Hilton Garden Inn New York/Manhattan-Chelsea — Hotel in New York

After staying here for 3 nights (Fri/Sat/Sun) over Labor Day weekend, we want to share with the world that the Hilton Garden Inn—Chelsea is FANTASTIC overall! Our college-aged son & I shared a king bed room on the 19th floor, & 4 other family members shared a 2 queen bed room on a nearby floor. The 4 of them & the 2 of us were extremely pleased overall. Our room was very clean, neat, more spacious than I’d anticipated. There was enough floor space for our luggage without tripping over it, nice big window with a fairly spacious view of surrounding block’s residential & commercial buildings (not staring at a brick wall 6 inches away like many places in NYC lol!), excellent climate control (the Air Conditioning worked great during the heat wave NY was having). Until now, I’ve never considered commenting on a hotel’s elevators, but they functioned so well that it stood out: I cannot remember ever needing to wait more than 10–30 seconds for the elevator. And we used them at all different times of day and night, & even at busy times they were readily available. They’re not huge, each holds ~4–6 people comfortably, 8 people if you squeeze in. —Above average sized mini-fridge in room, ours fit 2–4 boxes of leftovers/food plus 4–6 cans/bottles of drinks easily. Plus, we had an ice bucket that kept 2 drinks extremely well chilled at all times —Microwave in-room worked great to heat up leftover pastrami sandwich for a midnight snack —Keurig in room with a few Keurig cups of coffee, decaf, & tea. If I knew there’d be a Keurig, I might have brought my own k-cups (I involuntarily have a picky palate re coffee) —Closet w ~ten hangers, one luggage stand, one spacious counter area under the TV, ironing board & iron, shower cap, blow dryer, little bars of soap, little bottles of shampoo/conditioner/lotion, big flat screen TV with remote, good-sized nightstands —multiple electrical outlets & USB ports built in to nightstands —free WiFi, we had no issues streaming on our devices —adequate sized bath towels, hand towels, wash cloths, & bath mats —I found our housekeeper the first morning, asked her for what we needed, & left a daily tip for her on the foot of the bed. Each day we came back to find our room looking fresh & clean. Tips work. —there was no safe in the room to store our valuables, but if I’d really wanted to lock anything away, there was apparently the option to lock things with front desk. As far as I’m aware, nothing was stolen from our room. —some reviews mentioned noise from the street or noise from other guests, even noise from the air conditioning, but the 3 nights we spent there we had zero noise issues. —mattress was on the firm side, pillows were softly stuffed vs overstuffed —-two small open shelves plus the countertop around the sink in the bathroom provided a good amount of space for our toiletries —large tub with shower and above-average amount of open surface space around tub to hold our individual shampoo/conditioner/body wash/etc bottles, plus our razors, etc. —2 bagged garbage bins in the room/bathroom, (changed daily), plus tall covered garbage bin in the hallway for any garbage that you don’t want to keep in your room until housekeeping can remove it & another large garbage bin in the lobby, plus a recycling bin in the lobby. —there’s a good amount of seating available in the lobby than I had realized at first, and, we used the lobby seating more than I’d imagined we would —hotel contracts with a private transportation company for getting to & from the airports, for example, & we were extremely pleased with this service compared to Uber. You can reserve it ahead of time, so it just felt more secure/more solid, & also more secure in the safety sense as well, and it cost about 10–15% lower than Uber cost, our driver was ready for us when we stepped off the elevator a few minutes before our scheduled time, I just felt like I was in a professional driver’s hands vs a side-gig driver’s hands —little snack bar area in the lobby where you can buy various items 24/7 GREAT...

Disappointing Stay Despite Great Location and Friendly Staff

We recently stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn New York/Manhattan-Chelsea for four nights in mid-December. While the hotel has some redeeming qualities, unfortunately, there were several issues that left us with a less-than-ideal experience.

Pros:

Friendly and Courteous Staff: The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful throughout our stay. They greeted us with warm smiles and were always quick to offer assistance when we had questions or needed help.

Fantastic Location: The location of the hotel is excellent. It’s within easy walking distance to many of New York’s major attractions, including Herald Square, the High Line, and the Empire State Building. Additionally, the subway station is conveniently nearby, making it easy to explore other parts of the city.

Cons:

Poor Room Maintenance: Unfortunately, the room was not well maintained. The bathroom faucet was initially loose and not attached to the sink properly. You had to hold it in place to turn it on or off. I reported the issue to the front desk, but it wasn’t fixed until we requested it again the next evening. While it was eventually repaired, the delay was frustrating.

