Novotel New York

From the moment I walked in here exhausted from my contiki tour I was treated like a welcomed guest, my check in was smooth and the staff absolutely wonderful, the whole team was a pleasure dealing with. I was upgraded due to inconvenience but either way the room was stunning, the shower was lovely and everything really screamed 5 star. The house keeping staff were lovely and the room service menu extensive, I felt no stress. Overall my experience was just fantastic, I would certainly use NOVOTEL again and will be bringing my family back here. The location of it being right next to time square as well is perfect for any first time tourist in New York!

The hotel and staff were great - although no coffee facilities. Major problem was trying to leave the hotel via the elevator (there were four) at 10.00 am. After 10 minutes of every elevator being packed, we decided to board an elevator going up, with a stop on every floor going up AND down from the 30th to the 9th. Other passengers saId they had been waiting for more than twenty minutes. I accept a lot of people may have been checking out (we weren't), but I have never seen slower elevators ever.

This hotel is overlooking Times Square diagonal to the Stardust restaurant. It's location is ideal and is just away from the noise that is Times Square but close enough that you can see it. Reception is very dark and gloomy - we checked in with not the friendliest receptionist in the world and, in fact, other than the man who checked us out, none of them were very attentive or friendly. I waited an age to be checked out. The hotel is typical of a city hotel - our room (which was for 4 adults) was on the 14th floor. It was relatively small with two double beds that were extremely comfortable. The bathroom was very small but adequate. No tea or coffee making facilities in the room. There was a good hairdryer and an iron and board. I was told when I checked in that my stay included breakfast, however, we still had to sign a $119 receipt every morning which made me nervous as I wouldn't have paid that for the breakfast, but I was assured that "you have to sign anyway whether it's included or not". When we checked out, I was told that breakfast was to be paid for! I explained the conversation when I checked in and the receptionist immediately said that that was fine and there was no charge ! Breakfast is in the bar area - fabulous views to Times Square. The food was hot and plentiful. Downside was that the seating area isn't very big so we had to wait for a table most mornings. The waiters and the luggage guys downstairs were really friendly and helpful - couldn't do enough for us. The biggest downside to this hotel are the lifts - they are so slow and trying to get one in the morning is ridiculous - they never all seem to be working and were usually full by they got to us on the 14th floor or we had to go up just to get in and then stop at every floor. There is also a lift that takes you from reception to the ground - again, we waited for ages as it's only small. I did like the hotel and would stay here again for location alone. I would not fit 4 people in the room again though. Only disappointing thing was that it was my daughter's 18th birthday and despite me contacting the hotel they did nothing special for her.