My girlfriend and I had a very enjoyable stay at the Doubletree over Easter. Easy and friendly check in after having to wait for 90 minutes at JFK customs (doh - "easter kind of took us by surprise with all these people travelling"....)
Location is fine, and though the street the hotel is in is a little dowdy the area of town seemed perfectly safe. Some complain about the walk to Times Square? it's a short walk. And the subway is just two blocks south for travelling further afield (though cross town travelling on NY subway is pretty hopeless - why does everything run uptown/downtown?!! I'm probably not the first person to think that the subway could have been planned a lot better, but it's extremely cheap ($26 for a week) and clean.
The hotel is two blocks from Madison Square Gardens, and after we booked we found that Springsteen had decided to play MSG - shortest walk ever to a concert.
The hotel staff were very friendly - always a smile (hint to others - treat people with common courtesy - it works wonders). We got 3 breakfasts for free on check in when I claimed that my girlfriend (who is a Hilton) was Paris' long lost British cousin. Not that they believed me, but a nice touch.
Room was small I guess, but perfectly fine, and the bed was large and very comfortable. Maids were good, a little late in doing the room one day, but it was done. The aircon was effective but noisy so mid summer may prove noisy to sleep to. The lifts do have a bit of a wait sometimes, but not really a problem. Free and fast wifi, internet access and a printer in the lobby.
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