YOTEL New York Times Square

Good hotel, friendly staff. A bit of a walk from Time’s square, but it was do-able. Hotel seemed very clean and rooms were nice. It was less than perfect though because one window was missing the light blocking shade. However even the windows with the light blocking shades did not fully block the light. Bed was soft and comfortable and the view was outstanding. I would definitely say again, I would just make sure I had a sleep mask. Read less

I have to add this hotel 23 times first two times were great I guess I got spoiled because my last stay here was terrible. YI people if you stay in the lobby for more than 2 seconds. Be prepared to show ID and your d*** room key to prove that you are staying in this hotel. I've never seen anything like it before even in New York City!! Which gives some guys power that they never and will ever have again. And they treat people like animals!! Front desk agents don't give a damn about you. And giving you an attitude because you want clean towels and body wash in your room. And staff doesn't care about their guests because it's a newer hotel and it's in the heart of the city which means they will always have fresh people in that room when you check out. Customer service??? I guess this hotel feels like they don't need or even want to provide any Read less

Yotel Review Things I liked: The location was great – I prefer to stay in or near Hell’s Kitchen because it’s familiar and I’m a creature of habit, and there’s plenty to eat everywhere you look at all hours of the day. It’s less touristy than right at Times Square, but it’s still close enough to allow you to be as much of a tourist as you want to be. From Yotel, it’s a short walk to Times Square, Javits Center, the NYC Ferry (this is a great way to get to lower Manhattan), and there’s a massive subway and bus station just a couple of blocks east. I recommend finding a hotel right near there. I like the location. My kids thought the area was kind of dirty, but they’re bigger snobs than I am. Having bunk beds made our trip with two kids so much easier than having a room with two beds. The kids turned the bunk bed into a fort with sheets that created privacy. The main bed was comfortable, too. Ours wasn’t one of the robot beds that some reviewers mentioned. Watch out for those. The colorful LED frame around the TV made the hotel look neat at night from outside because every room was a different color. It also made it fun for the kids to try to find our room based on which color we had chosen. Housekeeping staff were friendly and helpful. They even explained some features that had gone away, but were still showing on the map on the back of the door. So, those were all nice things, and it’s too bad that there were so many negatives, because it is nice to have a reliable hotel in that part of town that accommodates siblings who do not share a bed without fighting. My favorite hotel in Hell’s Kitchen is currently being used to house people who need shelter, so we had to find another option. Other than that, here’s how the experience felt: Imagine you stayed at an old motel that had recently been redecorated to look like it was from the atomic era or space age of the 60’s. Retro modern, old-timey trendy, a fun blast from the past. It’s not remodeled, exactly, but it got a new paint job and some pretty lights. Yotel NYC felt like a time capsule back to the late 2000’s, maybe 2008, when Virgin America had the coolest airplanes with the pretty interior lighting. Remember those days? That’s Yotel NYC. It’s showing its age, but it was beautiful once. Bring your charging cubes. It's supposed to be modern, I guess? But even the average Best Western has USB connections to charge devices. Even coach seats on the airplane have USB connections. Yotel does not. The outlets are pretty loose, so there’s no guarantee that your charging cube will stay plugged in. The TV is really old, like older than the 2009 Samsung we have at home, which feels dated. The remote is confusing. We figured out a 3-4 button trick to get the menu to appear, but it would have been nice to have had a pen and paper in the room to write down the clever trick, since it was hard to remember from one night to the next. There is nothing in the room for making notes on, and there are no helpful guides in the room to explain how the quirky remote works. Oh! Careful what you order at all the yummy restaurants nearby. If you take your leftovers back to the hotel, there’s no fridge to store them in. My favorite (unavailable at the time) hotel just up the street has refrigerators in the rooms, so it’s not some NYC thing that bumpkins from elsewhere are just too dumb to understand. There is a mirror over the bed with a dark rectangle that may have been a second TV screen back in the day. Remember that hotel trend? Not sure if it worked, and if so, how to turn it on. On that screen was a sticker saying to go to a certain channel to see what munchies we could order for the room, but I think that’s probably not true, since the hotel didn’t seem to have room service. Again, no guides for anything, so if there had been room service, one might expect to see that guide somewhere. By the time we noticed that sticker, we’d