Tempo by Hilton New York Times Square — Restaurant in New York

The Tempo couldn’t be any more centrally located for Times Square, a blessing and a curse as personally I hate the crowds there and along broadway, though the easy fix is to take the adjacent streets ||Getting there wasn’t too bad as exceptionally (normally car, taxi or uber in most cities) we take the subway or LIRR into Manhattan (as once you’ve been stuck in that traffic you never will want to be again)|On this occasion, to avoid too much fuss after the flight, we took the subway from JFK / Jamaica - with the F getting you a few minutes away at 47/50 Rockerfella - ideal!|Pavements were pretty good from there to hotel, and only meant skimming the crowds||Check in was pretty painless and we were up to our room and freshened up in no time and out and about wandering around Rockerfella Plaza ||They had some rather clever lifts, which both reduce wait times and add to security, as you pass from ground to 11th to the lobby, then from lobby to your floor via a keypad and keycard that assigns you (and in our experience at most one or two other people) an elevator||Whilst the lobby was pretty neat and funky when we got off you reach a smart floor lobby with fresh wood panelling and funky little lights. And deep carpet to keep the noise down, though on at least three nights inconsiderate other guests were just loud, slamming doors and shouting down corridors, which you can get anywhere.||The room, obviously not massive being in central New York if you are used to staying in less build up locales, was cleverly laid out and felt relatively spacious and on a par with hotels in the same price bracket; with a coat hook, stand for case, hanging area and some drawers, it was a bit neat on drawer space though we used the big shelf over the hanging space fine. |Also a good little fridge for drinks and snacks.|Plenty of power around the room in combinations of sockets, usb an and usb c which is great.|Nice modern fresh decor with some panels to control the lights, blinds and the voile type blinds. Comfy bed and linens, bedside table each, and leds over the wrap around headboard.||We had a mid height (20 something) room which suited us fine - having had two hotels just prior in niagra and Toronto with much higher floors and one of us (not me) not so keen on high floors due to vertigo, plus as regular visitors to NYC we’ve ‘ been there done it’ on town and city views. As it was though we had a pretty reasonable view down to the corner of Times Sq and got the overall ambience at night when the blinds were up, so it worked out as the perfect balance (and a few seconds less in the lift although they were lighting fast!)||Bed and pillows were super comfy. |Housekeeping was along daily to top up Nespresso pods and freshen the room, and managed to have their timings down to an art always when we were out and about somewhere late morning which was perfect.||Bathroom was clean and modern also with a lot of space and good amenities. Hereupon we did have a maintenance issue with the separate shower hose thing (as opposed the rainfall from the ceiling one) doing some kind of rocket impression around the shower, which I reported in case it did it again and smashed the glass or something (as such good strong water pressure!) Maintenance were on it in no time and had it sorted out within 15 mins of arriving. I always think that’s a good test of whether a hotel cares about the premises and the guests!||As said location great, if like me not a fan of the crowds head at the hotel from the 6th ave end and avoid Broadway/7th. It’s also great for the theatre, as with 1 or 2 shows every day it’s nice to be able to be able to nip back for a freshen up or a rest, notwithstanding if you don’t want a four minute walk to be 10-15 then again you need to (counter intuitively) walk out the way of 7th/Broadway or you will get stuck in a crowd of the slowest moving beings known to mankind. A sloth could outpace people there in the evening. ||There was a steamer in the room, with many cotton items and a prologued attempt to ‘steam’ a T-shirt that just travelled a few thousand miles I gave up and thought I’d ask about alternatives at reception, a nice clean iron and nice clean ironing board were deposited in the room for us whilst we were out :)||And just as I often see reviews about ‘hidden costs’ etc…|Like most hotels in NYC there is a resort fee (or whatever name wherever gives it), and whilst not as good an offering as other hotels such as the Innside Melia (who leave you lovely bottled sodas etc) they did give a $10 credit for food or shop items|Again this wasn’t such good value as elsewhere as the shop prices were quite over the top compared to the many shops nearby, but also not as bad as others (where you get things like a gym- as we are not gym or business centre users, didn’t have a parking need and coffee* should just be a given (!!!) but as I say this was better than nothing, though I do always feel there there a minority who get something out of this and a majority who don’t when it’s ‘balanced’ toward particular things).