Captain Canuck

I was just here last week for 3 days and was pretty happy with my stay. Initially I was upgraded to a Deluxe Corner King on the 26th floor. I went up to the room after checking in and neither of my 2 keys would work, so back to the lobby I went. After a minute or two of playing around on her system, the young lady who checked me in initially handed me a new set of keys and said "try this room". Up to the 40th floor I went to find a nice one bedroom suite with a huge living room, couch and table, It was a corner suite with great views North & West.

I selected the breakfast as my amenity and was given a voucher for the restaurant on the main floor for 2 people, each of the 3 days I stayed. Did not see any specialty eggs - just scrambled & boiled, but overall a good assortment to choose from. Coffee & Juice included, but again did not see any specialty coffees and did not bother to ask.

Was not aware of the $30 spend per night, but did see it as a charge on my bill. I would go back if rates were reasonable.

CC

ElevatorEnthusiast

Apologies in advance as this might be a long post, but I was very excited and nervous to try out the Westin Times Square 10 years after my first ever visit to NYC in 2012 where I stayed at none other than, the Westin Times Square. I was able to find a single photo of the two-bed room that my family and I shared on the 45th floor. As an elevator enthusiast, I loved getting to rocket up to the top floor day after day. What I can say after my stay last night is that some things have changed in 10 years and some things have stayed remarkably the same. Reviews of this property on both Google and TripAdvisor tend to be relatively mixed/negative, so I was nervous that this was going to be a negative experience (similar to the one I had the day before at a NYC property that I had to depart 20 minutes after I arrived). However, what I found was an imperfect property with some definite oddities and misses that also got a lot of things right. I would not hesitate to return.

Here are my pros, oddities, cons, notes, and photos:

Pros:

• Upgraded about 5 days in advance to a Premium Corner King (no further upgrades offered when asked at check-in - despite Junior Suites showing up earlier that day) - however, when I got to my room, I think they obviously placed me in a very good room that was probably better than the Junior Suites that looked to be facing the opposite direction based on the fire map
• Views from my bathroom and bedroom were stunning - clean exterior glass gave way to amazing views of Midtown, Billionaire's Row, Times Square, and the Empire State Building
• Room was overall clean - very clean mattress underside, for example
• Bed was another fantastically comfortable Heavenly Bed - plush mattress, thick covers (including Heavenly duvet), and feather pillows that gave way less than they looked like they would
• Shower had good pressure for a Heavenly shower and had a unique wand with multiple settings
• TV was updated with the latest version of the Internet TV OS - score!
• I've never seen a cleaner armchair - couldn't find a single crumb in the crevices
• Ruby Refresher suggested by the bartender after I asked for something fruity (to use the $30 daily credit from the $30 destination fee) was delicious and honestly got me really tipsy (though, I don't drink often)
• Elite breakfast (higher cost than $30 DF credit) is a full buffet for 2 people and was pretty good - nothing amazing, but the conveyor belt pancakes and make-your-own waffles matched well with pretty tasty bacon - no check to sign with Elite voucher
• Service at breakfast was great - offered a to-go box to fill up since I didn't have anyone joining me for breakfast - friendly waiter
• No issue with 4 PM late checkout
• Housekeeping called me around 11 AM to ask if I needed any towels, waters, service, etc. (very nice of them - first time I've ever seen this on a late checkout day) - they didn't ask when I was leaving, so I don't think that was the point
• Only thing more Heavenly than the bed is the Otis Luxury hall chime on these elevators - so pleasant - glad they haven't changed these in the last 10 years!

Oddities:

• Only three hangers in the closet
• Most of the drawers acted like they were going to fall out if pulled too far
• One of the layers on the bed was a brown motel-style blanket - the Heavenly duvet was thick, so not sure why this was needed, but it didn't touch me or anything

Cons:

• Front desk service could use a bit of happiness - very transactional (though, at least, they were proactive and asked about late checkout)
• Elite line at front desk is a mess - most of the agents just pull from the normal line - I'd wait in the normal line - it seemed to go faster (especially when the agent in front of the elite line was dealing with someone with multiple rooms and declining cards)
• No convenient electrical outlets - most along the windows - only one that was easily accessible was by the coffee maker

Notes:

• I've never seen a hotel so busy without an obvious conference - there weren't even any big events going on, but it was very obvious from the elevators, restaurant, bar, lobby, and DND signs that the hotel was quite full for a Sunday night

Again, despite the oddities, I would definitely return.

Photo from 2012 (my first trip to NYC):



Photos from Today:

DELee

Naw. Housekeeping, while being polite, was testing to see if the room was still occupado.

David

p.s. great report and pics!

ElevatorEnthusiast

Here I am thinking I was special - perhaps, the Ruby Refresher left me with delusions of grandeur :-)

DELee

Well, if you keep going back, they'll certainly remember.

David

flyme2

Hahaha. No delusions of grandeur, EE. We all know you are a special guest, it's just a matter of communicating that to the properties in question.
We must have missed each other by a week. I passed by the Westin innumerable times on my way to and from the Millennium Hilton at One UN Plaza or the Capital Grille at the Chrysler Center. That hotel holds a sentimental significance, as my late wife and I stayed there regularly from way back when it was a Hyatt. It's positively serene, compared to the Westin.

ElevatorEnthusiast

There definitely isn't anything serene about the Westin Times Square - the area reminds me a bit of the walk through Quartier des Spectacles that you and I had last month. Though, I much preferred the impromptu street dance parties we witnessed vs. the tour bus ticket salespeople that surround the Westin :-)

flyme2

Honestly, sometimes I miss the old seedy 42nd Street during my visits as a teenager with friends back in the early 70's. You can imagine the excitement it held for the randy 16 year olds we were on our first trip sans parental supervision. These days I avoid Times Square more often than not. All those friggin' tourists!

DELee

So just noticed the metal hardware at the bottom of the windows shown above - were those latches to be able to open the windows?

David

ElevatorEnthusiast

I believe they could tilt open, yes.