Paramount Times Square - A Generator Hotel — Hotel in New York

Nestled between the Hillsong and Scientology churches, this ‘hotel’ is a church in its own way: to their ritual practice of a bellhop cash scam. I arrived in the morning with my friend, Guest 1. When Guest 1 dropped off her backpack, the bellhop told her it would be $2. All well and good. The bellhop took her backpack.

My other friend, Guest 2, arrived after our check-in time of 3 PM. However, there was a long line winding around the lobby, so she went to the bag storage to store her backpack. This time, Bellhop Chris told her it would cost $10. She pointed to a sign, stating storage was $2, but he said that for her, it would be $10, rather than $2. Guest 2 gave him the bag, figuring maybe the rates had changed for everyone, contrary to the posted signage. Then, Bellhop Chris checked in other guests, and to Guest 2’s astonishment, he told them their bags would cost $2. Guest 2 wondered if perhaps her colorful turtle backpack might have triggered this aggressive response, but she could not be sure.

When all of us returned together to the hotel room that night, we went to retrieve the stored backpacks. Bellhop Seth was there, this time, and as soon as he saw Guest 2, he made a point of saying that Bellhop Chris had specified to him that Guest 2 would be paying $10, not $2.

“If it was up to me, I wouldn’t charge you $10, but Chris wrote that on your ticket, so I have to charge that,” Seth said. “My hands are tied.”

The four of us looked at his hands, which were in fact not tied. We looked at the ticket, on which Chris had scrawled $10, and we looked at Guest 2’s colorful turtle backpack, which seemed to somehow have set off this ritual cash scam. Nevertheless, Bellhop Seth was holding the colorful turtle backpack tightly in his hands, and the implication was that if we didn’t give him cash right then, he would be keeping the colorful turtle backpack, perhaps indefinitely. So Guest 2, hoping only to have toiletries and a change of clothes before turning in at her hotel that night, a reasonable expectation that one might dare to maintain upon arrival at one’s hotel room, acquiesced to Bellhop Seth.

Then, Bellhop Seth turned his gaze upon Guest 1, upon whose ticket there was no $10 charge scribbled in. We wondered, how would he squeeze dollars from Guest 1? What strange religious practice were we engaging in now, here, in the Temple of the Temperamental Bellhops?

Bellhop Seth announced that Guest 1 did have $2 written on her ticket, but, because she had stepped foot into the hotel after midnight, she would have to pay $10 too. At that point, even though all of us had checked in (and, technically, we had already begun paying $400 a night for our room), the simple fact that we had dared to store our backpacks inside Bellhop Chris and Bellhop Seth’s closet (rather than periodically returning through the day to move our items from the Bellhop Closet to our room) meant that Bellhop Seth would now be charging us $10. Guest 1 was alarmed as well, because her backpack (plain and black) was not as potentially offensive as Guest 2’s colorful turtle backpack. But Bellhop Seth tightly gripped her backpack, and we knew he would not return Guest 1’s backpack until he received his $10.

Guest 1 handed him $20. Bellhop Seth tucked it out of sight.

Bellhop Seth turned to Guest 2 and said, “That’ll be an additional $10.” We looked at him. We looked at each other.

Guest 1 explained that she had just paid him $20, which should cover both Guest 1’s $10 Midnight Upcharge Fee and Guest 2’s $10 Bellhop-Chris-Wrote-It-So-Bellhop-Seth-Must-Charge It Fee. Bellhop Seth unfolded the bill, checked it, and had to agree.

Bellhop Seth informed us that we could ask the front desk to reimburse us.

The next morning, to complete the ritual, we asked the receptionist if we could get the upcharges reimbursed. She responded that, because we had paid in cash, she could not do anything. Of course, the bellhops only take cash, so indeed, all guests are subject to the whims of Bellhops Seth and Chris.

Overall, a very strange ritual. What...

