This hotel was booked on the basis of it's location; literally steps away from Times Square. Can't fault it on location. It has a beautiful lobby and reception area. however, that's all for show.
Firstly, the hotel had changed it's name overnight due to new ownership; not a single taxi driver was aware of it, and certainly our taxi driver was very frustrated with having to look for something that no longer exists. It's now called the OYO hotel.
Staff were as unaware of the takeover as anyone - their in house IT system had collapsed and we couldn't check in as they had no way to verify us or code our keys.
This lasted about half an hour and we got checked in.
Rooms; ours was billed as Superior. All I can say is - their idea of Superior is sadly amiss. We did have a bit more room than my daughter's twin room; and a larger bathroom; but!!
Electrical sockets were not affixed firmly to the walls; the shower tray did not drain leading to there being two inches of stale water for the next person to step into. Both were complained about- twice -but nothing was done to rectify either.
Instead we were offered breakfast on the house on both days.
There are two tiny lifts. One works properly, the other doesn't. Stairs are steep and narrow, corridors are dark and narrow. Window blinds do not shut out any light. there is no sound proofing and as our room was at the front of the building and there was 24 hour construction work going on just feet away across the street, sleep was impossible.
A jack hammer operating at 4am is not conducive to a restful night!
The rooms are serviced every day but each day it became a guessing game to see what we would be left short of; towels, loo rolls, face cloths, water...everything had to be asked for - complimentary water never materialised - it had to be requested at the front desk.
It has one saving grace - staff. In particular the chief receptionist, a lady who never batted an eyelid at any complaint but simply offered breakfast on the house; and Sammy, a porter, whose smiling face and can- do attitude would light up a room.
To be fair, the staff were all at sixes and sevens about their own future employment; some were there 12 years or more and had no certainty about their future. They made the best of a terrible job and kept on trying.
From a facilities point of view, it is very likely the worst hotel I have stayed in for many years. It needs a full re-vamp and those ridiculous lifts to be replaced as soon as possible.
