SpringHill Suites by Marriott New York Manhattan/Chelsea

Check-in took about five minutes because the front desk was busy, but Amira made it a wonderful experience. Her warmth and positive energy came through as soon as she greeted me. The whole front desk team seemed genuinely kind and happy in their work. Even while taking calls, they were smiling, and it was uplifting to watch. The check-in was excellent, and the room I got was wonderful too.

The room was spotless and modern, with a very comfortable bed and an amazing view of both the Freedom tower and Statue of Liberty 🗽. The lobby tea and coffee station was a nice extra. The location is excellent, with two subway lines one block away and loads of restaurants within a block in every direction. The elevators caused the biggest hassles. There are two separate banks of two, and they don't share a call button system or split floors between them. With more than 45 floors, express service for floors above the 20s would have helped. Cleaning staff have no service elevator, so they often take the regular one for a single floor. Waits can get very long, and rides slow, with many stops. People often press the buttons for both pairs and take whichever arrives first. Twice, once going up and once going down, the elevator stopped at one or two floors, cancelled all the selected floors, and started in the opposite direction. The floor selector screen has terrible contrast, with a light gray circle on a light blue background, so it's hard to see whether your floor is selected. Breakfast was cramped and somewhat chaotic, as other reviews mention. We only ate there once during our multi-day trip because the hassle and stressful atmosphere weren't worth it. In winter, even with the cold outside, we couldn't set the room below 68, and the heat seemed to stop when the room was unoccupied, maybe because of sensors. A few smaller annoyances: no suitcase stand or dresser drawers, lighting was either very bright or off, there were huge gaps around the bathroom barn door, and the coat “hooks” were too flimsy to hold anything, so we had to use a hanger.

The desk team were lovely, and Ashton deserves a special mention for being so helpful. They made our week-long stay memorable. We also had a great location and amazing views from the room. Breakfast could get chaotic, with plates, cutlery, mugs, and even coffee running out one morning. The lifts could take over ten minutes to arrive at that time of day.

Amira at reception was kind and helpful, and the hotel sits in a great spot, close to everything but in a quieter area. My room was clean and had all the amenities, though there was no safe. We were on a high floor, where the wind was strong and the window made some noise, but I was tired enough to sleep through it. It was 0 Celsius outside and the room stayed very warm without needing A/C. The city view stretched all the way to the Statue of Liberty. Breakfast was good with plenty of space, and hot drinks were available at reception all day. Highly recommend!!