Hilton Garden Inn New York Times Square South — Hotel in New York

Stayed for 4 nights, the experience was good, but not great. As a native New Yorker, I anticipated high prices for just about everything, and I don't think the hotel was worth the cost (about $250 per night), especially after seeing other Hilton properties that were much cheaper. Wanted a room with a balcony, but they were booked, so we got a room with a king size bed. The room was fairly quiet (don't get a room near the linen closet or you'll hear that being opened and closed often) but very small, even by New York standards and our view was toward another building, in the Garment district, so you could watch people working through their windows. Kind of interesting, but kind of depressing too. The bed was ok but the pillows were very mushy. There is just about no room to store clothes, so you're probably better off just leaving them in your suitcase. There's a closet with a bar, but the bar is so low, you can't hang even shirts properly. Also, the closet lacks depth, so you can't close the door unless you tilt the hangers at an angle. If you're traveling in fall or winter with coats and heavier clothing, you're out of luck. There are no dresser drawers, only 3 very small wire trays by the desk area, which is good enough to hold some belts and socks but not large enough for shirts, pants etc. The tv is large, and the room has a coffee maker, microwave and VERY small (laughably small) fridge. I had to take the plastic drawers out in order to put a few bottles of soda and water in there. I figured it would be large enough to hold leftovers from the restaurants we went to, but it's not. Ample size bathroom, although the sliding door doesn't really provide much privacy. Don't get a handicapped access room unless you need to- running the shower, which is level with the floor, just causes the floor to get soaking wet after a shower. Upon entering the room and settling in, I read the hotel information that was provided.....linens aren't changed daily unless requested. Housekeeping will empty your wastebaskets, fix your bed and change out your towels daily but there wasn't any vacuuming or dusting done. Even when we arrived, the desk area was dusty. Check your towels, although freshly laundered, they can be kind of dirty. I found some with hairs on them, and some were stained. The hotel is located on 8th Ave, which can get kind of sketchy, especially at night. Lots of homeless people and shady types just hanging out at the bodega a few doors down. My last night there, someone stopped me and asked if I wanted to buy some weed. There's a restaurant next door, not associated with the hotel, that you can get food at, but there's no room service so you'll have to call down to order food and then pick it up. The girl working there was sweet and they have a great $10 lunch special. But it would be nice to order food from the hotel itself and have it served on plates with proper metal utensils instead of picking up food from the restaurant which is packed like doggy bags in plastic take out containers with plastic cutlery. There's a hotel shop near the entrance that sells snacks, microwavable meals etc but the prices are ridiculous (not surprised). The staff was very nice and courteous but I don't know if I'd go back to this Hilton property. For $250 a night, there's got to be better...

Just a little back info - I travel a lot, I've stayed in more hotels than I can count. In NYC specifically, I've stayed in 5 star down to cheapest place I could find out in Queens when I first visited at about 20 years old and OMG I should not have been staying there. My older self is just glad my younger self made it through those years of road trips to anywhere and everywhere with no plans.

Anyway, I really liked my stay at this HGI. Location is great. It's in a pretty busy area but that means anything and everything you need is right there. Not in a cute residential part of the city where you will get a lot of charm, but it's a fantastic home base. Being so close to Penn Station, you can get anywhere and everywhere easily. Room was clean, well laid out. Small, of course, but that's New York. Still bigger than some places I've stayed in Europe and it had plenty of places to stash things and stay organized. Shower was nice and hot. No frills, but also no issues and I got a great deal on the room. Noise.. none. I was on the 21st floor and purposely picked the back side of the hotel. It's was very quiet. Also chose a corner room so there was only one room next to it. I heard the door close a couple of times but that's it. As long as your neighbors aren't particularly loud, you should be good. Slept like a rock. Being that the hotel is tall and thin, there are only 8 rooms on each floor so no one is walking past your room in a hallway. That helps a ton with noise. There was not water or coffee in the room (there is a Keurig) but both are available downstairs. If you have a Kuerig, you can always throw your favorite pods in your luggage and bring them along. I got both for free but I am Diamond with Hilton so I've not sure if they are complimentary for everyone. No on-site breakfast right now. Just some little things available in the shop but hey, it's NYC. There are 100 places within 2 blocks that are better than just about any hotel breakfast out there. I got coffee and pastries at Bluestone Lane, if you like Dunkin or SB both are super close, there are multiple diners with fantastic full breakfasts, and I really love Liberty Bagel which is quite close. You can even order on their website and pick up right at the front door frim the nice man that handles all the takeout orders. It's was actually pretty nice to get some morning air and exercise while grabbing breakfast to bring back to the room each day.

It was also my mother's birthday and I noted it on my check in. The hotel staff left some treats in the room for her and a nice card. That was really sweet of them.

So for a good home base where you can get a hot shower and a good night's sleep, this HGI will do the trick. I would stay again. I'm not a person who just hangs out in my room a lot - come on, you're in NYC, go out! So it was just what I needed. Oh, and a quick apology to the front desk agent who was there when I checked out. I realize I may have been a little snippy about the car service. I was just frazzled. I'm used to traveling alone for work and my companion was really ready to go and refusing to get on the train like I would if I was alone so we were having a little moment....

To be fair, for this price in Manhattan, I would give it a 4.3 stars. I've booked a king size bed room for 3 nights. I checked in with my Hilton app, and discovered to have two room options: a 2nd floor room and a 20th floor room. I chose the 20th floor without hesitation. At the check-in, I was greeted fairly nicely and was told that I was assigned a 22nd floor room. Even better! We were facing the back of the hotel (south). But as the room was so up high, we can actually see the sky and a glimpse of the East river. The view isn't fantastic, but at least better than facing a building. The coffee pods in the room is complimentary. The room isn't big, but it is nice clean and comfortable. The bathroom is better than my expectation and they even have wooden floors.

The breakfast is pretty okay, an American breakfast: sausages, potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon, fruits, cereals, toasts, breads, orange and apple juices. You can also do cook-to-order pancakes and waffles. The only downside of the breakfast to me is the staff. I don't know why, but the two staffs do not smile at all. I was not greeted when entered the Doyler, literally had to even approach them and ask about breakfast. Although there's no harsh attitude or anything, I felt somewhat uncomfortable while interacting with them. But nothing major there. Overall, I am satisfied with the breakfast.

As I was staying with my cousin, we felt that a king bed is really rather small. So on the morning of my last stay, I kindly asked the front desk if they could switch my room to a double bed room (which would've cost a bit more than what we'd originally booked) instead. May be it is the hilton honor status (or not?), she took a look at her screen and said sure almost instantly. I asked whether I had to pay extra and she said no. We took our luggage down and she said the room will be ready after 12. So we just went out for a New York hike. The new room is on the 16th floor, the view isn't as good but acceptable. The room is actually not bigger, but the bathroom is still good (now with a bathtub instead). At least we slept comfortably that night. This free upgrade upon request does boost this experience from a 3 to 4 stars.

So overall, I would say this hotel is pretty good and it has my recommendation. The lobby is small, but clean and up to date. The staffs are nice. No extra perks for diamonds and gold, though I am not sure whether the free room changing and assigned high floor rooms are attributed to the gold/diamond status . I chose this HGI over the Times Square one as that one only provides to-go breakfast, while here we have a small but decent American buffet breakfast. One of the reasons I kept it a 4 star is because I've booked at a slightly higher price. This is on me and not on HGI. But it just doesn't feel as good when you know the price fluctuates on a daily basis on the week before the stay, and that you could've saved over a $100 for a 3 night stay when you purchased at...