M Social Hotel New York Downtown (formerly Millennium Downtown New York) — Hotel in New York

BOGUS SMOKE DETECTOR FEES This review is based on a stay at the Millennium Downtown NY from 5/31/25-6/3/25. I waited until the dispute resolution process was completed with my credit card company before submitting this review.

*TLDR: was charged erroneous smoke detector fees and a one-time donation that I never authorized. Was never notified that the smoke detector was being triggered during stay (so I could address it). Was initially given a smoke detection report for a room that wasn't even mine after coming back to dispute the charges. Hotel management ignored all requests to dispute charges and told me to file a dispute with my credit card company. *

After seeing the surprising charges to my credit card account, I called the hotel to inquire about the charges assessed after I checked out and was sent a folio filled with erroneous smoking fees and a one-time donation. The hotel representative said it was weird to see more than one smoking charge and asked me to email accounting, which I did with no response whatsoever. I returned in person on 6/6/25 and was told by another representative that the donation shouldn’t have been charged (although they proceeded to do nothing) and handed me a smoke alarm detection report. Upon further inspection, the smoke detection report was for a room that wasn’t even mine. I would like to state unequivocally that I am a non-smoker and attest that no smoking of any kind occurred in the room during my stay. I take allegations of smoking very seriously as I am very sensitive to smoke of any kind. There was no visible smoke, odor, or disturbance present, and I was NOT informed of any issue DURING my stay. Based on my research and similarly reported incidents at this hotel, these bogus smoke detection fees stem from improper maintenance or calibration of the smoke detection equipment installed in the rooms (i.e., Rest Sensor). False alarms caused by faulty or overly sensitive sensors (i.e., Rest Sensor) are a well-documented issue in hospitality environments, particularly when regular testing, cleaning, and calibration are not rigorously maintained. They can also be sensitive enough to be triggered by things like steam, hair dryers, curling/clothes irons, aerosol sprays or even steamers. If a smoke detector activated during my stay as claimed by the hotel's Rest Sensor Smoke Reports, the hotel needs to provide maintenance logs on every smoke detector proving all were functioning properly and not due to technical malfunction or environmental sensitivity unrelated to guest behavior. Hotels have the responsibility to ensure that smoke detectors are regularly tested and maintained to prevent false positives. If the alarm was triggered without a valid cause, this strongly suggests a possible fault with the sensor systems. It is both unfair and unsubstantiated to hold guests financially liable for what may be equipment error. I tried to resolve this with the hotel but they refused to listen. They have these "Rest Sensor Smoke Reports" printed and ready to hand over to tell you that you are wrong, and there is nothing you can do. If you were charged bogus smoke detector fees and you are certain that they are incorrect please request the following if the hotel refuses to resolve your dispute amicably:

1. A detailed lock interrogation report showing entire history of when you entered/left room vs exact time and location of the smoke alarm activation.
2. Copy of any incident report, maintenance logs or objective documentation that supports alleged smoke prescence.
3. Documentation confirming the last maintenance and calibration of the relevant smoke detector system.
4. A written explanation of how the Rest Sensor reading was interpreted including whether it was verified by hotel staff before the charge was issued.

If all else fails, escalate this matter to the NYC Department of Consumer and Work Protection (DCWP), Federal Trade Commission, state attorney general, Better Business Bureau, consumer protection authorities, and travel...

I paid $424.53 to rent a room for one night for my daughter’s 16th birthday. She had never visited New York before and that’s what she wanted for her birthday. Upon arrival, the staff was friendly and helpful. The view from our room was spectacular. The location was perfect for us. And that’s where the positivity ends as far as our trip went.

