As stimpy mentioned, the hardware is high-end and definitely 5* (room size is relative in New York versus other markets) so the hotel being an Inter-Continental is absolutely justified by that standard.

The staff and service is ... well just very, very patchy and "uneven" in my book if I can call it that. Inconsistency is the name of the game and the moments were things go "splendid" are exceedingly rare from my own stays and the many reports here in the thread.