Hilton Garden Inn Central Park South

Th HGI New York Central Park South is a lovely hotel, that I would describe as a middle scale to upper scale hotel, but not luxury. It has everything one would expect from an HGI. The hotel is in a very accessible area. The 54th Street Orange line subway stop was about a 3-minute walk away to the southeast. Central park was maybe (at best) an 8-minute walk north. The shops of Columbus Square where also about an 8-minute walk away depending on how fast you walk. It is close to Times Square if that is your thing, but it is not directly in TS which we thoroughly enjoyed. Basically, you can get anywhere in the city from this location. There's plenty to eat in the immediate vicinity from cheap eats to 5-star dining. I personally loved the Lenwich around the corner, they have the best blueberry muffins! Both my husband and I tried the ribeye meals from Empire and they were nothing to write home about especially considering the cost. We chose the Junior Terrace Suite which by NYC standards is huge at a little less than 400 sq ft. Shot out to Carl W from Madison, WI... here on TA as he highly recommended the room and he was dead on! There are only two Junior Terrace Suites and both are on the 20th floor each with a terrace that is bigger than the room. We were given room 2006 which I initially wasn’t happy about as I wanted to face the east. 2006 faces the west, but I found that while both rooms are private 2006 was even more private because it didn’t have the Marriott Residence Inn/Courtyard where people could easily look down onto the terrace. Our only qualm with room 2006 was that there is an office bldg. that faces the patio door. The patio door does not have any type of covering (I recommended some type of curtain or blinds to management, let’s see if they make any changes). The problem with this is that the patio door also faces the bathroom, so don’t walk around naked near the door if you are concerned with privacy. I learned the hard way when I walked out from taking a shower with only my towel on and the office worker starring right in the room. The room was kept immaculately clean and stocked with the basics. I enjoyed that the bathroom had a vanity with seating where I could do my hair and a lighted makeup mirror. We loved that this particular location offered paid laundry especially considering it's in the city. The laundry was expensive and cost $2.75 to wash and $2.75 to dry, but again it is available and if you want clean clothes like me, it’s a life saver – overall well worth the cost with minimal effort. Bring your own detergent because it is really expensive to get it from the hotel. All in all we recommend this hotel, based upon our stay in the Junior Terrace Suite. We can’t speak to any other room type as we haven’t stayed in those. However, the staff were friendly and would go above and beyond for you and the accommodations comfortable. Read less

Stayed for 4 nights in February . Hotel is in good location for tourist attractions, many are within walking distance .The subway stations are a 5 minute ( slow pace) walk. The concierge staff were pleasant and helpful on all occasions I dealt with them. On both phone and in person. Lifts were very hit and miss but enough has been said about them in other reviews. Our longest wait was 5 minutes ( 4 night stay) Our room was on the 15th floor. We did not get the 2 beds I had requested. The bed we did get was big and comfy. Luckily my teenage daughter did not mind sharing with her mum. The room was very clean and had everything we needed. Safe was easy to use. The fridge, coffee machine and microwave all very clean. We did have noisy neighbours for 2 nights of our stay but nothing having the telly on didn't disguise . Wifi was crap ( even when we paid for the upgrade) and choice on tv channels was not so good. Overall the room was fine, no problems . Two members of staff that stood out. Pro - The cleaning lady - did an amazing job everyday and was so well mannered and polite. Always said good morning and always smiling. Con - One of the doormen was quite frankly rude. He helped us into the hotel with our suitcases on our arrival . I did tip him but maybe he was not happy with the amount as he ignored us for the rest of our trip. One day he ignored my daughter and I when we were entering the hotel with lots of shopping bags and struggling with the revolving door. He definitely saw us and made a conscious decision not to help. We were then waiting in the lobby for the lift and had all our shopping bags placed on the floor. The manager of the hotel then appeared in the lobby and was stood right near us talking to another member of staff. He looked at our bags and then was looking around. Suddenly the very unhelpful doorman who had ignored us for 3 days and had just blatantly watched us struggled appeared. Big smile on his face and acting like we were old friends. Said to us loudly " I can't believe you didn't let me help you with all those bags " I personally am not bothered by the fact he ignored us during our visit but his action on this occasion got under my skin as it was done to deceive his boss. Shame on you. I am disappointed with myself for forgetting his name, he was the taller and larger framed doorman. The other doorman who was smaller in height was very nice and friendly and gladly hailed us a taxi for our return trip to airport. He was very grateful for the tip I provided. Overall this hotel is acceptable for what you pay. Read less

This is a very well-located hotel. The rooms were small, but not a problem. Interesting views from the 25th floor. The restaurant and bar were very nice. The staff was incredibly helpful...everyone of them, without exception. We registered to check in early, but the room was not ready when we arrived. Though they charged us for the early check-in, when I pointed out the error, they refunded it immediately. The lobby was small and crowded every single time we came in our went out. Always there were people in line. Only three elevators for a large 35 story hotel. They posted signs warning of long waits. We had friends who waited 30 minutes for an elevator one morning. Absolutely unacceptable. First time and last time at this location. The HGI on 8th Avenue has six elevators for a much smaller hotel and it is closer to theaters and subway. Much better option all the way around. Read less

They charged a Diamond Member $16.00 for WiFi and never provided an invoice after I requested that one at least be e-mailed to me at checkout. I had to look up the invoice on the website to discover the error and then lodge a complaint with the Diamond Desk to get a refund. I then had to deal with the fallout of an inaccurate travel report. Unpleasant little hotel that cost me two hours of my personal time for charging me for a well-known Diamond Benefit. I will never stay here again. Read less