Hilton Garden Inn New York/Central Park South-Midtown West

Our group of Hospitality Management students from Penn State stayed at this Hilton Garden Inn while visiting New York City, and the experience was unlike any other—full of learning moments, unexpected challenges, and a truly impressive display of professionalism from the hotel staff. The hotel itself has potential, but maintenance issues were noticeable. In our room (1409), we had problems with the shower diverter—the dial would shift on its own unless wet and heated—and the toilet constantly ran after flushing. Several others in our group reported similar toilet issues. There was also a loose toilet paper holder and a window that wouldn’t latch properly, causing a draft. The rooms were clean and fairly modern, but quite small, especially with four college students sharing two double beds. That part was on us for booking room types that weren’t ideal for our group size, but it's worth noting for larger parties. Additionally, the on-site Wifi was simply unusable due to how slow it was. One of the biggest operational concerns was the elevator system. With only three small elevators that are frequently mentioned in past reviews as unreliable, we were not surprised when one or more were intermittently out of service. For a high-occupancy property, this created delays and inconvenience. It’s clear this issue has persisted over time and needs to be prioritized by management. That said, the service was fantastic. From check-in to departure, staff were welcoming, helpful, and efficient—even with a large group like ours. The standout moment, however, came on our final night. At approximately 12:30 a.m., a major water main burst on the third floor, directly impacting many members of our group. What followed was something I never expected to see firsthand: water pouring from ceilings in all four corners of the lobby, streams coming down from the elevator shafts, and chaos throughout the building. Even with all of this unfolding, the single front desk agent on duty handled the situation with remarkable composure. She remained calm, professional, and responsive under immense pressure—fielding calls, coordinating help, and dealing with a lobby full of stressed and displaced guests. Some demanded immediate relocation to other hotels, while others were simply looking for answers, but she handled all of it with grace. Her commitment and clear-headedness during such an extreme, late-night emergency was nothing short of admirable. By morning, the lobby was impressively cleaned up, water was restored to the unaffected floors, and the staff had a plan for checkouts despite all elevators being out of service. Guests were kept informed and supported through an incident that no one could have predicted. As students studying hospitality, we were in awe—not just of the situation, but of how well the team rose to the occasion. While this hotel has some operational shortcomings that justify a 3-star rating, the staff deserve 5 stars—especially the front desk associate working alone that night. I didn’t catch her name, but she absolutely deserves recognition for her professionalism, poise, and commitment to guest care in a truly difficult situation. Thank you to the Hilton Garden Inn team for handling the unimaginable with grace. You showed us what real hospitality looks like when it matters most.

Unbelievably greedy from Hilton to rent rooms at this hotel right now. I booked this hotel the day before I went for business meeting in NY. When I arrived, I was informed that they had a pipe burst and two of their three elevators were broken. The third only operated manually, so needed a staff member. This place has 33 floors. Imagine the line forming at any time of day to go up to the rooms. Or down in the morning. Now, I fully understand that things can go wrong and accidents happen. But when you already know that your hotel is not operating properly, HOW ON EARTH DO YOU THEN ACCEPT NEW RESERVATIONS? Remember, I booked one day before traveling. And of course they don't tell you this until you get there. Once you stand there, they tell you its OK to cancel for a full refund. Great option when you learn about this on Sunday night at 10.30pm. I see other reviews now online that this pipe must have burst at least 2 weeks ago. If this was a small mom and pop hotel that is desperately trying to survive I might understand. But this is a HILTON brand hotel! They are probably getting a fat check from insurance for the burst pipe and at the same time, raking in the money from unsuspecting customers like me who rent a room not knowing what awaits them. Oh and even if the pipe had not burst, it would be a horrible place to stay. My room was on the 9th floor, and despite that, I could hear ever single car driving by outside. Not so much the motor noise, but the loud metallic CLANK they make when driving over those steel plates NYC likes to place as temporary repairs in their streets. Don't count on sleeping, at least not past 4am when traffic starts to pick up.

