We generally stay at Casablanca, which was full and selected this hotel based on trip adviser reviews and were disappointed.
Pros:
Clean
Pleasant people at reception
Hot cider in lobby at night
Decent location for walking to theater
Nice view from 32 floor
No street noise
Cons:
Small rooms, even for NY, room we had was considered "larger"
Bad customer service experience (explained below)
Mediocre cafe style paid breakfast restaurant
No lobby/public rooms to speak of
Weird, crinkly sheets and douvet covers; literally any movement from another kept you up
LOUD noise in halls, no soundproofing on interior walls, could hear every door shut, every conversation-- neighbors asked us to please close our door softly.
We were stunned at the poor customer service. It started great-- I posted a note on facebook saying we were excited about trying the hotel and they posted back that they wanted to make our experience even better than we expected so they upgraded our two double bed room for four people to two separate rooms. We were excited! However, when we arrived we were held up for an hour because they had given our room to someone with the same last name (spelled differently) who checked in at the same time-- and mixed up credit cards. Then they checked us into the two promised rooms (one paid, one comp) and tried to charge us for both. We explained that the second was an upgrade given to us from the manager-- they checked facebook and said yes, that was correct. We settled into our rooms, then got a call to go downstairs and speak with reception. We were told that the system would not accept a comp room for the three nights we were booked but that since they had promised us the extra room, we would definitely have it, he just had to check with the district manager, worst case would be to get it through the system by lowering the room rates so the total cost only equaled the one room we originally booked. An hour later they call again to say it was someone's error and that person is in trouble but we'd have to move back to one room for two nights of our stay, they can only comp one night. Yes, the original comp was very generous, but it was their error and they should have honored the promise-- it turned out to be extremely inconvenient to unpack, then have to pack up again, plus the whole dance ended up costing us a couple of hours of a weekend stay and unneeded aggravation. Bottom line: if you are staying in times square, book the Casa Blanca early-- bigger, more comfortable rooms, quieter, free excellent breakfast, lots of comfy public space, better location, and REAL customer service!
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