Hotels near Columbia University, New York

Just outside the window is the hotel's outdoor machine, the view is very bad

The location is nice, close to Times Square. The hotel is clean, as other Hilton hotels. Breakfasts are good too, with very pleasant service. But there are some things that left that bitter feeling after my stay that I would like to share. 1. Destination charge. This is the second Hilton hotel in New York I have stayed at, and both charged additional USD35 for so-called destination fee per night. As the receptionist said, it’s MANDATORY. This 35 dollars are charged per day and the guest must use it the same day, they don’t even accumulate. How do you spend it? In the hotel restaurant or bar. What can you buy with it? Three bottles of drinking water, or two cans of beer…. Why am I forced to spend my money on the things that I don’t need and that are so overpriced? You already charged me for the room, and I happily paid for it. 2. The hotel page here shows a picture of “swimming”. It’s a rooftop swimming pool. I was excited to have a chance to spend some time in the pool. The reception said there was none. Please remove the picture from the page, as it is misleading. 3. There is no tea or coffee in the room. That’s the amenity available in every hotel, even the cheap ones. But when we called the service, they said: no, we don’t offer coffee or tea. But they did bring us a kettle:) I can see that it’s not listed in the available amenities here, but I didn’t even expect that. It’s such a little thing that makes your guest’s stay more comfortable. Anyways, it was quite a pleasant stay despite these unpleasant details. Thank you.

Two doormen stationed at the front entrance saw us retrieving our luggage from the cab trunk, but made no attempt to help. I had checked in a day earlier and was great full that the room was made available at 12 PM . They did tell us there was no view; I was okay with that as we are in NY regularly and at this trip it was not a priority. I haven’t stayed at this hotel in a few years, but remembered the excellent butler service and lovely accommodations, and was looking forward to it. The checkin felt like something one would expect at a Highway motel. No explanation of any services, no welcome drink, no Butler introductions, nobody accompanied you to the room or directed you to the elevator. The room had the tiniest window, with a curtain without a valance (# 1406) facing a wall a few feet away. No Natural light what so ever. The leather head rest on the bed was ripped on a couple of spots. It had only one not very comfortable lounge chair in a fairly large king room. So if you are a couple, you cannot even sit together for a cup of coffee. In the past at checkin the butler would introduce themselves, offer coffee , tea etc and make sure you were satisfied with the accommodations. We had ballet tickets for a matinee, so initially decided to just go with the flow. Went for a quick lunch at the Astor, paid around $170 for 2 ceaser salads, a bloody mary and a glass of Duvel Leroy Champagne. I have no problems paying premium prices for value , but $28 for a Bloody Mary with a celery stalk garnish and stoli vodka? They claimed to have invented it , but definitely not worth the price. When we returned back from the ballet and returned to the room , it seemed really depressing. They call it an interior room , but it could easily be in a windowless basement. We requested a room change and requested to speak to a manager. We were told the manager was downstairs and would call us back. We were going to dinner, so left the front desk our cell number. The manager ever returned the call. On our return when we requested a room change, we were told that they were completely sold out. At this point we were exhausted an decided to just let it go and returned to our room for a good nights sleep. It was around 10:30 PM, and there was a continuous loud rumbling sound. When we called the front desk , we were told that the noise was from their service elevator which was being used a lot that night as 2 of their 4 passenger elevators had been broken for a couple of days. They offered to now move us to another room. So at 11 Pm we had to get dressed and pack up to move to another room. The new room (1903), had a moldy smell. Got up next morning with a back ache as the bed was not comfortable. In the morning the moldy smell seems to have gotten even worse and I did report that. I was told it was because of air conditioning! We called the butler for coffee in the morning. The French press coffee arrived with c

I just stayed at the Motto in Times Square for the weekend, and had a great experience. First, let me say that I was born and raised in NYC (I live about 30 miles north of NYC now), so I know the NYC area very well, and it was such a joy to experience the city as a ”tourist” for the weekend. The hotel is in a great location near Times Square, where access to public transportation is very easy, as well as to restaurants, and Broadway shows. The hotel is very efficient and modern. The rooms are cozy, and very comfortable. The service is excellent, and the breakfast menu is delicious. I very much enjoyed my stay at the Motto in Times Square.

