Introduction

After our, well, disturbing flight from Seattle to New York, our first stop in New York was at our hotel. While in New York, we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn New York Midtown -- Park Avenue (they apparently could not have thought of a shorter name. Given that our flight landed at 7am, we could not check-in when we arrived at the hotel, but we wanted to drop off our bags.

Check In

As we took the red-eye into New York from Seattle, we arrived at the hotel very early. The plan was to drop off our bags and explore. At the Hilton Garden Inn it is free to drop off your bag before check-in, but if you want them to hold it after check out it is $2 a bag (still not bad). 

Check-In is at three, but we asked if early check in would be available for our room later (we were tired and felt gross). They were not sure at the time if early checkin would be avaiable and told us to call them around noon. 

Unfortunately early checkin was not available that day, but what was worse our room was not actually ready until close to 4. 1 hour after checkin. It is not the end of the world, but we were hoping our room would have been prioritized because we got there so early.

Location

The Hilton Garden Inn is located in Manhattan on Park Avenue. Most importantly it is right across the street from a subway station. The only train that departs from the station is the 6, but it is also just a short 7 minute walk to a major subway station that should get you just about anywhere. One of the great things about a trip to a city with great public transportation, is it really doesn't matter where you stay (so long as it is safe). With a great subway system like New York's, you are typically a reasonable ride to anywhere you could want to go. This really opens up where you can stay, and allows you to save significant money by going outside of the city center.

Room

We booked a King Room, and that is precisely what we got. Our room was relatively small and consisted of a king size bed. The bed was extremely comfortable, and the comforter was nice and cozy. I typically have trouble sleeping unless the bed was just to my liking, and this bed was perfect. I slept like a baby.

A small dresser/desk area which the the extremely small television sat on, which also housed a mini fridge.

The entryway contained a closet and the entrance to the bathroom.

While I did not, manage to take any pictures of the bathroom, it was much of what you would expect. The bathroom was a decent size with a shower tub combo and stone countertops. The shower had great water pressure, and the water got nice and hot.

Overall, the room was very standard. This is why I don't fully understand people who only stay at major chain hotels. A hotel, is a hotel, and typically chain hotels are more expensive than smaller boutique hotels in the area. Boutique hotels are as nice as chain hotels, especially you are only in the hotel to sleep.

Overall

Hilton Garden Inn Midtown is very solid hotel and for $86/Night an absolute steal for a 4-star hotel in Manhattan. While there is nothing spectacular about this hotel, the bed is extremely comfortable, it is spotless, and it is in a great location.