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Ahhhh – The Big Apple.
I love New York City. There are endless options when it comes to stylish neighborhoods, incredible hotels, and endless luxury. But, nothing is quite like staying in Times Square. Within minutes of walking through your hotel lobby you could be watching some of the best theatre in the world. And that’s exactly why we chose to spend a night there. We’d scored amazing seats to Waitress ( which was incred) and we wanted to stay near the theatre. The Intercontinental New York Times Square had competitive rates would give me a needed stay requirement for my killer Accelerate offer – so we locked down it down.
The Deets:
- When: October 2017
- Where: New York Times Square
- Status: IHG Platinum
- Benefits: Check in Bonus
- Upgrade to Deluxe King
Check-In
Tucked off of 8th Avenue, on 44th, you’ll find a bevy of bellhops who will open the door and lead you straight to the check-in desk. Unfortunately, at 1:30pm, our room wasn’t ready and we were told our room should be available within the hour. So we moseyed around Hell’s kitchen for 45 minutes and returned. Bingo. Our room was ready and we headed on up.
The Room: Deluxe King
Overlooking 8th Ave, it was light filled and large for New York standards. Having just come from the Dream Downtown ( which was a postage stamp room) it seemed like a mansion. The hotel rises high above Times Square and depending on which side of the hotel your room faces you’ll have a variety of vies. As we were planning on being out and about in the area, seeing shows, etc – it was a nice upgrade from our entry level room, but we weren’t willing to pay the premium for a better view.
The Bathroom was fresh, felt newly remodeled, and had a great rain shower with plenty of space. The room featured luxury products from Agraria which is standard fare for the Intercontinental brand.
The Gym
The hotel has quite a bit of conference space so you know that the hotel is hosting large groups of people which typically means the gym should be up to snuff. And it was. Not only did it have sufficient cardio, but it had plenty of free weight, cables, and other weight lifting apparatus.
Overall:
Staying in Times Square isn’t for everyone. It’s crowded, busy, and full of tourists. But, if you’ve never been to New York before…I’d highly recommend staying there. You want to feel the buzz of the city that never sleeps. I’ve stayed at tons of hotels in New York, all across the City, including the Marriott Marquis at Times Square. Personally I’d choose the Intercontinental over the Marriott Marquis purely because of the confusing elevator system at the Marriott Marquis.
I enjoyed staying at the hotel, and if you can snag this for around $200 – it’s quite a deal.
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I prefer the IC Barclay close to Grand Central Station. I’ve often been able to find sub $200 rates there especially during the winter months.
Stayed last Summer as I had friend with me who had not been to the US before let alone NYC. Never again! Just couldn’t avoid the tourist crush from Times Square (yuck) and to be blunt I thought the IC was a bed factory – very poor in the way of public space and amenities if you ask me. I agree the rooms are a good size and again I got a very good rate. NYC has much better options as far as I’m concerned, although if you want to use the E train to JFK or are seeing a show this is well located.