W New York

i don't know why so many people fancy this hotel, but this is the worst W that i have ever stayed at. the rooms are ridiculously small, style (housekeeping) isn't all that good, some of the rooms are even depressing, has awful views, and few of the welcome desk (front desk) agents are too impolite and informal...
i would stay away from this hotel, especially when u have to see the magnificent waldorf=astoria right in front of the hotel every time u exit and enter the hotel.

Pros: the amenities, just b/c it's a W

Cons: small rooms

Posted 01/24/09

This a first-time post.
Having stayed at W properties around New York and having avoided the W New York until the renovation completion in August, I didn't know what to expect. That being said, I was completely amazed by the hotel's atmosphere and service-minded attitude throughout my stay. I believe that the new surroundings have re-energized the staff and as a result the hotel is now a thriving property in midtown.
The room I stayed in was on the top floor and was modern and very spacious. There was an adequately sized bathroom with a rainforest showerhead, a large queen bed and a small balcony to finish it off. At no point did I experience any of the complaints I have usually heard about this hotel (room service trays in the hall, scuffed carpets, rattling AC, etc). The staff had been alerted to it being my birthday over the weekend and my friend and I were pleasantly surprised to find a bottle of champagne in the room with a note from the manager one evening. This was definitely above the hotel's obligation to us as guests.
I was very pleased with my stay and look forward to when I can return. Keep in mind that the type of room you book will proportionaly affect your experience at the hotel as some can be quite small.

Pros: Concierge, Ambience, Service, Warm Vibe

Cons: Check-in can get a bit hairy when there's a large group of people checking-in.

Posted 10/13/08

I was very excited to stay here, as I"ve seen how great the W hotels look from the outside, and how good some of their restaurants are, but it was not a great stay at all. First, the staff upon check in was mostly concerned with chatting it up with eachother, we had to interrupt them just to check in and find the elevators. I knew beforehand the rooms were tiny, and perhaps it was because we got stuck in an inside room, but the room was bearly big enough for the bed. The teeny window overlooked some pipes. THere was NO dresser for clothes (no room!!) The bathroom felt like a locker room bathroom. Stand up shower only with dirty old tiles. The curtain wasn't long enough and the bathroom got practically flooded when you shower as a result. The toiletries are from Bliss Spa, which is a bonus. The AC was ancient. Someone had set the alarm clock to 2 am and again to 4:30 am. For $500 a night, can the staff please check this after each guest leaves?? I was overall very unhappy with my stay, I stayed at the Westin Times Square 2 weeks ago, and the Westin surpasses the W in every aspect.

Pros: Bliss toiletries, location, nice common areas

Cons: Too small, service, old, old, old rooms/bathrooms.

Posted 11/25/07

Called ahead to confirm room, they offer an upgrade to a suite. Get there to check-in on Friday, inquire why they want to put us in a Wonderful room, front desk says no upgrade. Disappointed since they offered. Card key & back-up system down. Had a guard open doors for all. Get to our anything but wonderful room. Small for one, let alone two. Bathroom was old, dirty & the size of closet. No space to move in the bath or room itself. 1 person has to wait for other to pass. Wooden crates are what side tables & desk looked like. A/C didn't work. Put it down to 65 went back to 75. Couldn't sleep through night from noise & heated rm. Duvet was from silky material that would stick to your skin or slide off bed. Pillows were bags of rocks & smaller than a standard pillow. Bed had a blanket in between the mattress & sheet & the blanket kept sliding down the bed. Kept fixing it every time we got up to fix the A/C. Set up mini-bar on a diagonal and made space tighter. Moved it & found many electrical cables on floor & all connected to 1 power strip. Fire hazard! No coffee maker in room or ice machine in hall. Room was on same flr as Bliss so you smelled nail polish thanks to staff that kept rear spa doors open. Low ceiling over bed. Weird. No counter space in the bath & a foot of space from wall to toilet, watch your head when standing. Bath, closet & room doors were set-up wrong. Can't use 2 doors at once. You have to wait your turn. I think we had a Cozy room which is smallest. If you do stay at this poor excuse of a hotel, check square footage. 180 sq ft is the size of a bathroom, not a hotel room.

I love Starwood's hotels & stay at many of them, but not this one ever again. W Times Sq is much better and would stay there if Westin was booked solid. Westin has marble bathrooms, better & cleaner room decor and 10 times the space for the same price as this W. Nothing beats a West Side hotel.

