My partner and I stayed at the Westin New York at Times Square for 4 nights during April. This was my 4th stay at this hotel over the past 12 years I have returned to this hotel continually due to familiarity, location and quality. Unfortunately on this occasion the hotel did not meet my expectations and overall it was a disappointing stay Upon arrival at approximately 9pm we did not receive a warm welcome by the receptionist. We were not made aware of the WiFi password so had to query this later on. When taking the payment for the room hold, my card was declined - this will become relevant later on The next morning, I had 3 pending payments on my card. Converted into GBP, these were £1,111.67, £991.08 and £120.59. I should have only had one pending payment for the room hold totalling approx. £1,300 Over the next few days we queried with reception what the other payments were for - we were simply given a "computer says no" answer. No explanation, attempt at resolution, or any interest in trying to figure out what the 2 other payments were for. The £120.59 payment kept changing amounts and dropping on and off my card This was again queried when we checked out - again, no explanation or resolution. We were advised "you'll have to speak to your bank". Eventually the 2 other payments dropped off. I can only imagine that the "declined" payment actually went through and therefore we had various pending payments The room itself was nice - quite high, a decent view and very roomy as we booked a corner room. Some parts of the room were starting to look a little dated, for example peeling wallpaper, and could probably do with a refresh soon At the beginning of our stay we encountered a very strong smell of marijuana on our floor which ended up seeping into our room. We smelt this over 1-2 days and it was very unpleasant, causing us to feel unwell. My partner went down to reception and was told that marijuana is now legal in New York, so it's something we have to essentially put up with. Indeed, marijuana is legal in New York, however the hotel has a non-smoking policy and we don't expect to have to smell it in our room. We were advised that a manager would be sent up. The smell disappeared for the last few days of our stay, so the manager either discovered the route issue or the smokers had checked out Upon checking out we mentioned the smoking issue again and we were offered money off our total room bill which we appreciated. We also received an email from the manager a few hours later apologising for the issue During our stay the hotel was undergoing work on the escalators - you could use the escalator to travel up towards the lobby/reception and elevators to access your room, however you could not use the escalator to access street level. The options were to use the lift in the restaurant (queuing and waiting), or going down a few flights of stairs to access the street. The back entrance to the hotel was totally blocked off which is a shame as I used to utilise this quite often As mentioned above, the location of the hotel is ideal - the hotel is central with Times Square being a 1-2 minute walk away as well as other central attractions being a relatively short walk away. The hotel is opposite Port Authority and various Subway stations During our stay we utilised the amenity fee by booking 2 tickets to the Natural History Museum. These were easy to redeem at the concierge desk and the concierge was friendly and helpful Overall my 4th stay at the Westin was disappointing and I don't think I'd stay here again which is a shame as it has always been my go-to hotel when staying in New York. We spent the majority of our stay at reception querying/complaining about various things, and sadly it does seem as though the hotel has gone downhill

What a disappointment. I actually very rarely write online reviews, but if I can save just one person from wasting their money on this hotel, then my work on this planet is done. We travelled to New York City to get married, thus this was a once in a lifetime trip. Unfortunately, we had several issues with the Westin. Lack of basic courtesy: - We booked our room and then wondered if the Westin could do anything to make our stay a bit more memorable, so we emailed 10 days ahead of our arrival to ask for an upgrade. We received no response. Whilst I was not expecting for our request to be fulfilled – we were travelling during a long weekend, and so it is likely the hotel was full – I do at least expect a reply; this is just basic courtesy. Poor value destination fee and rude staff: - We fully expected to pay the destination fee, as is standard in North America. However, this was very poorly explained to us. When we asked for clarification, we were spoken to in a most rude and patronising fashion. Generally, quite a few of the staff to be abrupt and barely hospitable. And with regards to the destination fee, you get very little for your money. It encompasses $35 per day of food from the hotel. However, the prices are so high, and very poor value - $22 for sausage, bacon and eggs that tasted like Playdough. But what is worse are the hidden extra fees - $9 delivery fee! $9 for the hotel staff to pick up the food, and make the 5-minute trip in the lift to our room. When you add this to the cost of the poor-quality food, and the taxes, you are way over the $35 allowance, which means you cannot even get one meal for this. All these fees meant we could not tip the staff as much as we would have liked to. I’d suggest to the Westin that they scrap the delivery fee, and let us tip your staff!! Now, if you order food and then go down to collect it, there is still a service charge!! And many items are not even made by the Westin – we ordered a fruit smoothie, thinking it would be freshly made, only to have one of those bottled Naked Smoothies delivered to us – for $11!! Plus a delivery fee! Nonsensical fridge policy with undisclosed charge - There is also a bizarre policy over the use of the fridge, including charges we were not told about. My sister, who was staying in a separate room, did have a fridge on her arrival. The next day, the staff had taken it! My sister rang down and asked where it had gone. The receptionist told her that since the pandemic, they were no longer allowed to provide a minibar service. My sister explained that she didn’t want any alcohol, just the fridge, and that it had been removed with no explanation. The receptionist then told her there was a $22 charge for it!! Restaurant staff are rude and clueless - My sister was staying with her 4-year-old son. When we arrived for breakfast on our first day, we were told that children under 5 would get breakfast for free. However, the next morning, we were charged $17 for it. We explained that were told under-5s eat for free, and the staff argued with us saying, “yes, but sometimes we charge the full price.” This makes no sense! Do the staff just randomly decide when to charge and when not to?? Eventually, the staff agreed that they would not charge for my nephew. Good things: the rooms are clean and nice. We had a good view of the Empire State Building. You can’t beat the location – yes Times Square is a commercial cesspool, but it still has a certain magic. And of course, its easy to get to the other hotspots of Manhattan from there. The destination fee is not just for food; it allows you access to some tours, but there is not really much choice over this; and we were so disheartened with the service that we did not want to explore these further. We still had a great trip and wonderful wedding. But the Westin Times Square is more like a 2-star hotel, rather than the 4 star one it advertises itself to be. Definitely not worth the hundreds of dollars per night we spent on our stay there. I feel like this hotel takes advantage of the thousands of tourists that come to Times Square and ratchets its prices as high as possible whilst doing away with basics like courtesy, manners and value for money. Unless you really need to be in the heart of Times Square, I suggest finding a hotel elsewhere in midtown.