Motto by Hilton New York City Chelsea — Hotel in New York

As a loyal Hilton Honors Diamond member, my stay here proved to be a bit of a disappointment, with some service issues being the most significant gripe (skip to the second paragraph for the details). The location is great with easy access to some cool neighborhoods and walking distance to lots of restaurants, bars and other interesting places. The views from this very tall, skinny, modern building are truly stunning. The rooms are very small, though contemporary and reasonably comfortable, depending how you wish to use it. There are certain ergonomic design aspects, such as luggage storage beneath the bed and a built-in seating area. I was solo, but a couple might find it cramped if they have more than carry-on size luggage; and if you have work to do and would like a desk, good luck, as there's a snack tray-size piece of furniture that you can use while working from the banquette seating. What I really didn't like was the placement of the sink on the "TV wall" and in full view from the bed. If you're sharing the room, someone using the sink is going to light up the room pretty well.

I'll join others in complaining about the daily "urban destination fee." I'll give the hotel credit for its transparency regarding this fee, even though it's completely unnecessary and should be built into the rate. One thing that made it a little tolerable was that it included a $10 food and beverage credit -- and that's where I experienced some service issues that added insult to injury with regarding to the fee. At check-in, the front desk attendant was very nice and incredibly thorough explaining everything, including that the bar would be open until midnight during my stay. After dinner, my friends and I decided that we'd come back to the hotel, as the bar, which has a cool vibe, opens up to a cozy and inviting outdoor area facing the sidewalk. Unfortunately, enjoying it that night wasn't a reality. We arrived at the hotel at 11 p.m. and went right to some comfy outdoor couches eager to enjoy the atmosphere and some cocktails. After a short time there, staff advised us that the patio was closed and they'd soon be power washing it, and that we'd have to go inside, which we did on this beautiful night - to a communal table near to the front desk. Upon moving there, to of us went to the bar to order drinks for everyone, and the bartender, noting that we were sitting at the table, told us that a server would be around to take order. Bar employees passed right by us dozens of times without looking our way, as they buzzed between the indoor and outdoor sections, and moving the furniture around outside. The bartender disappeared for a long while and once she reemerged, we approached the bar again to insist on ordering drinks there, but before we got that far, she told us it was too late, as they already made last call? Huh? We were sitting reasonably close to the bar. There was no lost call made, not to mention that it was still well before midnight, when the bar was to close. I brought this to the attention of the front desk staff, who apologized and took some notes, as I made it clear that I wanted to talk to a manager the next morning. My friends and I then headed to find another bar after wasting an hour including the time walking to and from the hotel. The next morning, I went to the front desk and spoke with a manager, who was already aware of the situation and said that it had been brought to the attention of the food and beverage manager. After being given yet more food and beverage credit, which didn't interest me given the bad taste left in my mouth after the previous evening, the management finally provided me the minimal, reasonable compensation that I requested as a small credit against my pricey room rate, but even that didn't come without a struggle. There's too many hotels in Manhattan to consider...

Unfortunately, our stay at this hotel was deeply marred by a significant safety concern and an utterly unsatisfactory response from the staff and management. The bathrooms in most rooms in this hotel are equipped with heavy sliding doors, which are dangerously supported by a single bolt. In our room, this bolt was unhinged, allowing the door to be lifted sideways and slide all the way through without stopping when trying to close it.

Then the incident occurred, where my mother's fingers were caught between the door and the wall as it slid through without stopping. This happened within the first five minutes of checking in to the hotel. Adding to the frustration, the first aid kit was not readily available at the front desk. We had to wait for minutes as the staff scrambled to find bandaids and alcohol pads, which is unacceptable in an emergency situation, especially at a hotel where hundreds of guests are staying overnight.

We were lucky that it was just deep cuts on the fingers. If it was a small kid, it could have easily resulted in broken fingers.

When we reported this to the front desk on the first night, a different staff member, who was very dismissive, talked to us. When we asked him if the hotel looked into the bathroom door, and if they found that anything was wrong, his initial response was, "no," then later stated, "People came in and fixed your door. But this is something that can happen very easily. The sliding door can come off the screw that fixes the door in place," and further upset us by continuing to insinuate that this is a small issue.

