Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel

This Sheraton New York Times Square hotel was chosen for me by my AAA travel advisor. Turned out to be a good location. Just 10 minutes walk to Times Square. Just 10 minutes walk to the entrance of Central Park. Just 10 minutes walk to Rockefeller Center. Just 3 minutes walk to The Broadway Theater. Right across from the hotel there's an affordable restaurant where you may have low cost [compared to other restaurants] quick breakfast lunch and dinner. As for the hotel, warning: very very very loooong lines at check-in reception area. And this is an understatement. Plan accordingly. I don't know about the other rooms, mine was a bit old with a mixture of some new and some worn out furniture, but it didn't bother me a bit. There was a tiny fridge and coffee machine. The bed and bathroom were decent and clean. Lots of closet and drawers. It would have been nice if the windows were cleaned from outside to have a clear view out. But again, this didn't bother me a bit. I was not in NY to enjoy a hotel room; the joy was outside.

We enjoyed our stay here. You couldn’t ask for a much better location. Close to all the midtown attractions: Times Square, Broadway, Central Park, Rockefeller, Carnegie, radio city, and the list goes on! Our check in went smoothly, barely any wait. There was construction that made the lobby a little crowded and less enjoyable, but sometimes there’s no escaping inconvenience for improvement. This seems to be an airline friendly hotel, we saw many flight crews. Every staff person we encountered was very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed playing elevator roulette but always got stuck with scary H3 (it bounced, A LOT). Mostly they were fast and we didn’t have to wait long, once we figured out the game (don’t let any open elevator pass you by). The rooms were a bit dated and small and there was some mold in the shower (which I think is a trend these days in hotels) but it didn’t detract from the stay. We were there to see the things outside of the hotel. Our favorite feature was the old Mail chute. It became a running joke. “Did you know you could mail a coconut? I don’t think it will fit in the Mail chute.” Probably our biggest complaint from the stay is the visitor fee. You can spend it at one of the restaurants or Starbucks that are open at inconvenient times and only on arrival day and others days that are not checkout day, so you basically just hand over more money on top of the price to stay. Oh and you don’t know about it until you check in.

Worst than bad: 2.5+ hours to check in. 50+ people in line. 2 people working the reception. At least staff appropriately, it was complete bonkers. A huge flight crew from Emirates Airlines breezed right thru the huge line of guests, their wide suitcases bumping other guests, went straight to the concierge and left quickly to their rooms while the rest of us waited 2.5+ hours. Bad: Rooms are small, bathroom tiny, beds are full size, not queens, no fridge, no hair dryer, bathroom smelled like wet towels and maybe someone peed on floor. Even the kids said it was bad. Calls weren't answered. Super thin walls. Heard babies crying, people yelling, kids going wild. Probably worst hotel stay ever experienced. Good: location. close to midtown, hells kitchen, central park. But if you stay anywhere in this general area, the subway makes it easy to get around. Final word: Sheraton needs to do better. Smallish hotel accommodations for a Sheraton. The check in was horrendous.