|But it’s New York, it is what it is and they are just playing the same game as all the rest in that regards the resort fee, my point is factor it in, shop around and see what others offer for that fee (for example this also included bikes, I cannot personally think of anything worse than biking around NYC in 30c temps with the traffic and drivers - but that might be heaven to you to have those two bikes included, and some other hotels also include bikes in their resort feees. Or if you really don’t like it find one of the rare hotels who don’t charge a fee (there is a Garden Inn Hilton by times sq west which doesn’t for example - but the location and hotel itself are not as nice as here so you pay your money and take your choices). |My advice is view it all as an all up cost and pick what suits your budget and expectations accordingly. Us, we would stay here again over some other places in New York and we just take the resort fee as part of the all up cost. ||*One pet hate though is a lot of hotels seem to have moved to pre packed portions of sugar and the like all in a cellophane wrapper of late, not an issue in itself perhaps but the measly one sugar one sweetener and one whitener doesn’t really work well across people who like two sugar in their white coffee! Fortunately Dunkin’ donuts was minutes away to grab a latte.||One hiccup we did encounter, bizarrely for the second time in a row after no issues for decades, was these places like a whacking big deposit and generally don’t like pre paid currency visas for that. Nor do I like to put holds on my spending money, so having checked we could pay any billed items and the resort fee on this prior to departure with said card, of which I was assured, I gave them my Amex for the security deposit. Come the night before can I pay my bill and avoid any queue, no not till 3am. 6am no Hilton’s systems are down. 7am “. 8am, well following some wait as the systems were up but still jankey, finally managed to pay and get a bill showing all this. Had a weird transaction message on my phone whilst getting coffee. Checked back with reception and showed them this - assured it’s all ok their end won’t be a problem. Gets home and lo my AMEX not my pre paid currency card has been charged. Disappointed as surely savvy international travelers like us don’t want to get poor exchange rates and pay unnecessary fees. Personally I’d like to pay the resort fees up front and get them out the way. They had given me details of a manager I could get in touch with if there were any issues however, and I cannot comment how much of this was due to the Hilton wide issues of the morning. But I really wish these big chain hotels could get this right for international visitors. Put two cards on file, in this day and age it ought not be beyond the wit of man. Card A - deposit. Card B for spend/ charges. We can’t be alone in this or (and some hotels do do this with no issue at all, which is my preference, and the rest I’ll pay as I go) take the resort fee upfront. |The plus (unlike the Sheraton who we had issues with two hotels stops before here, who took too much money by a few hundred dollars!) however was they at least charged the right amount even if to the wrong card (and only ended up charging it once to one card).||Now I will put a caveat here - they may have rectified it if I had I followed up with the details of said manager provided, but I (is it just me?) just expect hotels to do what they are meant to and said they’d do. And cannot be bothered with to and fro especially when on or just getting back from holiday. (Plus currently have the hassle in parallel with Amex trying to sort out the mess Sheratons gotten into somehow) |So I am out of pocket about $15 compared to charging it to the card I instructed or (if I’d known it would be a muddle) to another visa that’s not attracting fees. Not several hundred $ but still that would have got me a bagel and a coffee somewhere. ||Dining. There was a resultant also at the hotel (and I believe some sort of cafe setup but we never stumbled across that), it looked lovely and the prices weren’t anything out of line with the area - but we ate elsewhere as the menu was far too fussed with for us and there was literally nothing that appealed on it. I recommend seeking out one of the great bagel or steak places nearby if that sounds like you too. A favourite of ours, Fogo de Chão - delicious Brazilian steakhouse is only a few short blocks away. ||It’s also worth mentioning that there are a range of subway stops really near (one next door) depending on the line you want.||So that was our experience of a weeks stay with them. Pretty solid and very good overall - but it could have been better in just a couple of regards vice our own experience. In sum this was a modern well kept hotel in a great location with lovely rooms (all of which, as in all my reviews, I say relative to the city and price paid). The odd issues or requests were in the main dealt with super promptly and it was impressive compared to some other hotels. Overall we would thoroughly recommend it as a great hotel with some really nice characters on the team (a couple of the downstairs and upstairs lobby in particular and the cleaning crew friendliness stands out). Hopefully the hiccup with the cards was a one off unique to us on this occasion (not perhaps helped by Hilton IT only just having come back up) and hopefully hotels don’t continue to charge all these fees to provide gyms, bikes and what-have-you whilst not sticking an adequate bit of sugar in the room for a cuppa! ||(Not to mention we are all trying to be more environmental so wrapping the wrapped sugar inc cellophane is a no from me. I’m damned if I’m running back and fro to reception for sugar . And it’s ok… we have money, we aren’t stopping at a budget motel in a backwater, if there was a slight surplus of sugar we wouldn’t be going home with a bumper haul of half a dozen sachets of domino’s ;), please put the damn sugar sachets in the room in decent quantity without wrapping it in stuff it doesn’t need wrapping in so I can have a decent cup of coffee with no fussing, especially as I don’t want to park a car ride a bike...

