We stayed here at the end of a two-week trip to Antigua and New York with Katrina, our two kids, and me. This included a night at the famous TWA Hotel at JFK, which I can assure you is super fun not just for us aviation geeks but also for a toddler who jumped into the rooftop swimming pool fully clothed. 10 nights at Carlisle Bay (review coming soon) in Antigua and a couple of nights in Times Square.
In this post:
THE HOTEL
Opened in 2023, Tempo by Hilton Times Square is not only Tempo’s flagship property, but it was also the world’s very first Tempo by Hilton, and quite honestly, I could see why straight away. When you factor in location, quantity/quality of rooms and different types, outside terrace in summer months, then this really is something different to their norm.
The hotel has more than 650 rooms across the upper 36 floors of the TSX Broadway tower.
PAYING WITH POINTS – HILTON HONORS
Tempo by Hilton Times Square can offer excellent value when booking with Hilton Honors points, especially as cash rates regularly exceed £500 per night. Standard rooms are often available from around 95,000 points per night, although this varies with demand but from my own searches, availability seems wide open and you can even get larger rooms from 190,000 per night, which really is great value when everything is considered.
Hilton also frequently sells points with generous bonuses, meaning buying the points required for a stay can sometimes cost significantly less than paying the cash rate. It’s exactly the strategy Michele used for her stay at Hermitage Bay in Antigua [REVIEW HERE]. Better still, Hilton Honors Silver, Gold and Diamond members receive every fifth night free on standard reward bookings, making longer stays even better value. [READ ABOUT HILTON HONORS BENEFITS HERE].
LOCATION
When I say this hotel is located in Times Square. I mean this hotel is located in Times Square more than Times Square is located in Times Square. (mouthful that).
You’re staying in one of the busiest and most recognisable locations in the world, surrounded by Broadway theatres, restaurants, shops and attractions.
Anyone who has done a city break before will know the importance of being centrally located. In Rome, for example, it’s a little different as most places are walkable but if there was a city where location is paramount, it’s New York!
It was our boys first time in New York, so we wanted to be near the ‘toursity’ bits. You can cover so much of Midtown from here and most places are within a 20-minute walk. If your trip is about exploring New York, then I would highly recommend this hotel.
Furthermore, cabs around Times Square really aren’t the best option as they move so slowly, so a little walk here and there is perfect to really see the sights.
ARRIVAL & CHECK IN
We arrived at 7 pm and a full 24-hours later than scheduled due to a cancelled JetBlue flight, which was more than frustrating but happens. Months later, I am still waiting for my refund for an extra night in a hotel, but that’s another story.
We had a transfer from JFK, which pulled up right outside the reserved area out front and the team were rapid with unloading our 4 large suitcases, multiple hand luggage and a pushchair (God, it’s exhausting travelling with two young kids).
The hotel reception is actually on the 11th floor, which is a very similar setup to The Shard in London.
We followed our bags to the lifts and exited on the 11th floor to a well-lit and well-designed check-in area. Because it was already getting dark by the time we checked in, our eyes were instantly drawn to the flashing lights from Times Square illuminating reception from the very large glass windows to the right of the desks. Next to this is a very well-positioned seating area that our toddler enjoyed on a few occasions.
I find with most hotels these days that the check-in experience can be very transactional. Here was very similar. Nobody was rude; however, I just feel like the first point of contact should be memorable and this is often a missed opportunity.
On the other hand, the bellmen were amazing. Super friendly and amazingly efficient with the collection and delivery of our bags to the room. Sometimes we are waiting for ages, but they pretty much followed us up to the room.
After formal check-in proceedings had been completed, we were all handed a much-needed bottle of water and our room keys. The lifts were interesting, whereby you scan your card at a central screen and put in your floor number outside the lifts, and it then tells you which of the 5 lifts to take. Super easy and super-efficient with little to no waiting times.
THE SUITE
Our suite was on the top floor, floor 46!
We had a King Corner Suite – Times Square Panoramic View, which comes in at around 700 square feet, which is massive for New York. When you factor in the beautiful high ceilings and the amount of floor-to-ceiling windows, then quite honestly, it felt an awful lot bigger than the quoted 700 square feet.
Upon walking into the room, we were immediately met by the panoramic view from the very large windows. We visit a lot of hotel rooms, and this was really a wow moment.
Once our eyes were back in the room, we were in the main lounge area that was large and airy. It consisted of a sofa area that converted into our toddler’s bed. The sofa faced an extremely large TV that had all connected services you could log into. I know it sounds obvious but the number of hotels that still do not have this is crazy.