already decided against spending any more money in the establishment. Besides, you’re in Hell’s Kitchen. Walk out the door and there is food everywhere. There was a bank of light switches on the wall that did mystery stuff, at least one raised and lowered the window shades. The others.. not so sure. There are floppy wall-mounted reading lights above the bed, and there’s a desk against the window, but if you’re traveling for work and want to make notes at the desk, there is no task light at the desk. I would recommend you find a different hotel if you’re traveling for work. The desk is against the window which has the hinge at the top and opens out, so there is a 3-4 inch gap near the floor that is definitely big enough to lose your phone or other desktop items out of. Goodbye important papers! There’s a mystery hole in the top of the desk that leads to a space behind the drawers so you may find treasures left by other guests. Neat? But if you need to get any sort of work done, the room is not the ideal place. I don’t know if the white counter in the fridge-cold 4th floor area is supposed to be the “work space” that they list as an amenity, but if so, bring ear plugs and a winter coat. It is extremely cold (not ideal if you’re traveling in the summer and dressed for the weather) and it’s a busy area in between a bar and two restaurants, and it’s where the elevator crowd lines up. Cold and loud helps some people work, maybe? Once I adjusted my personal expectations and recognized that Yotel is like a Motel 6 with pretty lights and a nice view, I tried to be less of a snob about some of Yotel’s shortcomings. Fancy things like coffee in the room, a luggage rack, an ice bucket, amenities and features guides, a map or directory of the property, or an accurate “you are here” emergency exit map on the back of the door – those are all for more upscale motels than the Yotel NYC. Silly me. We had a pretty large room for Yotel, and for NYC, so that was nice, and I really appreciated the bunk beds for traveling with kids. But if you think that you’re going to be comfortable sleeping 4 people to that room, you should know a few things first. So, our family is not a modest, shy, or easily embarrassed family. If you are not comfortable with your travel companions hearing your bathroom toots, tinkles, and plops, book elsewhere. If the thought of someone smelling your bathroom business makes you anxious, try another hotel. The door to the bathroom had a gap at the top that was easily 8 inches high. It as private as a public restroom with multiple stalls. Wide open. I have never seen a gap between the bedroom and bathroom like this before. And since the bathroom doesn’t have a switch for a ventilation fan to add white noise, make sure you encourage your fellow travelers to listen to something noisy while you use the toilet. And bring air freshener. Bring it anyway because you may end up in the gym-sweat stank room that we got, and your nose may just die from that smell before your companions even use the toilet. The gap makes sense when you consider that the “vent” in the shower doesn’t seem to draw any air at all. If your hand, wet from the shower, feels no air flow, it may not be working properly. No switch, so it’s just the hotel’s overall system ineffectively venting a swampy bathroom. The black mold in the shower would probably be more extensive without the huge gap at the top of the door. For ventilation, those windows are great, especially up high where we were. But there’s a lot of noise at night (to be expected at a busy intersection) so pack ear plugs or plan on ineffective room ventilation. There were multiple motion sensors in the room and I saw other reviews stating that the AC only works if there’s movement. That’s probably why it got so hot at night with the windows closed while we slept. If you use the windows (they’re lovely!) be careful not to drop things near the windows. Like, your kid who was sleeping on the bunk bed against the window and fell asleep listening to music on their ipod – hopefully the tethered earbuds keep the ipod from sliding off the bed alllll the way down to the 4th floor outdoor restaurant. In fact, if you do travel with kids and use the room with the sweet bunk beds, maybe just pretend the windows don’t open and enjoy your sweat fart swamp air so that your kids don’t kill anyone on the 4th floor deck. Oh wait, I should have mentioned the 4th floor deck! I think that’s the “rooftop deck” that they mention in their marketing. The hotel has at least 25 floors, but the rooftop with the views is on the 4th floor. It might be nice, I don’t know, it’s only for people who want to pay to eat at that restaurant or bar, which we had already decided against. I think it’s one of the amenities that they list as a reason for the variable-rate resort fee. The resort fee is maybe $42 plus tax, but when you follow the website link to the “amenities” it covers, it shows a huge page of digital ads for NYC adventures, like a digital version of those adventure discount ad kiosks near the front desk of most hotels and motels. On that digital ad page, the “facility fee” is $39.50. So, who can say? Rules don’t matter anymore, so why be honest about fees? I’m not sure what