This is a newer property and the location was excellent as I found it to be just the right distance from the faster paced areas like Columbus Circle, but still an easy 10-15 minute walk to just about anywhere and the subway lines. The staff was excellent, very attentive and always with a smile and hello. When I arrived on a Monday night to check-in there were at least 10 people in front of me waiting, but the check-in counter was fully staffed with 4 people and I only had to wait 3-4 minutes. A very nice surprise given how it goes at some check-ins. The rooms were well done in terms of decor and comfort. A bit small (as all NYC rooms tend to be) and it was a bit tight in terms of doing anything other than laying in bed. But I liked the room style. The breakfast buffet was well staffed, stocked and convenient. My only issue were the Elevators! There are only 2 elevators for this 18 story property and they are extremely slow to point of being almost unusable. I waited 5-10 minutes at times to get the elevator and get to my room. These elevators are clearly broken in terms of they seem to "get stuck" before opening and sometimes pause for 20-30 seconds. I also experienced several times where the elevator dropped a few feet and seem to hang/pause between floors. I tried...This is a newer property and the location was excellent as I found it to be just the right distance from the faster paced areas like Columbus Circle, but still an easy 10-15 minute walk to just about anywhere and the subway lines.

The staff was excellent, very attentive and always with a smile and hello. When I arrived on a Monday night to check-in there were at least 10 people in front of me waiting, but the check-in counter was fully staffed with 4 people and I only had to wait 3-4 minutes. A very nice surprise given how it goes at some check-ins.

The rooms were well done in terms of decor and comfort. A bit small (as all NYC rooms tend to be) and it was a bit tight in terms of doing anything other than laying in bed. But I liked the room style.

The breakfast buffet was well staffed, stocked and convenient.

My only issue were the Elevators! There are only 2 elevators for this 18 story property and they are extremely slow to point of being almost unusable. I waited 5-10 minutes at times to get the elevator and get to my room. These elevators are clearly broken in terms of they seem to "get stuck" before opening and sometimes pause for 20-30 seconds. I also experienced several times where the elevator dropped a few feet and seem to hang/pause between floors.

I tried to take the stairs but found that the stairwell actually isn't straight up/down once you get to floor 10 or so - it goes through a labyrinth of internal hallways/rooms and to be honest no clear sense of when it ends or how to get to the ground... Not sure it would meet a fire inspection TBH. I had to abandon my attempt after spending 15 minutes trying to get down from 16 to floor 1 - couldn't do it simply via stairs.

The last thing that was awkward is the entry to the elevators from the lobby. Never in my life have a seen such an odd, hard to use and strange ingress to the elevators. There is this large glass fire door you have to unlock with your key before getting to the two elevators. This door thou is actually in the middle of the lobby bar and so when you open it, it swings very wide, hydraulic and often hits patrons seated at the end of the bar. Both days I was there this happened and watching guests come in and out multiple times it was always awkward and caused guests to be concerned of hitting somebody. To add a little drama, every day the same guy (hotel employee) was sitting in a seat next to the door telling people how to unlock it... A door setup so complex, you need a guy there to explain it!

So the bottom line - a great property, great staff, nice location - but trying to get the door open to get to the elevators and waiting for what felt like hours to get up the elevator really destroyed the user experience! I have to believe this can be fixed - get your elevators fixed and have the layout of that lobby door changed.

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