The first thing I will mention is that the hotel is 5 star and is expectedly, very expensive, being in the heart of Times Square. I took this into account when writing my review. If I am paying that much, my expectations would be higher than normal. I stayed for 12 nights over the Christmas and NY period so I obtained a very comprehensive view of the hotel and everything about it. Overall it was a very comfortable stay and the staff were always there to attend to any requests and issues. The moment I got out of my transfer car, there was a lovely young gentleman waiting to get all my bags and transport me upstairs to the reception. The check-in was reasonably flawless but there was a bit of confusion around the payment because of resort fees the hotel charges daily. I prepaid my booking and there was confusion over whether it included or excluded the resort fee. The reception area is immaculately presented and the bar and restaurant are both located here. I intended to use the gym during my stay, but didn't have time to even take a peek. Nor did I visit the bar or restaurant. There's way too many options outside to do that. The very polite and courteous young gentleman then took me up to my room. He showed me everything and away he went. I got a bit of a room upgrade which I highly appreciated and had a beautiful view of Times Square. I was on the 2nd highest floor, floor 39. The room is not big. It was adequate for one person but nothing more. I don't think I would be able to stay here if I was with another person. It would be too uncomfortable and I had to find space for my 2 suitcases and carry-on. The bathroom is open plan, with a door for the shower and toilet. A big problem I had in my room was that if it was windy you will hear a loud whistle coming through the bottom of the front door. It really annoyed me. I had to take the cover off the bed and make a snake shape to block the gap underneath the door to stop the noise. Even a bath towel didn't work. They need to fix this. The hotel is very new and the rooms are very beautifully equipped, presented and maintained. I was pleased to see that most of the things I requested before I arrived (some extra bath mats, bath towels, hand towels, face towels, mini fridge, bathroom scale) were mostly there upon arrival. I quantified the number of towels I needed as I was not getting any housekeeping during my 12 night stay but I did not get the quantity requested. I expected a bit more attention to detail for a 5 star hotel. Before I arrived I was asked if I was celebrating a special occasion and Guest Services pushed up my expectations as I was celebrating a special occassion and they said something nice, I assume maybe a cake or some alcohol would be waiting for me in the room. When I arrived there was nothing. And there was never going to be anything throughout my stay. I didn't mind and only remembered towards the end of the stay. When I enquired via email I was met with silence. They

Safe, clean hotel for female solo travelers. Early check-in with additional price, but the front desk helped me get a room upgrade with check-in. Awesome hotel, although rooms are small like any other hotel in NY. Only downside was not a lot of food options in the hotel, food wasn't great and was overpriced.

We always stay at Marriott, although I rarely use my Bonvoy membership. I always book our hotel through trip.com. The fridge had a bottle of Coke that had been drank by the previous guest. The hair dryer bag is dusty. Everything else looks good. They provide free water during check-in and a raincoat in case of rain. The breakfast seems decent for the price.

To begin with, I must stress that we only used our room, and spoke to staff on the reception area. I’ve no idea on the quality of the rooftop bar nor restaurant at the hotel. Location: We booked knowing that this was in the Financial district, but I was elated with the location. We got the air-train & subway from JFK and the hotel is just a few blocks from Fulton Street Subway station. I am a quick walker, and found that the World Trade Center was only 5 minutes from the hotel, the same with Wall Street / the waterfront which was a great location to me. There were plenty of shops / restaurants / etc. in the area (where doesn’t have that in NYC?). There was construction work taking place across the street from the hotel entrance, but never any issues with traffic or noise. Reception / Staff: We arrived in the evening on a Wednesday and the staff on reception were really welcoming as we were checking in. They were taking the time to say hello to returning guests as they came through the lobby. We experienced this ourselves whenever we returned to the hotel. It may be a small thing, but it showed good customer service to me. Room: A lot of rooms in NYC are “small” when compared to counterparts in other cities so I never expect masses of space. I was happy with the size of our room when we arrived. We were on the 21st floor, and our room was on the corner overlooking the front of the building and the construction site across the street. There was small walkway between the door to the room and the bedroom. 2 of us stayed there with 2 cases and we found enough room to move around. The bed was comfortable, everything in the room worked. We had a coffee machine and bottled water given to us for drinking. The bathroom had a shower & toiletries, and it was clear everything was clean. When I'm back in NYC, I'd happily stay here again!

The room is relatively big enough and clean. However, I really did not like the service in all aspects as following: Front desk: It took 20 minutes to explain that breakfast was included. I showed my email and app where it is clearly written ”included”. Breakfast: very simple one and refill takes forever. I had to tell the waitress to refill the coffee and other meals who was standing next to the table and scrolling her cell phone without any greeting to anybody. Shuttle bus: We made a reservation for the bus at 12 pm and we're told to exit the hotel 10 minutes before. The bus driver did not open the bus door and showed his 5 fingers to wait. I knocked the door at 12 to get in but the driver was so rude and asked if we were in hurry and complained that he had been awake since 2 am. It was his duty to take us to the airport on time. He complained again and again during the ride which was unbelievable. I never experienced such behavior from shuttle bus driver. Overall the hotel is not 4 star hotel! It is 3 or below.

Strategically positioned. Clean enough. The personalized welcome message via the TV screen was a nice touch. The only challenge was the elevators. Very small and always busy/full.