I decided to stay at the Intercontinental Times Square for my most recent trip to New York City. This was my second stay at the hotel, and I picked it again because of its extremely convenient location and proximity to the theaters.
Spacious hotel lobby area
Check-in was uneventful. We were assigned a room on the 4th floor. Keep in mind that there are two sets of elevators – one that takes you to the first 5 floors, and the others that take you to the higher floors.
The lobby hallway view and the room window view:
The latter view is a bit uninspiring.
Room View
Clean, comfortable room makes for a nice stay.
Hotel Minibar
The hotel uses an electronic minibar that tracks if you take items out of the fridge and bills your account automatically. I am not a fan of electronic minibar in general. It’s fully packed so I can’t even put my drinks into the fridge. Also, don’t be surprised at the minibar and snack prices. I didn’t look at the price list, but on the way in, I overheard another guest next door complaining to the room service staff at the door about why a bottle of water costs so much.
Bathroom and bath amenities
I chuckled about it, but the shower looks overly complicated.
A word about parking
Since I had to google it myself, I might make a mention about parking. According to IHG’s website:
- Self-Parking Fee: 39 USD plus tax per 24 hours
- Valet Parking Fee: 70 USD plus tax per 24 hours, “with no in and out privileges. SUVs and oversize vehicles will be charged additional fees.”
If you want to valet park, you can just pull up in front of the hotel. There is usually one or two staff at the front of the hotel to help you with the dropoff.
We wanted to do self parking, but we were out of luck. We circled around once and we couldn’t find the hotel’s self parking area. There is an ICON parking garage right on the same block as the hotel (posting a different rate). It was not obvious if it was affiliated with the hotel, and the parking entrance was also blocked – maybe they temporarily ran out of staff or space?
We ended up driving to the next block up and found another ICON garage. It also offers valet parking (well, it’s the only option) and it costs about $55+ for (or about $65 with taxes) for 24 hours.
Let’s just put it this way. Parking at Times Square is not cheap.
Have you stayed at the Intercontinental Times Square in New York? What had been your experience? Were you able to find the self-parking garage for IHG?
The parking garage is the open lot directly in front of the hotel entrance. You need to validate when you check out to get the rate. Warning: Anything larger then a standard car costs $39 + $20 or $25 (I forget which). Couple of years ago they used to only charge $25 for my minivan.
Oh, I think I know exactly which garage you mean, then. I saw one across where your car vehicle could potentially be lifted onto a rotating platform. I wouldn’t have figured out that was the hotel affiliated one or that you need to validate to get the lower rate. Thank you for sharing that helpful info.
Nice review. Most of the latest comments on flyertalk about this property is that it’s very worn and they charge a resort fee. Did you experience that? I’m an Ambassador Spire and have a stay coming up there in October.
I’ve stayed at properties that are quite tired, and this isn’t it. Is it the best Intercontinental compared to others? No, but it’s a very good property.
Someone else booked this reservation (using the IHG free night) so no resort fee was charged. I don’t know if you’ll get any special perks, but I was a Spire member and I don’t remember getting any unique elite benefits (except a high floor) the first time I stayed. Have a great stay in October – the convenient location really beats everything else!