Oops, I did it again. Despite wanting to try a hotel brand other than Hyatt or Hilton for a quick trip to New York City, I couldn’t resist booking the Hyatt adjacent to Times Square. It looked fantastic, and knowing what I know about how consistently good Hyatt can be (especially in tourist areas), it was an absolute no-brainer.
A full review of my 1 night stay at the Hyatt Times Square in New York City
Honestly, I wasn’t anxious at all as the taxi driver sped and weaved his way through Manhattan traffic. I had full confidence that the Hyatt Times Square was going to be a good hotel, and (as expected) I wasn’t disappointed as we pulled up to the main entrance. It looked very high-end (and stylish) from the outside.
The lobby
The main lobby was nothing like I had seen in a Hyatt before. Don’t get me wrong – it looked fantastic. I guess I wasn’t expecting something like you’d see at an Aloft property, that’s all. Anyway, the lobby was small and crowded – a far cry from the huge lobby of the Grand Hyatt at the Incheon Airport in Seoul.
The style and design of this Hyatt was on-point. Every little detail looked as if someone thought really hard about it, which makes the designer in me a happy guy. This was nothing like the cheap-looking lobby of the Bellingham Holiday Inn Express I recently stayed at (which didn’t match the style and sophistication of the guest rooms).
Getting to my room
The view
The room
My room was 3009, which was on the 30th floor with a decent view of the city. And since it was located so close to Times Square, I did have to deal with some of the bright neon lights flashing on the walls all night even though the curtains were fully closed. But it wasn’t overly annoying. I was still able to sleep very soundly.
The bathroom
The restaurant
The attached restaurant was pretty good as well. I had thought about ordering room service for dinner on my only night here, but I wasn’t in the mood to pay the ridiculous fees for it. I trudged on down to the restaurant, which ended up being a pretty good decision. The atmosphere was nice and the food was good!
I had planned to have breakfast the next morning in that same restaurant, but I was being lazy and I woke up a bit later than I had hoped to. Therefore, I decided to skip it and just head to the airport instead. They would have food there, for certain.
Final thoughts
The density of hotels in Manhattan is simply mind blowing. It’s pretty much impossible to make a bad choice due to the sheer amount of competition between them, so any hotel that is sub par doesn’t usually last long in environments such as this. That’s awesome for travelers – but stressful as all heck for the property owners (I’m sure).
I would highly recommend the Hyatt Times Square to anyone traveling to New York. The location is pretty much perfect – it’s not right in the heart of Times Square, but the fact that it’s two blocks away means that it is much quieter than it would be if it was situated right in the middle of that chaos. I’d definitely stay here again!