I believe that this hotel will be within a block of Starwood's new Four Points by Sheraton Midtown. There's been some very active conversation in the Starwood forum about the neighborhood. Many are very comfortable with it; others find it marginal. My take is that the area is in the early stages of regentrification. If you want to read more about the neighborhood, check out:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...er-thread.html