The hotel manager, when approached (after not following through on his promise to get back to us to schedule a meeting time, and we had to talk to the front desk twice), acknowledged the issue but offered an infuriating response that they are "in the process of fixing all the doors, going by room to room, but we just didn't get to your room yet." We were shocked. What is this even supposed to mean? This casual approach to a matter involving guest safety and well-being was not only shocking but also deeply concerning. It prompts the question: does this hotel think that getting injured due to a broken hotel facility is something that can be random? Some rooms can have unhinged doors, and whoever gets that room can get hurt?

We emphasized to him that all rooms should undergo safety inspections before the hotel commences operations. This should be common sense. Guests should not be the ones informing hotel staff about such fundamental practices.

Despite a refund for the first night, the management failed to recognize the severity of the situation, which, in our opinion, warranted a full refund of our stay. This hotel charges you an additional $30 "hotel occupancy fee" every single night and a $400 deposit the moment you check in, in case you cause the hotel damage. Does it make sense that the hotel charges you a $400 deposit for the concern of its own facilities but can get away with disregarding the health and safety of its customers? The irony and contradiction are mind-blowing.

Promises of follow-up discussions and resolutions from the manager were met with silence, forcing us to chase down updates and encounter further unresponsiveness. He promised to talk to the general manager on Tuesday, but did not follow up. This is why we are writing this review, and adding photos of our injury, the bathroom door (after fixed), and the receipt.

The blatant disregard for safety and customer care is both disheartening and alarming. The initial refund does not compensate for the physical and emotional distress caused by the incident and the subsequent neglect from the management. We hope that future guests do not encounter similar experiences and that the management urgently addresses these critical issues in infrastructure...

I firstly want to start off by saying the location of this hotel is fantastic. Walkable to the subway and main attractions surrounding Chelsea. The rooms for New York City standards were excellent. 2 people can stay comfortably. The restaurant was also fantastic and the food was excellent. This is unfortunately where the positive feedback ends.

We spent 10 days at this hotel and from the moment we checked in until our checkout, the start of endless issues commenced.

Issue 1 We arrived at the hotel at approximately 9am. We walked through the doors into an unorganized lobby area with no designated area for hotel guests to stand or wait. I would say approximately 30 guests were either waiting to check out or check in. Blocking the main entry with guests luggage, lift access and bar/restaurant. The front desk were also un-enthusiastic, had zero personality and by the looks of it didn’t want to be there. The bellman took our luggage away and put it in storage while we waited for our room to be ready. When we came back at check in the concierge proceeded to say they ran out of room keys and only one would be given. First red flag. When we handed our luggage tag over the bellman wheeled them out to us and parted ways. Because we had 2 rooms our other 2 guests weren’t back yet, so we proceeded to take them into our room. We were offered no assistance to wheel 4 large suitcases and a couple smaller ones. This proved extremely difficult getting into the lifts. On a separate note they also lost one of the luggage’s and said they handed them all over. It took one of our group to go into the storeroom to look for it which they found. They also ran out of umbrellas by 9am and on our last day they closed our room off so we couldn’t access it with all our belongings inside. We had to go back down to the lobby to get our key reprogrammed with no apologies.

Issue 2 I have never ever experienced a hotel that had 42 floors and 4 lifts in action but still take on average 10 minutes to get down to reception. If you weren’t on the higher floors, good luck to the lower levels. You will really struggle to get an empty or free lift. I overheard a guest say she was waiting close to 20 minutes to get one. They really need to invest in a service lift just for the staff. In the mornings housekeeping/maintenance staff would use these lifts and occupy half with their tools. I honestly felt sorry for them as their job was ten times as difficult and at moments I would see them not get into lifts or get out so hotel guests could get in. The lift issues happened every single day and at any point of the day.

Issue 3 Housekeeping was not up to scratch at all. Twice our room wasn’t made up, at least a handful of times our rooms weren’t even made up until late afternoon. This meant towels weren’t replaced, toilet paper wasn’t stocked and our complimentary water not replenished. We are Hilton Gold Honours and this was our “gift” for the stay. The daily resort/hotel fee which is quite expensive is not worth the $$. For compensation on the days our room wasn’t cleaned this was refunded.

To finish up I don’t think I have ever stayed at a hotel that was so unorganized, had unfriendly staff or staff who didn’t want to be there and a hotel which can’t even get basic needs met to a high standard.

For a Hilton backed hotel I would have expected a whole lot more.

It’s really unfortunate because the location, boutique vibe and quality of hotel was excellent. But the back end operations and running of the hotel really let it down to the point I would not recommend it and would never...