In-Room Phone Not Functional: The in-room phone only worked on speakerphone. I reported this issue multiple times as well, but it was never repaired. Since the phone wasn’t working properly, I had to go down to the lobby to report the faucet issue in person. When we called the front desk after that, they advised us to use the speakerphone to contact them. Despite this, no one came to fix the issues that night.

Toilet Leak and Slow Maintenance Response: On the third night, the toilet started leaking water from the tank. After calling the front desk using the speakerphone, maintenance was requested, but after 20 minutes of waiting, there was no sign of anyone. I called again, and was told he should be by soon. After another 20 minutes and checking again, they informed us that the maintenance person had to leave soon and that the issue wouldn't be resolved until the next day. We had to turn the water off at the valve to prevent further leakage, which was inconvenient. In order to use the toilet we had to turn the water on and off each time. When I went to the front desk the next morning to follow-up on the issue and ask for fresh towels (as we had used them to dry the floor), the day staff had no knowledge of the problem. Luckily, the issue was eventually resolved later that day, but the delay and lack of communication were frustrating.

Unpleasant Smell: There was an occasional smell of marijuana in our room, which appeared to be coming from other rooms or perhaps the lobby, as we were on a lower floor. It was unpleasant and lingered at times.

Curtains Not Working Properly: The curtains in our room didn’t function properly, making it difficult to block out the light at night. This was another small inconvenience that added to our frustration.

Breakfast Disappointment: We had paid for breakfast as part of our room rate, but the experience was underwhelming. The breakfast was advertised as a hot breakfast, but in reality, it was a very basic continental spread with cold items like bagels, fruit, muffins, and cereal. For $18 per person (the cost without the included breakfast), we expected more. There were hot items available for an extra charge, but the limited breakfast options were not worth it. To add to the confusion, we had to sign a receipt and were encouraged to leave a tip, despite serving ourselves. We opted to go elsewhere for breakfast the rest of our stay.

Conclusion:

Despite the great location and friendly staff, the maintenance issues, lack of communication, and overall subpar amenities left us disappointed. As much as we liked the area, I don’t think I would stay at this location again. Given the problems we encountered, I would have expected better, especially from a Hilton Garden Inn, which typically provides reliable and comfortable...

Update: Feb 2023 - I must have lost my mind temporarily and forgotten how bad this place was. I booked it again this year and regret it. Stayed for 3 nights this week and it was only marginally better than last year. Stove in restaurant was broken so breakfast they offered was hardboiled eggs and cereal all week. Wifi broke one day and the front desk's solution to this was to give out the 800 number of the outsourced IT support company to every guest that called down to ask what was happening. The faucet in the bathroom was not attached to the counter so it lifted off the counter every time you turn on the water. Previous guest's hair plastered to the bathroom wall when we arrived and was never cleaned off all week, it was above the counter height and long and dark and extremely visible so I don't know how housekeeping could not see it. TV remote did not let you select a channel, had to write them down and then manually key them in to change channels. Guide was also only visible when first turning on the tv, to get back to the guide you had to turn tv off and back on. Phone in room only worked on speaker setting and half the time did not work at all. This time the room had only one bedside lamp so the cave-like atmosphere was taken to a new level of misery. HVAC needed constant adjustment even in middle of the night as it was always too hot or too cold, there was not one single setting or temp that was just normal. The only good thing about this visit is that housekeeping actually did show up every day but not until 4:45pm and at least we didn't have to go to the front desk to ask for toilet paper. I am a gold Hilton member and absolutely never staying at this location again.

Original: Feb 2022 - So many issues... King rooms are tiny, even for NYC standards. Lighting in room is terrible, like being in a cave. One bedside lamp did not work. Lamp under microwave would not shut off and was dangerously hot to the touch, had to be unplugged to turn it off. USB outlets next to bed were shorting out. Bed cover was worn out, dingy grey and pilled. Pillowcases smelled like old sweat and stale. Had to spray with lysol to get through it. Specifically asked at check-in if housekeeping was back on a normal daily schedule and they said yes. Stayed for 7 days / 6 nights and HK showed up first 2 days then never came back. Asked daily at front desk or called the desk from room and they kept saying they would send them but never showed up. One day we had to take clean towels ourself off a cart parked on our floor with no HK staff in sight. On our last day they showed up only because the front desk staff finally got the hotel manager involved because we had totally run out of toilet paper and were having to use the lobby restroom. On the 3 times they did show up...they left only enough towels for 1 person even though there were 2 of us. Not fun to share a washcloth with someone else. Did not empty the melted ice bucket water for entire week and never gave us fresh bucket liner so we could get more ice. Breakfast was good and fast but very expensive, about $50 for two people with tip. Atrium ceiling dripped rainwater on us as we ate on last day there. All the restaurant and desk staff were very nice, they was the best part of the hotel. Still would not stay at this...