the fee actually covers because there is no list anywhere other than a list that shows: parking discount (who drives to this hotel?), wi-fi, gym access, long distance phone calls (ooooOOOooooh! Long distance! That’s a nice amenity in 2025, right?), late checkout, they’ll hold packages for you at the front desk, and the Yobot. Okay, the Yobot is interesting, but those other amenities? Those are pretty basic features that most places offer, like our trusty friends at Best Western. The Yobot! Know this! So, when you walk into the hotel before check-in, having just had a slog of a journey, and you’re tired, and you know you can’t check in yet so you ask the staff standing at the kiosk in the center of the lobby if they can hold your bags until check-in so you can go see the city, YES they will hold your bags for a $3 per bag fee (or whatever they feel like charging tired travelers). They do this in plain view of the Yobot, which allegedly holds bags for FREE. The guys at the hotel are super helpful and will just take your cash (cash only) instead of pointing at the Yobot and telling you that it will hold your bags for free. So, for around $40 per day, there is a free bag-storing robot in the hotel lobby that you won’t be told about even if you ask the staff to hold your bag. The features of the hotel are mostly a secret, and the expectation seems to be that you need to do a scavenger hunt and pore over every link on their website to find any mention of the features that the facility has to offer. It’s a bit like the Hitchhiker’s Guide – the plans have been on display / if you can’t be bothered to look… I think there’s a drag show, maybe a drag brunch, maybe comedy shows?? At the front desk, I was told that the 4th floor “rooftop deck” has movie nights where they show an older movie and families can enjoy it. Neat. Not something you will stumble across, but if you do go hunting on the website, armed with the knowledge that this event exists, guess what??? You can spend more than $25 per person to watch a movie that released several years ago. $100+ for our family to chill and watch a movie? When we could go a couple blocks east and watch a new release at AMC or Regal for less than $100? Absurd. But at least if you pay $25+ per person, there won’t be commercials, unlike the channels on the room TV, which are all basic cable. If you’re a fancy modern snob who is used to streaming shows, basic cable is another retro blast from the past. The other amenities all seem to be clustered on the 4th floor – the gym (about the size of a hotel room), maybe a theater for the drag show? (it was hard to tell), the “rooftop” deck which is a restaurant, a bar, and another breakfast restaurant which was $22 per person at the time of our visit, so for a family of 4 with a picky kid, we were much better off going to any little shop nearby in tasty Hell’s Kitchen. Since we were getting our steps in as NYC tourists, we had no need for the gym, but you may enjoy sweating in that little room – it’s the only “amenity” that your facility fee covers that doesn’t cost extra to use. Oh, and the Yobot, but you’re not using that every day of your visit, right? ADA beware. Our room was definitely sort of at one time allegedly supposed to be an “accessible” room. It has the special doorbell button outside the room, it has the second peep hole lower on the door for someone using a wheelchair, the shower can be rolled into and has the bars all around for added support. I hope they don’t offer it to anyone with mobility issues these days, because it’s on an odd-numbered floor, and only even-numbered floors have amenities like ice machines and water dispensers. Your key card is only for your floor, for security reasons, and the person at the front desk says you should just use the stairs to get to that floor where the ice machine is. Friends, this is absurd for many reasons, including the fact that you may have to go to several floors to find a machine that works and that actually has ice. If you make a stink they will reprogram your keycard for an additional floor, but there’s no guarantee that the ice machine on that even floor will have what you need. So you may think you can go without ice, sure, but water is nice, and the really trendy retro modern flat sinks do not have much clearance, so your reusable water bottle is going to be difficult to refill in the sink. Don’t forget to go to the front desk on the ground floor for your paper ice bucket and full-size trash-bag to line it. Yes, the ice goes into a bucket that is basically a soda cup in a humid city where the bucket will disintegrate from the moisture inside and out, and they do not have little bags for the paper ice buckets, they only have the large clear bags that housekeeping uses. I guess that’s modern? I did find the ice machines. They’re so cute and quaint! Like my grandparents’ fridge from the 1970’s. Retro! The other thing a person ought to know who has mobility concerns: you must switch elevators on the 4th floor. Anyone can go up to the 4th floor venues, so there is a line of elevators you crowd into – it’s always crowded! Then you exit those elevators on the 4th floor and go around the corner (look for signs for “cabins”) and then you need to