The traffic noise I was able to hear from my room was louder than the noise at any NYC hotel in which I have stayed in my lifetime (and I've probably stayed 100+ nights in NYC, not including a short stint where I rented an apartment in the city for a couple of months). My guess as to why the noise was so bad was that I was given a room on the 3rd floor that was situated on a corner overlooking Madison and 29th, so I could hear the noise from two different directions. (I called the front desk a few minutes after checking into my room to ask for a room on a higher floor, but they told me the only room available was one that was on the 4th floor, so I declined to switch, although in retrospect it might have been worth a shot).
Even though I had an important business conference to attend in the morning, I couldn't fall asleep until about 3:45 a.m. (The only thing that helped was a sleep-sounds app that I downloaded using the hotel's free Wi-Fi). Then, at 5:40 a.m., I woke up to the sound of faucets turning on and off water from the room above mine (it was so loud that I literally jumped up thinking someone was in my room). This noise continued for about 10 minutes--- the water turning onnnnnnnnnnnnnn, the water turning off, the water turning onnnnnnnnnnnn, the water turning off, etc. I didn't fall back asleep until about 6:45 a.m., and I had to wake up a short time after that.
Needless to say, I was exhausted at my conference the next morning.
I do NOT recommend staying at this hotel unless you can guarantee a room on a high floor and/or a room that does not overlook Madison (and even then, I am not sure how to deal with the problem of the noise from the faucets). It would probably be a good idea to also avoid a corner room.
On the positive side, the room was decorated nicely and the bed was relatively comfortable ( the rooms had clearly been remodeled recently). I just wish the hotel would have invested additional money in insulation/soundproofing.
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