Pros: Staff was great.

Cons: Rooms & bath are tiny, a/c didn't work, uncomfortable space, no view of anything but brick walls

Posted 04/27/07

Here are the positives: Location, Very attractive lobby and bar's, good service, Bliss Spa in the Hotel but I would definitely not reccommend this Hotel for a long stay only because of the room size. The ammenities are fine but it's TINY. No lighting in the closet made it difficult to see your clothes. But, if you are searching for a Hotel and find this is the best price then I would consider it.

Pros: Location, Nice Lobby and common areas

Cons: Rooms are entirely too small for longer than one or 2 nights. Tiny closet and small bath

Posted 02/16/07

I've been here manytimes to catch up with freinds after work though that is generally after 11. The drinks are excellent and the space is nice though always crowed.

Posted 11/01/06

Want a great hotel WEL worth the extra bucks compared to the other hotels in the area. Its trandy and the rooms are a lot of fun.

Posted 10/31/06

We wanted to spend a Sat night in the city after an elegant dinner function at the Waldorf and decided to be "trendy" for the evening. I now know that "trendy" means a teeny room (smaller than tiny), stylish public spaces, budget young European tourists who want to be trendy and not much else. Veneer is trendy. The room seemed to be cobbled out of a broom closet with no clothing storage except for a shoe holder in the closet. Bathroom was functional, small but clean. For what I paid ($330 +taxes for a "spectacular" room type), we should have had a room bigger than the small queen bed that was in it. The location is good but travellers can do so much better!

Pros: location

Cons: service, room size

Posted 10/23/06

I've stayed at various NYC hotels and this is by far the best.. really relaxing atmosphere after a hard day of work or shopping.. don't even think about it.. just book it!

Pros: Location

Posted 04/19/05

I was in NY for the first time in Sept. I was there with my boyfriend. When we got to the Hotel They did'nt have our reservation and we had booked the trip far inadvance. However, I dont know who's fault that would be the website we booked or the actual hotel. Anwyas, we were giving a suit for the inconvience and a free bottle of wine with fruit and cheese. The gentlemen who did take care of us gave us excellent service and went far and beyond to make sure that our stay was great, However, it took them forever to send the bottle of wine and fruit upt tp our room more then 4hrs. Overall the stay was good but could have been better.

Posted 10/31/04

In all my years traveling as a CEO, I have never been treated so horribly by hotel staff. They did not give me the room that I booked and refused to fix the situation, so I had my travel agent contact the hotel re my room and treatment by staff and the hotel denied all events.

DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOTEL!

Pros: decent location

Cons: , surly staff, horrible management

Posted 03/11/04

having stayed at the W Times Square I had an idea of the "W" experience.... the service was great from the front desk accomidating our late arrival and making sure we were all set with our travel plans to Steve the bell hoop who brought our bag up and gave us a full detail of all the amenities the W had on site...room service was excellent ... both on site bars were really cool and not itimidating.... the concierge was very helpful ... rooms were your typical W size and they have a warmer feel than times square...location is great, not far from any of the major attractions

Pros: service, concierge, location

Cons: room size

Posted 05/18/03

I was really disappointed with my stay at the W New York. The front desk acted as if you are a number on there occupancy sheet, I struggled for the agent even to look at me. The Concierge when I asked for some suggestions for dinner, they hand a piece of paper with the wrong address for the restaurant he suggested. The room was so small I could have taken 4 large steps and made my way from one side to the other.

However the positive points are the beautifully design lobby and bar area which really does highlight the hotel. Also the restaurant staff were superbly trainned, looking after my every need.

However I was disappointed with my stay as a whole.

Posted 04/15/03

I planned a romantic Valentine weekend spa getaway at the W hotel and AWAY spa. It was difficult from the beginning as the website, 1-800 reservation line, hotel, and spa seem to know little to nothing about the packages that each offers. I spent days trying to get everything sorted! The front desk staff is unattentive and rude. The bell staff virtually invisible, and rude! Room service charged me $3 to have champagne flutes delivered to the room... for the trouble of sending someone up!? The spa was wonderful, and the concierges were very helpful!

Pros: AWAY Spa, Concierge

Cons: Front desk staff, Bell staff, Just plain rude!