We came here for my 40th birthday, and my first trip to NY. We had planned on staying for a few days. We could barely stay the night. We only stayed the night because we were exhausted from traveling and had nowhere else to go. We even contemplated staying in our car but that didn't seem safe. It truly ruined our entire trip and we had no choice but to go home.

When staying in NY you expect traffic noise, people, etc. However, this was like trying to sleep in the middle of a club. Never-ending thumping loud music. We were on the 23rd floor which made the noise worse than street level. There is a stage in Times Square that has concerts all day until 11 or so at night. They "Upgraded" us to a corner ball drop room. However, the stage was right under the room on the street. It was so incredibly loud we couldn't think, relax, or sleep. You couldn't hear each other or the TV. I think of a hotel as a place to sleep and decompress/ freshen up during your trip. You can't do that here. I always bring earplugs and had to wear them around the room trying to get ready and to sleep but they didn't help. What makes me very mad is our upgrade was not an upgrade. They gave our original room to someone else, because the night before they moved everyone in the hotel to the other side of the hotel because of the noise. We got tricked basically. When we asked to change rooms there was a lot of confusion from the staff, it took them an hour to find us a "quiet room". They conveniently called us about the new room being ready the moment the concert stopped.

They spoke about trying to put us in the penthouse but it wasn't ready. Which makes sense since the hotel is still under construction. When the music finally stoped they start construction at night. Nowhere online or when we called was it mentioned that the hotel was under construction. They were literally building the building, cranes, trucks, construction workers, and giant beams. The hotel workers even admitted they didn't think the hotel was ready to be open yet. It smells strongly of off-gassing, chemical smell. I couldn't breathe and my eyes were all swelled up the next morning . There is still construction dust on the floor and on some surfaces, you can feel it on your feet and with your hands.

It also has this uncomfortable vibe. The halls are very dark. At night you can just walk right into the place the main door was open and no one was around. Keep in mind you are in Times Square. The music in the lobby was also blaring making it uncomfortable to hang around their lounge and things, and we couldn't hear the staff talking to us at check-in or when we tried to get our issues addressed. Then in the morning, it was like tons of staff were following us around, it wasn't helpful and it made me uncomfortable. When we left and opened the door there was a man and a cleaning lady waiting outside our room. The entire experience was so strange and unwelcoming. The porters were nice but had these tiny cart things to move our luggage. That didn't go well, they need normal bellman carts.

