Full Hotel Tour & Review of The Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan Hotel in New York, NY

Filmed on July 2nd & 3rd, 2024.

Well guys, here it is! This is now the 3rd of a total of 5 hotel tours that I got on this trip, and this very hotel is where I stayed during the majority of my time on my New York City/New Jersey trip!

As most of you guys know, I am typically a Marriott guy when it comes to major chain hotel brands, and during my childhood and teenage years whenever I went on vacations both road trips and air trips alike, I primarily stayed at Marriott properties with my family along with sometimes Hilton properties and sometimes Wyndham properties (my mom had a timeshare with Wyndham for their resort properties) and my plan is to keep it that way as I travel solo. However, for those familiar with hotels in New York City, you would know hotels here are RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE, ESPECIALLY in Manhattan, and all of the Marriott & Hilton properties within the city were all out of my budget, and a big part of why I haven't visited NYC during my years of filming since I started this channel is partly due to my family not having interest in returning since family members living here have moved out, but for me personally as a solo traveler on a budget, the fact hotels here are just so expensive. Fortunately though, upon doing some digging, I did find out that as part of my Union membership with my employer I have access to a site known as UnionPlus, and one of the benefits to the site is being able to book hotels third party for significantly discounted rates. The Marriott & Hilton properties in the city were equally as expensive through this site as they were directly through the brand, but this hotel popped up along with the New Yorker by Wyndham & The Millennium properties as having rates under $200 a night, and factoring in the cool elevators this hotel has and the Millennium properties being infamously rundown, I decided to choose this hotel.
Prior to staying at this hotel, I had only stayed at maybe 2 or 3 other IHG properties in my lifetime, so I wasn't totally sure what to expect here, but this hotel definitely delivered.

This hotel is located right in the Middle of Times Square so I'm right in the Middle of the Action of the city, and the staff at this hotel were VERY FRIENDLY & accomodating and stored my luggage the day I got into town and delivered it to my room once my room was ready, and the room I had here was VERY SPACIOUS by NYC Hotel Standards and in addition to that, my room was SPOTLESSLY clean and the mattress on my bed appeared to be brand new, and it was SUPER COMFORTABLE. During the course of my 6 night stay, my room was also cleaned EVERY SINGLE DAY during my stay here, and not only was my room cleaned every day, but I was provided 2 free water bottles every single day during my stay too! A VERY NICE Touch from the Housekeeping staff here, especially since drinks in the city are way overpriced!
However, even with all of the good this hotel offers, that's not to say there aren't any drawbacks. The most notable ones being the fact that the front desk area of the hotel is SEVERELY understaffed with only 2 or 3 receptionists often only working in an area that 8-10 could work in, resulting in VERY long waits to check in/out. The other major drawback of this hotel is the fact that the rooms do not have fridges, and in order to get one in your room, you have to pay an additional $30 to have it delivered to your room. Definitely NOT ideal, especially if you want to get some NYC Cheesecake and treats and want a place to store them. In addition to this, this hotel featured a pool and a fitness center when it first opened in 1989, and it remained open until COVID. Since the hotel reopened in 2022, the pool, fitness center and much of the convention center have been closed, with no plans in sight to reopen it. While this may not be a big deal to most travelers visiting NYC, it is still unfortunate nonetheless. In addition to that, the last major renovation done to this hotel was in 2008, and while the rooms have held up pretty well over the years, many public areas of the hotel definitely show their age and are also underutilized.

However, at the end of the day, the room I got was spotlessly clean, it was comfortable, it's been kept up to date in the ways that matter most, the staff here treated me well and all in all, considering the fact that I paid $220 a night after taxes/fees to stay here RIGHT in the MIDDLE of Times Square, I'm happy. Now, I have seen this hotel start at $400 a night or more before online, and if I had to pay that much and nearby hotels were priced similarly, I'd probably look elsewhere. But for the price I paid, I'd definitely stay here again, and I'd recommend this hotel for those visiting NYC so long as the rooms are $300 a night or less and nearby hotels with more amenities/restaurants onsite aren't any cheaper.

MY RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
Camera details:

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Mic: Built In

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