Posted 02/17/03

I was very excited to book my hotel room at the W New York - the hip rooms and bars inside the hotel seemed like the perfect night's stay for New Year's Eve. Unfortunately we found rude service (we had booked a package with a helicopter tour thru the hotel, when going to reserve a flight time, we were brushed off by the concierge "we don't deal with that". We waited 2 hours for our luggage to be brought to the room, and the room was small which is ok, but the shower smelled like a dead animal. The W is a redecorated old hotel - but heating units were not updated, leaving the rooms stuffy and smelly. After expressing these complaints to the manager, I only received a trite "sorry, we'll try harder next time"....of which there won't be one.

Pros: Good location, Nice Lobby

Cons: Rude Staff, Uncomfortable Room

Posted 02/13/03

first of all, the service people at the front desk!!! rude...rude...rude...those can afford to be more polite. its not The Plaza for crying out loud!!! The room was small; circulation/floor plan of the room did not do it any justice. to top it off, there was the most disgusting stain on the carpet. the shower curtain was about six inches short, so when taking showers the bathroom floor would be flooded. the room would be stocked with complimentary coffee, but the wait to get sugar and cream every morning was about 3 hours. i had no other choice but to walk to the deli and buy the condiments myself. two good things about the hotel, the aveda bathroom products, the sweetest cleaning ladies.... i was expecting a W similar to the one in San Francisco, but the very opposite. never again at the W on Lexington.

Pros: cleaning ladies, aveda products, bed sheets

Cons: front desk service, room

Posted 01/15/03

Worst hotel I've ever stayed at. I checked into my room to find a mildew stenched bathroom and catchup on the wall. When the maid came to "fix" it..she said nothing was wrong. The tile in the bathroom was growing.

My recommendation...go elsewhere!

Pros: location

Cons: service, scene

Posted 11/18/02

the bed. ah, so nice. so big. so fluffy. the rooms are great. small, but with nice touches like cd player with downtempo mix cd. rooms are very clean as are bathrooms. decor is energizing, if a little by-the-book contemporary. staff at the door was very helpful, both on the way in and out. juice bar is handy for a rejuvinative breakfast after a night out and the lobby bar is nice to wait in... overall, a good stay.

Pros: comfortable, elegant, big bed

Cons: pricey, poseurs in lobby, other guests

Posted 11/11/02

You'll find the most clueless staff trying to be hip at night and real staff during the day. Seriously the smallest room you'll ever see and staff pretends like its no big deal. I couldn't even open my bag on the floor and the tiny closet barely had 5 hangers. I was moved to a "deluxe" room, just a little bigger. OVERPRICED, OVERRATED, try one of the other Ws in the city. But do come for the crowded, overpriced bars full of hip, beautiful people and absolutely gorgeous waitresses.

Pros: hip, cool bars

Cons: pricey, tiny rooms, noisy

Posted 10/25/02

The hottest people, eye candy galore, most comfortable beds ever!

Pros: excellent service, amazing cocktails, chic

Posted 07/22/02

My husband and I have stayed at this hotel twice in the last year and we find it very comfortable. The staff has always been extremely friendly and helpful. The rooms are small but very modern and playful. Great bed. I haven't ordered any food there but the lobby lounge and their hip bar whiskey blue serves up delicious drinks with a great atmosphere.

Pros: vallet parking, great lounge and bar, tastfully chic room

Cons: small rooms, no king size beds

Posted 06/30/02

The hotel is neat...typical of other W hotels, but the rooms were uncomfortably small. All the staff I encountered made my stay much more comforable, and service was always quick. I enjoyed the stay but would definitly look into upgrading the room size.

Pros: Service

Cons: Room size

Posted 05/16/02

The cool, sprawling lobby, full of guest-friendly amenities, is definitely the best part of this hotel. Theres a relaxing lounge, an espresso bar with muffins and snacks, a organic juice bar, a chic healthy-food restaurant, and the Whisky Blue bar. Once you get above the lobby, things arent quite as cool. The elevators are TINY and always crowded. The rooms are rather small, with outdated heaters/air conditioners (just one flat vent right under the windows) The tub is also tinybe prepared to have your knees under your chin if youre over 54. Nice touches: lots of stationery/scratch paper; reading lamps over the bed; a mood-music CD compilation in the radio/CD player. Cheesy touches: $4 price tag on the bottled water (at $200+ a night, they could throw in some free water, esp. during a drought!

Pros: cool lobby, central location

Cons: drab bathroom, room a bit worn

Posted 05/14/02