Holiday Inn Express - Times Square By IHG

A mixed review for my visit. Great location, not far off Times Square, check in was quick and the guy serving was super friendly and found the same each day as he said hello whenever I passed. 35 stories high, 6 rooms per floor and only 2 lifts so waiting on a lift was sometimes 20 minutes. Unhelpfully there is no lights or indication where the lifts are on each floor so the lift constantly wizzes past your floor. New mattresses were being delivered and 1 lift taken out to deal with that so the whole hotel working with one small lift. Wasn’t good at all. Breakfast room is very congested, food choice was ok but 2 coffee machines took ages to serve coffee and the 2 toasters are $10 toasters from Walmart and totally hopeless for serving a couple hundred people each day. All utensils are individually wrapped in plastic so tremendous wastage. The rooms were a decent size and standard, AC was excellent. Bathroom was a good size but a tiny sink which was hanging at an angle so water constantly on the floor. Checkout girl barely looked up when I checked out. Very mixed experience, could have been so much better if some basics were fixed

We arrived early intending to drop off our bags (they offer free luggage storage, though we didn't use it), but to our surprise, our room was already ready for check-in at 11 a.m. The receptionist on May 6th was incredibly helpful. The $150 security deposit was refunded just three days after check-out, which was impressively fast. Tip: Keep your room key away from your phone, credit cards, or OMNY card, as they demagnetize easily. The Room: I stayed on the 11th floor and found it very quiet. The room is small and basic but comfortable. A huge plus was the pillows—they were extremely comfortable, and the pillowcases were labeled "firm" or "soft". There were also plenty of outlets and USB ports near the bed to charge all our devices. The AC worked great, and the Wi-Fi was fast and easy to connect. The room includes a coffee maker, iron, hair dryer, and safe (no microwave, mini-fridge, or kettle, but going downstairs for hot water was never an issue). Housekeeping organized the room daily, though the cleaning felt a bit superficial (the mirror stayed dirty for a few days). Also, the shower water pressure wasn't the best, but the water heated up very quickly. Breakfast & Amenities: The breakfast selection was great (eggs, sausage, pastries, etc.) and constantly replenished. It gets busy, but going around 8:30 a.m. was perfect. The cinnamon rolls and pancakes were outstanding! A major bonus was the free bottled water, coffee, lemonade, and snacks always available in the lobby. Location: Fantastic location, just a 5-minute walk to the 42nd St–Port Authority subway. Everything you need (Duane Reade, 7-Eleven, restaurants) is right around the corner. The neighborhood can look a bit rough at night with many homeless people, but I personally had no issues. Overall, it’s not a luxury hotel, but it’s excellent value for money. I would definitely stay here again!

Avoid this hotel like the plague .. Has to be the worst hotel I’ve ever been to .. After having two nights in Detroit then two nights in Memphis for a multi centre trip for my husband’s 60th birthday celebrations we arrived at this hotel at 1am in the morning and were totally appalled.. The reception was full of youngsters swearing and wouldn’t move out of the way so we could get to the elevator to get our cases to our room When we did get to the room I burst into tears .. nothing like the hotel pictures online ! Bathroom mirror surround peeling off, brown stains around the plug hole in bath along with chips in bath that were dirty, pulled bed sheets back and bits all over sheets, furniture looked old and outdated - felt like I was at a run down hostel to be honest Later on top of the bed all night looking for alternative accommodation.. Went down to breakfast room about 7.30 and was met with what I can only explain as a free for all ! I’ve never stayed anywhere where you have paper plates and cups and as I said a free for all grabbing at drinks and food .. the tables and chairs reminded me of a school lunch room - but worse and not enough for the amount of guests staying at the hotel No staff to see guests in to a table or to explain the set up - we walked straight out and informed reception we would be checking out and all the reasons why! We were offered another room as we were told a large group would be checking out later .. We explained that the hotel was not up to the description online and that we would be checking long out .. the Manager looked at our booking to process a refund but said as we had booked through a travel company that we would have to request a refund upon our return home. I asked when the $150 hold on our room for the three nights would be released back to my card and she said immediately. Unfortunately this was not the case ! Not only did this not get released until we arrived back home but a charge of $68.88 was charged to our card ! I contacted Holiday Inn customer services and they confirmed that we should not have been charged anything and that this would be refunded.. Obviously the $150 was showing as pending so we couldn’t use these funds whilst away which was annoying and lost on the exchange rate changing back when we got home .. All I can say is I will never book another Holiday Inn Hotel ever