Booked May 2025. Im guessing you are reading this review because you are looking for a budget hotel central to the sites of NY. If so, this hotel will probably meet your expectations. Its within comfortable walking distance for most abled bodied visitors + suitcase from the main train stations / subway connections without needing a taxi (choice is yours) Theres no frills here. Reception staff are direct and pretty short of conversation / explanation if you need any local advice. Watch out for the 'resort / facility fee' to be paid on top of what you have paid - allow $25-35 per person - it wasn't clear in our booking and came as an unwelcome surprise. Baggage storage for early or late check-in will also come as extra (they offer it but don't tell you its going to cost you up to $10 per bag per day. You may ask what the 'resort / facility fee' actually covers? We couldn't work that out. We also made the mistake of having a parcel delivered to the hotel which cost us?....yes you guessed it...another $10. The reception / foyer is reminiscent of a Night Club crossed with a YMCA and whilst it does have a pleasant open vista I suspect that the dim lighting and soft furnishings probably hide the fact that its all a little worn. Bar prices are mad $10+ small beer $24 cocktail. A 'happy hour' is employed 5.00-7.00pm but you will fast come to realise that NY is a bloody expensive place to visit and these prices become almost normal. The Hotel itself is old but the operators have tried to modernise parts and I think the general level of finishes are commensurate with what you are paying. The windows don't hold back the outside noise, the A/C is deafening, doors are poorly fitted in old frames and the hot and cold water taps operate based upon their own rules. As many have said the A/C controls are known only to the manufacturers (don't expect any help from the front desk or any guidance in your room) Frankly a simple on off switch would be a 100% improvement. There are no complementary room services, coffee, tea, etc. Check the number of towels you have before you have a shower and that the Chromecast TV is actually registered to your room. We were unable to use our TV service for the period of our stay despite 2no engineers visits and 3no requests left at the front desk. We were offered a room change or compensation, the latter of which remains to be resolved. There is no breakfast included in the rate at the hotel so you should look to find a local restaurant and budget for min $25 per person for waffles / pancakes and a brewed coffee (exc Taxes and tip). You might find somewhere a little cheaper but equally many charging more. There is a cake shop / caffe next to the Hotel which looks very nice (coffee $5.50 to $6.50 pastry $10) upwards but limited cold food offering. You have Juniors Diner immediately adjacent but one block away where breakfast offering stops at 11.00am. Come lunchtime this place is rammed by 12:00 with people queuing out the doors! (there must be 50+ tables inside and 20+ outside) but again expect to be paying $100+ for four adults . Room beds are small doubles with basic provisions, shower over bath, iron, small desk and chair and basic wall socket layout / lighting (don't expect a fridge) By the time you have your case open theres not much room left but you are probably using the room to sleep as opposed to taking in the facilities. My only other advice is to pack ear plugs if sleeping is on your agenda. Theres a major building site opposite (another tower block to add to the skyline) and its not getting finished anytime soon (basement currently under construction). The City is 24/7 noise.....its NY! so expect horns, sirens, traffic jambs, garbage trucks, people, music etc In summary, the Hotel serves a purpose as a base camp for your stay but don't expect too much. If you find a good rate you should be satisfied but brace yourself for all the add ons. New York is an assault to the senses, relentless and uncompromising, you will probably need to find a relaxing hotel when you...

What went wrong and why I will never return. Creepy! Room was small but clean. It had an old forced-air heater. I've seen those in NYC. They're noisy but (usually) work. I check the room after coming in, turn heater on and confirm it works. After about 30mn, heater stops working and blows cold/ambient air. It's the middle of winter; Feb 26th. I call guest services. They say they will send the engineer. Engineer does not show. Had to meet friends for live music, so I call again and tell them he can come in the room and fix it while I'm out. I come back to around midnight, heater not checked, no more response from guest services. I go to the front desk and explain the situation. I am informed that the hotel is aware that I called twice, but service call was cancelled (no explanation given). The front desk says she is sending the engineer, he will be there in 5 to 10 minutes, and we agree that if he cannot fix the heater, she will give me another room. Engineer shows up in about 10mn. Nice guy. He tinkers, with the pipes, tells me hotel probably shut down the heat because people were complaining about the heat (What?? Shut down the heat for a bunch of rooms in the middle of winter??). He goes to check something downstairs; comes back up, tinkers some more with the pipes, and warm air comes out. At that point, it’s about 1am and I am just satisfied if I can have heat, sleep there and figure out next steps in the morning. Engineer leaves. 15mn later, cold air is blowing again. But the best was yet to come! I go back to the front desk and ask for another room with a working heater. Not acting mad. I understand things break. I'm tired, and I just want a decent room to sleep in. She gives me a new room/keycard. I go to the new room and keycard does not open the room and flashes an orange light, on multiple tries. I go back to the front desk and explain that the keycard works for the elevator but not for the room and flashes the orange light (not red, but orange). She says keycard should work, programs another keycard and sends me back. Second time, same thing: can't open the door/orange light, but this time I hear someone say "Hey!" from inside the room... I'm thinking they may have double-booked the room and go back to the front desk. She keeps saying that the room is not occupied. I now ask her to come with me, and she sends me up with the hotel security. Once there, he knocks on the door and announces "Security". A man, then a woman, complain and say it's their room and they argue through the door but don't open it; they say they are going to call the police. Security guard does not back down one second; which tells me he has seen this situation before. I tell him I am going back to the front desk because it's now 2am and I just want a room and there is no way I am sleeping in that bed, regardless of what's going on. As we head back to the front desk, security guard expresses absolutely no doubt that these people should not be in that room. Front desk and security guard proceed to discuss the issue of people being in that room – neither seems to care that it's 2 am and I still don't have a room. I reiterate calmly my ask for a clean room with functioning heat, and I am finally given that room. Room is the exact same micro-size I booked, and has a mini-split! And it was open the whole time; they could have given me that room at any step of this whole ordeal! So I understand that stuff breaks. I might even understand, the hotel first tries to assign its crappier rooms with the blow-heater instead of the mini-split. Next day, however, I figured that the orange light means the lock is engaged from the inside the room. So the front desk manager should have immediately understood what was going on, instead of sending me back twice more to that room which had people inside! And clearly, not the first time that situation happens in this hotel... Per night room rate about 200/night (includes "surprise" $40 resort fee added at the hotel). Not a good rate when you end up treated worse...