The W Times Square is aptly named. It's at the corner of Broadway and 47th Street and one couldn't ask for a more convenient location for theater-going.
The hotel is stylish to a fault, with a design concept that often places more importance on form than function. The relatively new W Leicester Square in London subscribes to the same philosophy, so I assume this is characteristic of the chain. The place feels more like a nightclub than a hotel, and while this makes for a chic and edgy atmosphere, it's not always optimal if you place a high value on comfort and convenience.
The street entrance feels (literally) cool, as you step into a foyer comprising a glass cube with water pouring over it from above and a bank of elevators at the rear. While there are bellmen outside at the street, there are no staff members inside the actual entrance, which might seem more "cold" than "cool" to some.
The elevator ride from the ground level takes you up to the seventh floor, which is referred to as "the lounge" (in any other hotel, this would be called the lobby). Once again, there's that air of cool detachment, as there are no staff members in view when one exits the elevator; it feels more like you've walked into a trendy nightspot (hence the "lounge" moniker), albeit one that is curiously devoid of patrons. To check in, you must go to the far left side of the space, through a colonnade of sorts, where the front desk is somewhat tucked away. The right side of the lobby is largely occupied by an actual bar. The entire space is dimly lit, which works in the evening but feels depressing during daylight hours. The front desk staff was adequate, i.e., they were reasonably friendly and professional, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that I felt valued.
After checking in, you must go around the back of the first bank of elevators and take a second bank of elevators to the guest rooms. Lounge-type music plays in all elevators at all times. Once again, this works in the evening but can be off-puttting in the morning. The interior hallways are dark and very chilly.
We had booked two non-smoking rooms for four nights and requested that they connect or adjoin. We also had a total of four reservations because the first three nights were booked with an offer code that required the final night to be booked separately. We were advised at check in that there would be no need to check out and back in for the final night, but the room keys were nonetheless invalidated on the third morning and we had to go down to the front desk and have new ones made. Our rooms did connect, which we very much appreciated, but only one of them proved to be a non-smoking room. This was disappointing, but we didn't ask to be moved because we suspected that doing so might cost us the proximity we'd requested.
The rooms are not large, but they're not small by New York standards. Continuing the overall design aesthetic, they are furnished and decorated with trendy touches which again call to mind a chic nightclub. The beds and pillows are quite comfortable and the fairly large television is well-placed. Overall, the rooms were clean but beginning to show signs of wear (e.g., small stains and scuffs). The exterior surfaces of the windows were filthy, but I suppose it must be difficult to keep the windows of a skyscraper clean with so much renovation and construction going on all around. The closet is fairly small but lighted on the inside, and it contains an electronic safe. The bathroom is beautiful, but form trumps function as the walls are made of frosted glass panes that allow anyone in the bedroom to see the bathroom occupant in silhouette (this may be discomfiting to some). The walls of the rooms could use a bit more insulation, as a shower running in the adjoining room sounds like it's in your room. The climate control system insists on maintaining a very specific temperature, so if you set it to 72 degrees and the temperature drops to 71 during the night, the heater comes on. We found this maddening, and the only way to get around it was to turn the A/C off completely.
All guest rooms contain a snack bar which I recommend you don't go anywhere near if you'd prefer to avoid a shock at check out, but that's typical of hotel room snack bars and not altogther surprising. The real surprise is the in-room WiFi - there is a per-use charge! We found this shocking in a property of this caliber and price point. Complimentary in-room WiFi is virtually standard in most upscale hotels today, and there are other Starwood properties within a couple of blocks of this location that offer this service. To add insult to injury, the front desk will not even print airline boarding passes for you; you must go to the business center on the fifth floor, where you will be charged for this service as well! We were appalled.
The W Times Square is an attractive property in a prime location, but it doesn't quite offer sufficient value for the price. When I hear "Whenever/Wherever", I don't expect a printout of my boarding pass to be too much to ask.
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