swipe your keycard to get the elevator to go up to your floor. It’s a crowded ride, and sometimes you wait in a long line for the elevator, so if you need to get there quickly, or you need some space and time to maneuver, book somewhere else. Oh, and, if you wanted to look at the map on the back of your door to identify your nearest exit, HA HA HA your room may not even be on that map. Our room was not on the map, so it made it difficult to figure out where we were in the odd floorplan. I don’t know hotel laws or whatever, but it seems like those maps are required, and it seems pointless to have maps with inaccurate information if the point is to help people exit safely in an emergency. The maps at the elevators were too icon-cutesy to be useful. It’s like they had a fun idea and forgot to finish it, or test it with people who didn’t already know the floorplan. They call the rooms cabins, I guess because, if you look at their website, they imagine that these rooms are like first class cabins on an airplane. But, really, if you’re staying at a Yotel, you’re not the sort of person who is flying first class, and they assume you aren’t going to know what you’re missing out on. Think of it more like a rustic cabin in the woods (with a great view!) where you need to pack in or hunt for everything you’ll need for your stay. Every journey from your room is a time-consuming adventure to forage for the thing you need. I feel like, being a coach passenger, if this is how it is to fly first class, I’ll stay in coach where they bring me treats and beverages and are nice to me. I should mention that they do give you a little purple business card with a QR code on it. It says the following: ‘Tours, Attractions, Museums, Retail, Stores, Shows, & More” and “scan for fun things to do”. This little card is supposed to ALSO have all of the details about the hotel that one would typically expect to find in some little binder in the room, or on a sign in the room, or signs in the lobby. This little card was the front desk staff’s response to “what amenities does this hotel have?” Nothing on the card says “how to find ice” or “did you know this hotel has the following amenities on site?” or “here’s when the restaurants are open, what they serve, yummm don’t you want some?” I’ve never stayed in a hotel that was so secretive about the facilities. I didn’t bother with the card because I already had planned what we were going to do. Why would I even scan that card? But apparently, that has the answers. (It doesn’t actually, but that’s the answer the front desk provides when someone dares to question them about the mysterious features.) One more thing: When I asked why the information was so hard to find, Ricky at the front desk asked me if I’d ever stayed in a hotel before. I’ve never stayed in one so secretive with such elusive amenities. I’ve never stayed in one with such high facility fees for just a tiny gym and basic amenities that are standard elsewhere. I’ve never stayed in one that didn’t have a luggage rack, an ice bucket, and coffee in the room. It’s rare that I’ve had a room as stinky as that room. I’ve never stayed in one with dudes in the lobby who will take your cash instead of informing you about the free way to store your bags. Maybe that’s part of the “first class” experience? Do better, Yotel. Read less

Save your money and go somewhere else unless you like living with insects and flies and sitting on stained furniture. That was not the worst of it. The ceiling started leaking water, , , so they moved us to another room, although we could not sleep afterwards thinking it might happen again while we were asleep as the first time it was over the bed. It was full of flies and insects. We reported to the front desk, but nothing was done about it. We wished we had never booked. No kettle/cups in the rooms or fridge, ice machine not working on our floor, had to go and get hot water from the cafe to make our tea onsite and were charged every time. My partner was bitten numerous times, complained to the hotel, and it took them 4 weeks to get back to us, offering a 25% discount to stay there again, which will of course never take up there or any Yotel chain. Thank you Ricky (General Manager), but no thank you. Also, I am still awaiting your email response??? Said this was not acceptable and still have not heard a response, now it has been over 2 months. Gave them a number of chances to make this right before I put on this review, but they failed miserably. Read less

Hotel is fine if you're not looking for anything special. The solo room is small, very small but it's expected. The breakfast is way overpriced. I'm good paying 14 dollars if the quality is good, but it was very limited with what they offer. You're better off going to have breakfast outside. I had to change rooms in my first night because early morning there was a leak on the ceiling and water started to drop on my bed. The rooms seem to be a little bit unattended, but with some small renovations could improve a lot. Location is good if you know the city already, since it's close to a very unsafe zone (Port Authority surroundings are not a place to wander around specially at night, so make sure you avoid those blocks) Read less