I don't expect a lot from a Midtown hotel, but the Paramount still managed to disappoint. We reserved a room with two queen beds for a three-day weekend. We arrived Thursday night and were given an interior room (it did have a window, I suppose...that opened onto an airshaft) that reeked of smoke. The room was so small it could not fit any furniture beyond the two beds. The bathroom door bumped one of the beds when you opened it. We called down immediately to ask for a new room, which we were given. The new room was slightly larger (room for one chair in addition to the beds) and at least on an exterior wall with a real window. But it begs the question as to why we weren't given the best available room to begin with. It's never a good beginning when you realize you stand in an antagonistic position to the hotel: you get the distinct feeling they are trying to sucker you and daring you to complain. Unpleasant.
The room we ended up in was clean and serviceable, though quite small for the price. The Paramount's competitors in Midtown offer larger rooms at a similar price point, at least in my experience. The design of the rooms is quite good, though, showing some clever space-planning in tight quarters, and the linens were decent quality. Though the location right off Times Square is likely good for many tourists, and it is certainly close to Midtown attractions, theaters, and transportation, I found the train station-like bustle of the lobby to be uncomfortable. The hipper-than-thou attitude they're going for is also a little silly, particularly when most people in the lobby are clearly tourists and not particularly chic. Is it really necessary to keep the hallways in a perpetual darkness? Are they hiding something? I did like that there was a Dean & Deluca coffee shop just off the lobby, though.
But my main complaint was that they are apparently renovating the gym and don't make that fact clear. There was no indication on the website that the hotel did not have an operational gym - in fact I looked it up ahead of time to make sure there was a gym so I knew whether it made sense to bring gym clothes. No one mentioned when I was checking in that the gym was not open. It was only the next morning, when I followed signs to the gym only to walk into a large, completely empty room that I discovered there was no gym. I had to flag down a waiter at the bar to ask what was going on, and he explained that I could get a pass to a Bally's four blocks away. Great. Despite the rather inconvenient distance to this replacement gym, I was going to take them up on the offer over the weekend...only I discovered (by looking it up myself) that this gym did not open till nine am (!) on weekends. Highly inconvenient when you have a limited amount of time and a full day planned.
So ultimately the Paramount was serviceable, if slightly irritating. I had a decent drink at the bar, the lobby has a slick sort of appeal, our room was fine, and the location is quite convenient. But the rooms are small relative to the hotel's competition, and, despite one decent front desk interaction (when I forgot my key, the woman was quite helpful) the overall impression I got was that I was one of a faceless, nameless herd to be gotten in and gotten out as quickly as possible. I ended my stay feeling vaguely snookered and definitely as though the hotel was not a great value.
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