We stayed over Easter, paid a little more than some reviewers but still enjoyed our stay. Reception staff werent very friendly on check in, but the hotel was over booked and they tried to put us in a lower grade room than we had paid for. We refused and after a delay the situation was eventually resolved by the Duty Manager. Our room was on the 34th floor and as noted by a previous reviewer it does have a constant buzzing noise. The bed was very comfortable, a little disappointed that even in a junior suite the shower & bath were combined. The view over the city was nice but if you looked down it was Ground Zero and very depressing. Even more so the numbers of tourists who come each day to stare and take photos quite macabre.
Food and drink is very expensive in New York but Church & Dey restaurant was quite good and compared well for value to other restaurants in the area eg; The Palm Restaurant in nearby Tribeca is nothing special yet expect to pay (before taxes etc) Steak $45 and $10-$15 for each side order.
Biddy Earlys Irish pub is neither authentic nor friendly. I was born quite close to where Biddy Early, the wise woman from Co Clare lived so I was very excited to experience some Irish hospitality. I have never seen black/white pudding like the burnt offerings we received, there are no facilities to make tea and the coffee was cold. Not very friendly either and we were the only patrons there. The kitchen seem to be run by what appeared to be South American staff, so not terribly authentic.
The Hotel is ideally situated for the subway which connects with the sky train for JFK. Daily unlimited tickets for the subway cost just $7.50 or $25 for 5 days. The shuttle from JFK costs $19 but took one and half hours.
When it rains it seems to last all day and when the sun shines there is an icy wind, its still winter in New York.
I would return to this hotel but only when reminders of mass grave at Ground Zero are gone
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