back of the seating area and more seating and toilets with the gym on this level. This area serves coffee, yogurt with a choice of fruit, nuts and granola to put on, make your own big waffles with cream, chocolate chips and nuts and a selection of cakes (muffins). ||The staff were all amazing and friendly from our experience. The breakfast area was well stocked each day and staff constantly cleaning. ||Rooms were refreshed every other day but you can ask reception if you require anything before then.|The room was a decent size for NYC. We had a big bed and a sofa bed. The sofa wasn’t used as we travelled as a couple. I’d say it would only be suitable for a smaller adult or child personally.|We had two big suitcases and smaller hand luggage. we fitted one above the wardrobe which is small if you do like to unpack. There is also draws too for anything that doesn’t need hung.|I put my case on the sofa bed for space so it would be tight if you needed the sofa bed out.|Big fridge and freezer was a plus for drinks and ice. Room was fine as it’s NYC so we only slept in it and got ready.|Big note if you have Dyson hair appliances not USA voltage (mine UK) will not work. Had to go buy a cheap pair from local shop 😆||Hotel location is great. Right in the thick of it and near a lot of stations. I personally didn’t think it was noisy for how near it was to Times Square.|The local shop opposite sells food, drinks and great sandwich’s and cakes. Definitely worth a visit if you want cheap snacks for your room.|The pizza shop and ice cream shop both opposite are also both decent.|Target is only a 10 minute walk away if you need anything else.||We tried the roof top bar and the cocktails were lovely. View is beautiful too.||The only thing which we found annoying was the entrance doors. They constantly get stuck. However there is a door to the left of these which is a standard doorway so we would recommend using this.||Also as it’s NYC you will be asked constantly if you want to buy any Apple products. Please note these are fakes. Newest apple products don’t come in clear plastic wrappings. They do hang around the hotel entrance and street along with the fake designer bags. |And lastly the bus tour guides constantly ask if you want to go on the open top bus. You will be asked daily as they also like to hang around the hotel.||But all in all we would give this hotel 4/5. Would we go back…. yes if we could have a lower...

I will start by saying to any of you reading reviews before booking: all the reviews you have read are 100% accurate. I'll add my own input as well. This is long, but stick with it because you need to understand ALL of it before making a decision.

The facility: The location of this hotel is fantastic. Times square, off the busy road and between two subway stations. Front desk staff are friendly & helpful. No issues staging our bags when we arrived several hours early. Free coffee all day.

Elevators: A complete nightmare unfortunately. Allow yourself EASILY 20 minutes during peak hours to wait for an elevator, & be prepared to wait for multiples to pass you by that are already too full. The system is "smart" but not smart enough & needs to be completely overhauled. Elevators are tiny, & have a max occ of 10 people, but if any have bags you can cut that in half at the most. There are four elevators & all four go all the way up and all the way down. They should split this to half lower floors, half upper. Or change it up depending on peak time. We also had to share the elevators with cleaning staff & their big carts, which isnt an issue normally but it added to the delays & the elevator availability issues.

Rooms: We were a family of four, and the two bed rooms are really sized for two people. No place to put suitcases, so we had to walk over them the whole week and shuffle them from corner to corner constantly. Bathroom vanity and sink are airplane size, and shower is tiny as well. I constantly hit my elbows and shoulders on the doors and walls of the shower. Water was hot, but handle was extremely fickle and it would go from ice cold to warm to burning hot in about a 1/8" turn. Rooms were clean, beds were comfy. Pillows were the kind that deflate, so we had to ask for 6 more because two really equals one normal pillow. Rooms were modern and looked nice.

IMPORTANT to know: The thermostats have been locked so you can not go below 67. The fan constantly kicks on and off every 10 seconds which constantly woke us up. The heat was on full blast in the hallways and as a result, the room could never cool off. Fortunately I know honeywell systems well, and was able to unlock the thermostat, and turn the air down to 64 which was a LOT more comfortable for our family of 4. Had I not been able to do that, we would have canceled our reservation and went somewhere else. This should be illegal. It was insanely uncomfortable and this earned the facility 1 star before any other issue. It's a selfish policy that puts the property before the guest and that is not acceptable to me. Comfort should be non-negotiable.

Breakfast: Read this completely if eating breakfast here is important to you. This property boasts that its one of few in Manhattan that offers free breakfast with your stay and it "runs" until 10am; and while the breakfast is actually pretty tasty & has a LOT of great stuff to choose from, if you dont get there before 8am forget about it & save yourself the frustration & eat offsite. Not only is it jam packed from 8am on, with no seating & massive lines to get food & people pushing & shoving, you also have to contend with massive lines & delays at the elevator. TIP for Hilton: Move the juice out of the food room. The juice lines are what are boogering up the whole process. The lines mix together & it creates chaos. The MOST important part to understand is this: at 9:30 they stop replenishing the food altogether. So by 9:32 the serving trays etc are empty & you wont get to eat. At 9:55 they close & lock the door, Then they unlock the door to release you after you realize you wont get to eat because they dont want to serve you anymore. We tried to eat twice & never got to eat, & we were there well before 9:30. So, Hilton, if you're going to advertise breakfast until 10am, you might want to keep serving food until 10am. Because of this, you cost me $100 a day for four days because we had to go eat offsite. Once again (notice the theme), very selfish decision making. This is what earned the 1 star...