The Empire Hotel

Good time in NYC - usually stay downtown but there is so much to do in this area as well

Checked in late at night. Staff was fast, friendly and helpful in guiding us to nearby late eats.

Facilities were very clean, great view of the city. The maids missed cleaning our room one of the days, but staff was very prompt in bringing needed towels.

Beautifully furnished hotel with a quasi-luxurious feel. However, the standard queen room is NOT designed for two people! My daughter & I had to dance around each other. Bathroom was extremely small & came with a pet cockroach. No dresser with drawers. No ice machine; you have to get thru room service. No free wi-fii; cost was high. Staff was very courteous.

The toilet was clogged. No light on the night table. They lost my pajamas. Very aggravating experience.

This was a perfect location, close to downtown, Amtrak and shopping

When I arrived at the hotel, a gentleman at the front desk told me I canceled the reservation (not true). After 20 min. another room was given to me. I was told it was an upgrade (they did not mention it was on the smoking floor/smoking room). The hotel was extremely hot-many guests agreed. Could not regulate the cool air. Guests had their windows open. The location was wonderful. Not sure I would stay there again.

We had a nice time visiting NYC and this hotel was a great choice. I liked the location and the decor is very chic. It was especially nice to have the rooftop pool and outdoor space to use for lounging around. The only issue we had was that the picture Orbitz uses to show the King Junior Suite is misleading. It appears that you'll have 2 seperate rooms from the picture but in actuality it's one larger room with a bed and a pullout couch. This is called the junior suite. The regular suite is what the picture is of and that has a seperate bedroom where the doors close. We were informed by staff that they don't even sell the regular suite rooms on Orbitz.

We booked the Empire Hotel along with a few other couples based off of one of the other couple's past experience. They felt that the quality of service and facilities have declined and our experience seemed to verify that. Maybe they are relying off something besides service, amenities and value. During our stay, there were times where only one of four elevators were working for an 11 story hotel. The one elevator working had a temporary sign asking for 7 persons or less so most people were stranded until there was a later elevator so the elevator would not get stuck as it was reported to have happened several times to different folks. The bell service was bad and our bags were never taken out of or placed into the cab on arrival or departure and no one ever asked if they could take or remove bags to our room. Half way through our stay, we had our young children meet us in NYC so had requested far in advance that we have adjoining or adjacent rooms and I reminded them when we checked in to plan on that in a few days so we would not have to move again. Of course, this was not planned for and we had to check out at 11 am to check in to another room and floor even though many people were also checking out on that Sunday on our same floor. When we re-checked in at 4 pm, our requested adjoining or adjacent rooms were 10 rooms apart on different wings. This was totally screwed up and we had to split up the parents to stay with the individual children. We went in early August and the rooms never cooled properly on the coldest AC level. The second room we checked into did not have a clock and after a few calls to get one, they said one was not available. One of the couples we went with called four times for a toothbrush, and was finally told on the fourth time after waiting that they didn't have any. Fitness room was very limited with one set of dumbbells. The pool was very small, dirty and cold so we never attempted to get in it. The rooms and bathrooms were small. Maid service was decent and our room was clean. We did get a discount on the portion of the trip made through their hotel site after a group of us complained about having to walk down so many floors which added to value. Unfortunately, we pre-paid on Orbitz for a portion of the trip and they said they could not give discount on that portion.

The hotel lobby was very inviting with two floors of seating. Some private areas to relax and visit with family and friends. Very comfortable ambiance.The staff was friendly and accommodating. The down side, double rooms were very small.