Do not book at this hotel. If you have already booked, cancel your reservations and book one at the Marriott next door or a hotel down the street. Anywhere else but this Hilton. This hotel is not worth your time and money. They will not communicate any changes to your bookings, even if you paid extra for a room with a terrace. We paid an extra $30 for a room with a terrace. We didn't find out there was no terrace until we went up to our room. Apparently their rooms with terraces have been out of order for at least two months. We booked two months ago. There was never communication before we arrived or even at check in. They will not refund your money. They will just offer you breakfast vouchers, which are not worth the paper they are printed on. And they offered us those breakfast vouchers begrudgingly. Simply pathetic. They will not communicate to you that the elevators are broken, and have been for several months. They will not tell you prior to booking that they are down to one elevator for 33 floors. I met a few people who weren't even told that they need to text downstairs in order to have an elevator come pick them up, an elevator which might take up to 30 minutes to come get you on a busy day. At one point in time we had to walk downstairs 27 flights because the delay was going to affect our schedule. The hotel right now is absolutely a hazard if there was a fire, especially for people with mobility issues. But they won't tell you that. They won't tell you about the carts that are left in the hall, blocking hotel rooms and are never moved. I stayed for 3 days and the cart was never touched. Not even for cleaning rooms nearby. They won't tell you that the air conditioning doesn't work appropriately. They won't tell you about the faulty electrical issues in their rooms. They won't tell you about the terrible plumbing issues. They won't tell you anything. They just want your money, and as soon as they have it they don't care about you. The front staff at this hotel made that very clear to us, and to everyone else around us who was unfortunate enough to have booked with them. I will never go back to this hotel, I will never give them another penny. And I hope that this review is helpful to others so that you can save your cash and find a hotel that is worth it.

My stay at this hotel was a complete nightmare. According to my package, I was guaranteed a city view room. However, for the first two nights, the staff informed me that no city view rooms were available. We were told to check with reception each morning to see if one became available—something that should have been handled by the hotel. The staff were friendly, but I wish they had taken more initiative to resolve issues rather than leaving us to follow up constantly. A little extra effort would have made a big difference in our stay. The elevators were another major issue—only two out of three were operational. During peak hours, waits could take up to 10 minutes. Worse yet, if you needed to go downstairs, you had to message reception first. On multiple occasions, I had to take the stairs, including twice from the 32nd floor and several times from other levels. One night, a false fire alarm went off around 2 AM, startling us awake. We tried to call the reception and no one is answering the phone. After few times it finally went through but the reception only mentioned it's a false alarm. After that, I couldn’t fall back asleep and had to rearrange my entire next day just to recover. Then there was the water pressure problem—especially after we were finally moved to a city view room on the 32nd floor. The water was icy cold and the flow was so weak that my wife couldn’t even take the shower. We complained for three days straight, and while maintenance came each night, nothing improved. Only after two nights did they move us to a lower floor, where the water pressure was slightly better—but still far from acceptable. Overall, this stay was far below expectations, and the constant inconveniences made it an exhausting experience.

UPDATE: I received a telephone call within less than a day of using the customer service Web site as Hilton instructed. It was someone from the hotel requesting details so they could post the requested refund to my credit card. I have just checked and the refund is there. So I am very happy and changing my rating of their service to a 5. They already had gotten a 5 for location. I am upgrading the room to a 4 because, if I am being honest, I think my original "2" was unfairly skewed by my irritation with the original response to my issue. In fact, the room was good-sized for that level a room in Manhattan, spotless when we checked in with bathroom recently redone. Was not delighted that they only freshened the room and changed out towels and sheets and brought more coffee pods every other day, but they left service carts all over the place for people to grab their own replacements and that worked for us. I also think they need to work on the elevator programming some more. Thanks to all Hilton staffers who helped resolve this. I absolutely will give this hotel and other Hiltons another try in the future. START OLD REVIEW: I posted this review previously but cannot find it now. The hotel reached out, asking me to visit a web site and leave more details there so they can work on my refund. I have done so and wanted to reply as such to their reply on my review. But I can't find my original review, so posting it again. If "owner" sees, please check my entry on Hilton's Help web site. Waiting for my refund. Thanks! Original review: I stayed 5 nights. March 18-22. The bill was over $1300. It was OK for that price, mostly because of excellent location. However, the elevators are horrible. Waits of 10 minutes for one of the three cars to show up on the 7th floor were not uncommon. Several times we gave up and walked down the stairs. The staff members generally shrugged. But the real issue is that the last night a water pipe blew and shut down all water to our room AND all elevator service. We could not take showers or do other grooming before we left for an important event. The desk never answered the phone. We had to walk down 7 flights with all our luggage. I asked merely for a refund for the one night and left my info with night mgr who said it would be no problem. No refund has appeared on my statement. Attempts to reach the hotel are unsuccessful. Hilton corporate people were not helpful. Unless someone gets in touch with me from Hilton and offers a refund, I will not stay at a Hilton property again. And I will spread the word to all my associates that they should avoid this chain as well.