Well, you can't beat this location, that's for sure. Walking into the W Times Square right off of Times Square, is a stupendous lobby. We were checked in by a smiling staff member (not as rare as one might think in New York City these days) and soon found ourselves checked into a room with apologies about an upgrade not being available (I am a Starwood Platinum member). During check-in, I pryed a bit and found out this used to be the Planet Hollywood hotel. I didn't even know such a place existed.

The hallways that led to my room are a little narrow and dark.

As seems to be the tradition in W hotels, the bathroom does not offer much privacy, with only frosted glass between that and the bedroom. The door is sliding and doesn't appear to lock or seal. Only a shower in the bathroom, which is fine since I don't use bathtubs in hotel rooms anyway (and I'd imagine very few do!). There was a "welcome amenity" in my room consisting of a martini glass full of jelly beans. Woohoo. The bathroom was not very well kept nor was the furniture in the room. And did I mention it was small small? The bathroom amenities were Bliss Spa brand and housekeeping a good job of keeping them fresh.

We received a call the next day from the front desk informing us that a suite was available, and would we like to move. Is the Pope a Catholic? The suite was on the 44th floor and had multiple bathrooms, a large couch, desk and electronic amenities. The separate bedroom had a king-size bed and a dresser. There was a flat screen TV hanging on the wall and a satellite radio. Because of the bright flashing lights on Times Square, it was nice to have good heavy curtains to block out the light.

As far as other things going on in the hotel, there is free wifi in the public spaces, which is welcome. The bar scene appeared to be fairly active with dancing and such. The prices were not cheap, but then what is in New York! There were a lot of 20-somethings living it up. As for the concierge staff, they didn't seem to knowledgable or willing to help us out with anything. Snooty.

At check out, I had to spend quite a while arguing with the front desk staff about a telephone charge on my room bill that was NOT mine. They eventually agreed to remove it. So... would I stay at this hotel again? I'll probably try another Starwood property in the city first. Although you can't beat location, and I did receive fairly good service on occasion, they still have a lot of kinks to work out of the hotel property, and achieve more consistency in their service delivery.

Review by George B.

Posted at May 22, 2006 10:32 PM