In addition to the above, there was a desk and chair, a separate seating area by one window and another low seat for putting shoes on by another window. It seems they have thought of everything.
For our taste, the design and décor was great. Modern but warm and welcoming at the same time with lots of different lighting scenes and texture tones throughout. Very nicely executed.
Just off the living room was a toilet, which is a huge benefit. Two bathrooms in a central NY hotel room is quite rare.
Off the living room was the main bedroom. Through the door was an open wardrobe area that consisted of a large drawer that housed the safe.
To the side of this was another thoughtfully designed make-up table with great lighting (so Katrina tells me).
Just past the second bathroom was the main bedroom. This was a little smaller than the rest of the suite but with all the quirky areas and well-designed spaces, it was more than enough.
More texture and level changes in the ceiling really made this feel like a great space.
Like the living room, there was another large TV in front of the bed that was personalised to me, which is always a nice touch.
The bedroom also had another desk, chair and a separate chair by the windows.
There was a fridge within the desk, but the fridge was empty as its intention is for personal use, which is great. More and more people travel with medication that needs to be refrigerated, and many people struggle to find hotels that offer personal fridge space. We didn’t need it for this but instead filled it with bottled water.
This is the view from the bedroom.
Being a newer hotel, as you would expect, it was quite modern but without being complicated. All blinds and sheers were controlled electronically.
The air conditioning was easy to use and very effective. Again, we are finding more and more hotels are starting to throttle theirs, which definitely isn’t happening here.
The main bathroom was another great space that had a large shower with a rainfall shower head and separate handheld shower.
The vanity unit had the robes, towels and hair dryer.
The toiletries used were Apotheke. I hadn’t heard of this brand before but it was nice and not overly perfumy, which a lot of brands tend to lean towards for immediate impact. I know this is subjective, but I also prefer hotels that supply large bottles that they refill. Two reasons. One, it’s a lot less plastic usage and two, I really hate fiddling around trying to unscrew those little bottles of shower gel with wet hands.
By the front door was a very handy unit with coffee-making facilities along with another larger empty fridge. It’s always useful to have a surface like this for room cards and other various items we need to store on your way in and out of your room.
BREAKFAST/RESTAURANTS/BAR
The hotel’s main restaurant is their Highball rooftop restaurant. To accompany this, they have their Highball outdoor terrace, which unfortunately was closed when we were there, but when opened I could tell what a really special space this would be. It was warm and dry when we were visiting so I’m not entirely sure why it wasn’t open.
Frustratingly, given the lack of time at the hotel, we didn’t get to try their restaurant, but we did sample several of their F&B offerings.
They have this great little self-service Grab & Go Market that we used a few times for water and snacks. I wish more hotels had a little setup like this, and they have proven you don’t need a lot of space to pull it off either.
I had a drink at their bar in the evening, which had a fantastic buzz about it. I got chatting to a few other people sat at the bar and all were locally based outside guests dropping in for a drink. Which goes to show that it must be a good spot if locals are using it. I only had a rum and Coke, but it was great and service was fast and polite, albeit no other real pleasantries were shared.
In the morning and keen to explore New York before our flight home later that day, we dropped into their Lobby Café for a couple of croissants and Katrina had a coffee. I have to say we encountered just about the most helpful, happy and friendly member of staff yet. He was so enthusiastic without being over the top and honestly made everything easy for us. His energy meant we started the day off very happy and excited to explore.
OTHER FACILITIES
Naturally being located where it is, there isn’t a swimming pool or spa; however, more surprisingly given the location and how every square inch of real estate is important, they do actually offer several other facilities such as
- Modern 24-hour gym including Peloton bikes
- Co-working and socialising space
- 11th-floor outdoor terrace (subject to weather)
- Pet friendly
SUMMARY
Whilst Hilton provided this stay for review purposes, they have no editorial input, have not pre-read this review, and everything above reflects our own experience.
Putting that to one side, I can honestly say I would have no hesitation staying here again. In fact, I’d actively look to book it. Despite opening in 2023, the hotel still feels incredibly fresh, modern and well looked after, and the location really is about as good as it gets if you’re planning to explore Midtown Manhattan.
For me, it’s the combination of the spacious rooms, contemporary design and unbeatable location that makes Tempo by Hilton Times Square such an easy hotel to recommend. If I could secure another stay using Hilton Honors points, it would become an even more compelling proposition and would almost certainly be my first choice for a future trip to New York.
