Hilton New York — Hotel Review Rating: 3.5 Pearls

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Oyster Hotel Review

Reviewer: Michael W.
Updated: July 13, 2010

 Scene

With 1,980 rooms, the Hilton is the largest hotel in New York City (just edging out the Marriott Marquis and its 1,950 rooms). What that means, as you can probably imagine, is a basketful of double-edged swords: impersonal but efficient service (I felt more "processed" than cared for); quiet rooms on high floors, serviced by slow elevators; an annoyingly bustling lobby but pleasantly bustling bar scene. In many ways, the Hilton is a microcosm of the city itself: vertical, crowded, diverse, and cash-driven.

As the host of hundreds of conferences and conventions every year (you can count on at least a few on any given day), the Hilton heavily relies on -- and caters to -- business travelers. A quarter of its guests are corporate groups; individual business travelers also represent a healthy proportion of the remaining 75 percent. Suits and pantsuits abound in the lobby and its bar, from early in the morning till late at night. All told, it's not the homiest atmosphere for a tourist.

There is at least one upside to its sheer size and corporate vibe: the on-site bar scene. Both the lobby bar and Bridges, right off the lobby, were buzzing, if not quite hopping, well into the night when I was there. When I finally left Bridges, at around midnight on a Monday in early June, a dozen or so businessfolk were still wetting their whistles -- rare for a Midtown hotel bar.

Finally, a fun movie tidbit: On the second floor, outside the convention hall ballrooms, is the spot where George Clooney memorably confronted Tilda Swinton (who won the Oscar for her role) in the climactic scene of Michael Clayton.

 Service

The service is what you'd expect from a 2,000-room branch of a major mid-range chain: efficient and friendly but not doting.

Once you're in the lobby, porters will take your bags to your room, but don't expect help from the cab. Same goes for the rest of the bell staff: They'll flag down a cab for you, but you're on your own to open doors. (Hey, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere....)

Many guests on TripAdvisor complain not just about the long lines at the front desk, but also the preferential treatment received by Hilton Honors members, which makes the wait even worse. I experienced neither of those frustrations. During my stay, there were always so many clerks working the front desk that even when there was a long line, it moved quickly. And although Hilton Honors members have their own, faster-moving line, the clerks there will take guests from the main line if nobody "Honorable" is waiting. Besides, if you're really in a hurry, you can use one of several "Zip-In Check-In" machines (similar to those you find at airports) stationed in the lobby.

The most common service-related complaint on TripAdvisor, though, concerns the "Hilton Club hucksters" (as one guest put it) in the lobby, who accost passersby with "aggressive and annoying" offers to join. I didn't get solicited myself; maybe management read the posts and took a hint -- or maybe I was just lucky.

 Location

Surrounded by high-rise office buildings, the Hilton sits just a dozen short blocks from one of the most tourist-packed intersections in the world: 42nd Street and Broadway, the heart of Times Square. Though it's technically within the Theater District, there is a corporate feel to the area. The extra-wide sidewalks in the area are tiled rather than paved, and the neighboring buildings feature open-air loggias conducive to smoking breaks and al fresco lunches. Street-food stands dot the sidewalks.

Not surprisingly, the neighborhood gets quieter at night than the touristy area just five minutes to the west. Still, safety shouldn't be much of an issue. The street is well lit, and plenty of corporate grinders catch cabs outside well into the night.

If you're visiting New York for fun, the Hilton is centrally located -- within 10 minutes of Midtown's most popular sites. The MOMA is right down the street; so is the Ed Sullivan Theater, home to Late Show with David Letterman. Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller Center, and most Broadway theaters are within five to 10 blocks. Central Park, five short blocks north, is equally accessible.

 Airport Transportation

New York City has three nearby airports: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Getting into town from JFK or LaGuardia is usually more convenient than from Newark, but travel times are heavily dependent on the time of day and traffic conditions. From JFK, a taxi to anywhere in Manhattan costs a flat rate of $45 and takes around an hour in average conditions. From LaGuardia, a metered cab ride to midtown Manhattan costs about $40 and can take 30 minutes if traffic is light, three times that if it's bad. Rides from Newark cost at least $40 plus tolls and can take more than 90 minutes. It's customary to tip your driver 15 to 25 percent.

Those looking to save some cash can use the privately run shuttle buses that are available at all three airports for about $14 per person. For more information on the shuttles, go to Super Shuttle or New York Airport Service. Public transit is also available for as little as $7 per person, but travel can take up to two hours and involve a lot of lugging bags up and down stairways.

For mass-transit directions right to the hotel, check out HopStop.com.

 Rooms

If you're like many people, you're generally satisfied with the basics: a bright, clean, comfortable room with a good shower and a nice bed. The rooms at the Hilton hit a few of those marks but not all.