We were willing to just call it a wash if our money and points were refunded. We are diamond members by the way. Our credit card was refunded however we had used points as well. They said they gave us "extra points" to make up for the bad stay however, it was hard to tell if we got our original points back.

We have traveled the world extensively. We have been in all varieties of lodging and despite it's rooms looking nice this was the worst experience we have had. We feel lied to and scammed.

We went to some of the other hotels in the area to try to get a room. They were booked but I will say those establishments seemed much better and had a more comfortable vibe. They were "normal", I like that.

My birthday was ruined, my dream trip to NY was ruined and it was all because of this hotel. They aren't trustworthy, should not be open, and need to get a better grip on what customers are really looking for and need.

Reply: Extreme Noise! Had no idea NYC doesn't allow brighter lighting in...

I arrived at your hotel on 1/25 for a two-night stay, which I had booked for two adults. Upon check-in, my brother and I were provided two keys, and everything seemed fine. However, on the evening of 1/26, a little before 9 PM, my brother, who had left the room without his key, was denied basic assistance at the front desk by an employee named Isaiah. When my brother approached the desk to explain the situation, he identified himself, showed his ID, and offered to confirm his relation to me as we share the same last name. Despite this, Isaiah refused to acknowledge him as a guest, dismissively claiming that the ID “doesn’t prove anything.” When my brother suggested Isaiah speak to me over the phone (I was on the line at the time), Isaiah outright refused, citing “sanitary reasons,” despite having no issue handling my brother’s ID moments earlier. This excuse was particularly insulting and made us feel as though we were being treated like filth. Even after my brother placed the phone on speaker to allow Isaiah to verify my identity, he continued to ignore me. I then suggested I call from the room phone to validate our credentials, which he agreed to. However, when I made the call, Isaiah did not answer. This led me to come down to the lobby personally, where the situation escalated further. When I arrived at the front desk and politely asked what had happened, Isaiah greeted me with hostility, saying, “I don’t want to talk to you. My manager is coming to talk to you.” He made no effort to verify my identity, apologize for the inconvenience, or offer a solution. Instead, he proceeded to treat me with dismissiveness and disrespect, refusing even to look at me, let alone address the issue professionally. What followed was beyond unacceptable: Lack of Basic Decency: Isaiah spoke to me as though I had no right to be in the hotel. He told me to “remove myself from in front of him,” despite no other guests being present. When I refused, he threatened to call security to remove me from the premises—a paying guest with a valid reservation. Failure to De-escalate: Instead of resolving the matter, Isaiah’s dismissive and condescending attitude exacerbated the situation. Security personnel, Gordon, appeared sympathetic and attempted to calm things down but was visibly caught in an uncomfortable position, torn between his duties and the inappropriate behavior of his colleague. Manager’s Absence: After being told the manager would address the issue, I was informed that the manager refused to leave her office. This further reinforced the lack of accountability and care demonstrated by your staff. Finally, the Assistant Director, Patricia, intervened. She handled the situation with the professionalism and empathy that should have been shown from the beginning. She confirmed my identity, validated the reservation, and worked to de-escalate the situation. While I appreciate her efforts, the damage had already been done. Isaiah’s behavior was appalling, unprofessional, and discriminatory. His refusal to provide assistance, coupled with the way he spoke to me and my brother, made us feel unwelcome, unworthy, and singled out for reasons that I can only attribute to bias. I have been a resident of the United States for over a decade, and as a loyal Marriott Bonvoy member, I have stayed in countless properties without ever experiencing such blatant disrespect and mistreatment. I demand a formal apology from Isaiah and appropriate disciplinary action to ensure he understands the consequences of his behavior. Furthermore, I urge your management to implement enhanced training for all staff members on how to treat guests with respect, fairness, and dignity, regardless of their background or circumstances. I expect a prompt and satisfactory response to this complaint. If this matter is not addressed adequately, I will escalate it to higher authorities within Hilton and share my experience on public forums to ensure this does not happen to...