Westin New York Times Square

What a disappointment. I actually very rarely write online reviews, but if I can save just one person from wasting their money on this hotel, then my work on this planet is done. We travelled to New York City to get married, thus this was a once in a lifetime trip. Unfortunately, we had several issues with the Westin. Lack of basic courtesy: - We booked our room and then wondered if the Westin could do anything to make our stay a bit more memorable, so we emailed 10 days ahead of our arrival to ask for an upgrade. We received no response. Whilst I was not expecting for our request to be fulfilled – we were travelling during a long weekend, and so it is likely the hotel was full – I do at least expect a reply; this is just basic courtesy. Poor value destination fee and rude staff: - We fully expected to pay the destination fee, as is standard in North America. However, this was very poorly explained to us. When we asked for clarification, we were spoken to in a most rude and patronising fashion. Generally, quite a few of the staff to be abrupt and barely hospitable. And with regards to the destination fee, you get very little for your money. It encompasses $35 per day of food from the hotel. However, the prices are so high, and very poor value - $22 for sausage, bacon and eggs that tasted like Playdough. But what is worse are the hidden extra fees - $9 delivery fee! $9 for the hotel staff to pick up the food, and make the 5-minute trip in the lift to our room. When you add this to the cost of the poor-quality food, and the taxes, you are way over the $35 allowance, which means you cannot even get one meal for this. All these fees meant we could not tip the staff as much as we would have liked to. I’d suggest to the Westin that they scrap the delivery fee, and let us tip your staff!! Now, if you order food and then go down to collect it, there is still a service charge!! And many items are not even made by the Westin – we ordered a fruit smoothie, thinking it would be freshly made, only to have one of those bottled Naked Smoothies delivered to us – for $11!! Plus a delivery fee! Nonsensical fridge policy with undisclosed charge - There is also a bizarre policy over the use of the fridge, including charges we were not told about. My sister, who was staying in a separate room, did have a fridge on her arrival. The next day, the staff had taken it! My sister rang down and asked where it had gone. The receptionist told her that since the pandemic, they were no longer allowed to provide a minibar service. My sister explained that she didn’t want any alcohol, just the fridge, and that it had been removed with no explanation. The receptionist then told her there was a $22 charge for it!! Restaurant staff are rude and clueless - My sister was staying with her 4-year-old son. When we arrived for breakfast on our first day, we were told that children under 5 would get breakfast for free. However, the next morning, we were charged $17 for it. We explained that were told under-5s eat for free, and the staff argued with us saying, “yes, but sometimes we charge the full price.” This makes no sense! Do the staff just randomly decide when to charge and when not to?? Eventually, the staff agreed that they would not charge for my nephew. Good things: the rooms are clean and nice. We had a good view of the Empire State Building. You can’t beat the location – yes Times Square is a commercial cesspool, but it still has a certain magic. And of course, its easy to get to the other hotspots of Manhattan from there. The destination fee is not just for food; it allows you access to some tours, but there is not really much choice over this; and we were so disheartened with the service that we did not want to explore these further. We still had a great trip and wonderful wedding. But the Westin Times Square is more like a 2-star hotel, rather than the 4 star one it advertises itself to be. Definitely not worth the hundreds of dollars per night we spent on our stay there. I feel like this hotel takes advantage of the thousands of tourists that come to Times Square and ratchets its prices as high as possible whilst doing away with basics like courtesy, manners and value for money. Unless you really need to be in the heart of Times Square, I suggest finding a hotel elsewhere in midtown. Read less

I visited this westin new york times square hotel in march for my son’s birthday and it was terrible experience. When I went back to my room one day they blocked my card making my 12 months old wait in the lobby. On two days I had to chase room service as they didnt cleared the waste bins. They applied the hotel credit incorrectly and made me to pay twice and still haven’t refunded it. I checked out from Westin on 28th March but my refund is still pending. Total of $268 are pending to be refunded. I would suggest not to book this hotel and avoid at any cost even if this is the only option. Complained to the manager but I fell on deaf ears. Receptionist are quite rude and don’t know how to treat a customer. Read less

Stayed here for two nights as part of a package before we joined a cruise. Mixed reviews on TA made me a bit wary but all seemed good when we arrived. We were v pleasantly surprised to be comped four drinks vouchers and breakfast each for one day of the stay. Nice touch. The room a traditional double was big by NY standards. Clean and tidy bar some biscuit crumbs in one of the drawers but we will gloss over that. Complimentary bottled water arrived just after we got into the room. Bathroom was an ok size with lovely shower, good fluffy towels, nice toiletries and all very clean. Found the staff to be helpful and polite, but feel a lot of what you get from the staff depends on what you give in return. They really appreciated being thanked, and I was happy to as I felt they worked hard and went out of their way to look after us. Drinks were nice, the breakfast on the final day was very good - plenty of choice and it was hot and tasty. Pastries were fresh. One big plus was the very efficient heating or air con in the room. Was able to warm up or cool down in an instant. Bed super comfy and pillows likewise. Overall I’d definitely recommend. The situation on 42nd street East is excellent for getting around and it’s not too manic like Times Square. Read less