The standard guest room is comparable in size to what you'd find at an NYC Marriott or Radisson. Besides the bed(s), you get a desk and a small sitting area, complete with an (uncomfortable) overstuffed chair. There's still plenty of room to maneuver about.

According to the website, the rooms "are beautifully decorated with solid maple woods and leather accents." I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on the solid maple woods (e.g., the beds' headboards), but if there were leather accents anywhere, I missed 'em. As for "beautifully decorated"? Only if your tastes run to earth-tone florals.

The "Serenity Beds" include down-filled comforters, "Touch of Down" brand pillows, and 250-thread-count sheets, but my mattress, a Serta from 2002, was too springy. The beds at the Marriotts I've stayed in have been much more comfortable.

The bathrooms are small and frills-free. Forget about the marble tubs mentioned on the website; mine was your basic white ceramic, marred by small mildew stains in the grout. The water pressure in the shower was mediocre at best, and the handle was difficult to adjust. Crabtree & Evelyn La Source bath products round out the mediocrity.

Amenities in the room include a minibar stocked with the usual, an iPod-compatible alarm clock radio, and Lavazza coffee and Bigelow tea. The TVs, 27-inch Philips tube sets, show about 40 channels, including two HBO channels. Wi-Fi is fast and reliable but costs an additional $15 a day for the most basic connection ($19 for premium broadband).

The hotel finished renovating its deluxe rooms in 2010, so be sure to book one if you want to be guaranteed a renovated room. The hotel is also renovating the rooms on its executive floor, which are expected to be done by early 2011. Rooms that have not been renovated, including the standard rooms, have seen better days.

 Features

The Hilton means business. As the host of hundreds of conferences and conventions a year, the hotel knows who butters its bread and has acted accordingly -- it boasts over 150,000 square feet of meeting space on the property. For more info on the hotel's group space, and on how to book it for meetings, conferences, or weddings, click here.

The highlight for non-business travelers (and let's face it, for many business travelers, too) will be the newly renovated 8,000-square-foot fitness center. The upside: dozens of beautiful new Precor machines of all kinds, plus several sets of free weights, personal trainers (available at additional cost), and personal TV screens for the cardio machines. The downside: they charge extra for all of it, which is rare in New York, and ridiculous if you ask me. It costs $15 per day, but you can get a discount if you're a Hilton Honors member. (As a "Blue" level member, I received five percent off, or 75 cents -- which was somehow more offensive than being charged in the first place.) The nickel-and-diming continues with the headsets for the cardio machines' TVs, which cost $3 (though the woman at the desk waived the charge for mine).

Wi-Fi is fast and reliable throughout the property, but it costs an additional $15 a day for the most basic connection (and $19 for premium broadband).

 Family

There are no kid-specific features here, and the corporate atmosphere isn't ideal for visiting families, but there's certainly no reason not to bring the little ones. The area is safe and wholesome enough, and the kids won't lack for external stimuli.

Rollaway beds cost $30 a night. For smaller children, cribs are available at no extra charge.

 Cleanliness

The rooms on floors 6 through 9 are the latest to be renovated. According to Mark Ricci, Hilton's director of communications in the northeast US and Canada, the remainder of the guest rooms will be renovated within the next two years.

My room, on the 36th floor, showed some wear and tear -- stains on the carpet and furniture, peeling wallpaper on the windowsill -- but nothing major; everything was functional and hygienic.

 Food

The buffet breakfast at the Marketplace is tasty but overpriced -- $35 for the full buffet, $19 for the cheapest option (which includes fruit, breads, cereal, etc). Instead, try one of the many diners in the area. This guest recommends Astro, just one block away.

For dinner, don't bother with the on-site restaurant, Etrusca. The service is good and the atmosphere is homey, but the food is mediocre, especially for the price. Appetizers run $17 to $18; pastas $20 to $25; and entrees $30 to $40. With tax and tip, I dropped $65 on halibut and a glass of wine. For better food at better rates, head west towards Times Square and try one of the cute little places in the Theater District.

There's also a Starbucks on-site, which I would say more about if it weren't for the fact that there's another one right across the street, and 169 more in Manhattan.

For the cheapest eats of all, try the street-food stands that dot the sidewalks on all sides of the hotel. You'll find falafel, hot dogs, and more. For this guest, it was the gastronomic highlight of her trip: "The vendors told us that the food was Egyptian, and I'm salivating just remembering how good it tasted."

 Bottom Line

Home to the most rooms (almost 2,000) and conference space (150,000 square feet) of any hotel in the city, the Hilton is well equipped to handle the hundreds of conventions it hosts each year. But "well equipped" is not the same as "welcoming" -- its nickel-and-diming, dated standard rooms, and corporate vibe make for an impersonal, generic experience.