Have done two one night stays here this month. Both times, as a Plat, I have been pre-upgraded to a suite (showed up online when checking the reservation).

My first stay was great -- was booked in 510 (I think). The suites are sort of like Embassy Suites-type rooms -- a smallish bedroom near the window, a smallish sitting room near the door, and a bathroom in between that creates a hallway. They don't have real doors between the two rooms, but the separation's pretty good. I would wager that they have a lot of these rooms due to the shape of the building -- really the only way to use up the space in the "stairstepped" lower portion of the building. If I had one complaint, it'd be that the sitting room is quite dark, and all the lights have sickly compact fluorescents. But the huge TV makes up for it.

My recent stay was less pleasant. I checked in later, and got room 304, which is actually a two bedroom suite. It was composed of a room like 510, with double beds in the bed area, plus a second bedroom to the side of (and the same size as) the sitting area. That bedroom had a king bed, and connected to a quite large terrace. Really a very nice room.

Unfortunately, the last room on the hallway -- at least on 3 -- is adjacent to the mechanical shaft for the service elevator, and the noise from same made the terrace-adjacent bedroom completely unusable. After sitting through a few hours of mechanical hums and crashes, I ended up sleeping on one of the double beds. A little too long, in fact, because the alarm clock had AM and PM switched, and never went off. At times like these, I really wish SPG would standardize on a custom, tamper-resistant clock like Hilton's that prevents such nonsense.

Aside from that, I found the hotel pleasant enough, though my standards for NYC are low in most respects. Everything was well maintained and very much in keeping with Sheraton's latest brand standards. I didn't use the pool or fitness center, but they looked very nice. My interaction with the lounge was limited to grabbing a couple of Diet Cokes before leaving, but it was at least roomy. Parking is $39 if you have it room billed, but they do offer you the option of paying cash for less -- and there is a lot down the block that appears to be cheaper if you want to take a chance.

So I guess the moral of the story is, say no to room 304! Otherwise, I wouldn't hesitate (as a Plat at least) to return.