We arrived at the hotel around 3:50. We got to our room at 3:58. Our door card wasn’t letting us in the door and we assumed maybe it was because check in wasn’t supposed to be until 4 so we tried it again around 4 and after a few attempts, we were able to get into our room. No big deal. Once we entered the room, we quickly dropped our belongings and left to explore the nearby activities and go to Times Square. We got back to the hotel around 11pm and again had problems getting into our room. We decided to walk to the nearby 7/11 and let the front desk know about the issues with the key cards when we got back. When we informed them, they immediately gave us new key cards and comped us an extra hour for check out due to the troubles. We appreciated that… until we got back to our room and the new key cards didn’t work either. There was a cleaning lady in the hall who tried to let us in and couldn’t open the door either. We walked back down to the front desk and they alerted security. Two different security members tried to open the door with no success. Maintenance came and couldn’t open the door. The manager came and couldn’t open the door. We were told the locking mechanism had malfunctioned so the key cards were not going to allow anyone access to the room. At this point, we were laying in the hallway for appx 90 minutes and it was around 2am. All of our belongings (including phone chargers) and most of our spare cash was in the hotel room so we could do nothing. We were then offered a new room and told that at 7am the current staff would alert the building manager so that the building manager could open our door. Fast forward to 10am, we walk to the front desk to ask why we haven’t heard any news about our room and they tell us that they totally forgot to call the building manager. At 11am we were finally left in our room after the building manager had to use a crowbar to open the door. We were left in long enough to quickly gather our belongings and go back to the other room to hurry up and change and leave since it was time to check out. So out of a 20 hour room rental, we were locked out of our room and unable to get our belongings for over 10 hours. We could do no early morning exploring while waiting for them to open the door to the room because our clothes, toothbrushes and money were locked in the room. Granted, the hotel did give us a separate room to sleep in, but out of sight out of mind because as soon as we went to the new room, they totally forgot to follow through with opening our first room in a timely fashion like promised. Upon checking out, I was given a business card with a number to call so that they could make this right. As soon as we left the hotel, I called the number and left a voicemail. I waited a week and received no response. I called the hotel and was told to send an email. I did so two weeks ago and received no response. I was told to call the company I booked through which was vrbo. Vrbo has reached out on my behalf twice and received no return correspondence. It has now been a month and nothing has been done to make up for what our family had to deal with during our one night stay. My daughter’s 16th birthday was such a memorable experience because she spent it exploring New York City for the first time ever, and because the hotel ruined half of her time. I am extremely disappointed in the lack of correspondence the hotel provided after I reached out multiple times for them to make this right.

I would never recommend anyone staying here simply because they do not have good business practices. Once they have your money, they don’t seem to care about how your experience in...

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The lobby was nice & staff was great.

ELEVATORS: They seem to have continuing problems with the elevators. See other reviews for more on this, but one morning we were there, 2 of the 3 elevators were not working for the highest floors. There was a long line of people waiting to get up the elevators with their luggage.

THE AMENITIES FEE: This hotel plays the amenities fee game to appear cheaper on search engines. I recommend using a service that will calculate the total price, including amenities fees like Orbitz or Expedia. I wanted to be fair to the hotel in this review and emailed asking what they cover and quickly received this response (as I've said, customer service at The Millennium is fantastic):

We charge a mandatory Facility Fee of $34.43 per night that will be charged upon arrival. This includes: —$10 credit each day towards the lobby bar or in-room dining breakfast in the morning —24-hour access to the business center and fitness center —1 Citi bike pass each day —15% hop on and hop off bus tour —Local and Long-distance calling —WIFI

Some of those items are things that even a budget hotel includes for free (wifi, calls, fitness, business center). The other “benefits” (CitiBike, bus discount, food credit) are per room, not per person. The ONLY thing we found compelling was the CitiBike until:

A). We learned, once again, that it was for only one person.

B). The first day we wanted to use it, there was too big of a line at reception and we had to get going. They issue it in the morning of the day you want to use it, so it requires a trip to reception, potentially waiting behind the people that want to check out. It was a bummer we couldn’t arrange it ahead of time for the following day, which brings us to the other problem:

C). It’s only good for 5 hours. From the time they activate it, you have 5 hours to use it.

D). They only have a certain number of passes per day. When we went to get our CitiPass at around 9:30 AM on a Sunday, they were already gone for the day. HOWEVER, their customer service on the matter was excellent and they did resolve the issue with me in a way that I was pleased with. As I’ve said, we found the staff and customer service to be fantastic.

THE ROOM: 4604 —Large room for NYC, that was quiet, clean, and the heating and wifi worked great. No minifridge. The bathroom was also nice for NYC. We paid $30 a night (+taxes) upgrade for a higher floor. I’m not convinced that this was worth it. I think we basically saw the same view as we would have seen on a lower floor.

WIFI: Easy to log to, and worked great, but you have to scroll down to the second option where you put the password that they give you. If you do the first option, the internet will be painfully slow.

NOISE: The room itself was very quiet. We couldn’t hear other guests or noise from the outside (but we were on the 46th floor). A couple of mornings were windy and it did seem that the seals on the windows could be replaced. It wasn’t extra drafty in the room, but did produce extra wind noise. We didn’t find it bothersome, but I mention it because others might.

THE BILL: They call it “the folio.” It’s very complicated to read. It ended up being about $10 more than I thought it should have been. It felt like reading an old cell phone bill or trying to understand insurance benefits -- you aren’t meant to easily understand. Any example of how overly complicated the bill is: the single glass of wine we got at the minibar came through on 3 separate lines on the bill.

SUMMARY: We would stay here again because overall we did have a positive experience due to great staff; clean, comfortable room; fantastic views; and location (in fact, I’ve already made a reservation for August); however, I’ll avoid the overpriced lobby bar (with mandatory tips) and would not pay the $30 a day upgrade for a higher floor. Also, I hope they resolve the elevator troubles by the...