Travel Hacking: Intercontinental New York Times Square, Only $160 per night by making good use of my Ambassador Cert

Intercontinental New York Times Square

Made me glad to have the Ambassador membership

Stayed Feb 2016
Published May 2016
  

After fulfilling my goal of seeing the Aurora Borealis in Iceland, it was time to go home.

Considering I would be almost on the other side of the globe (in terms of longitude), I was pondering if I should continue westwards through North America or back via Europe.

After looking at the flights and seeing Icelandair was offering a good deal at USD$215 (about SGD$300) on Economy to New York for a one-way, it was decided I would stop in NYC for a few days before heading home.

As a savvy traveler, I used my Ascend Card hotel voucher for a free first night at Millennium Broadway Hotel, which I also used at previously and got upgraded to a suite. This time, it was only a room but no less comfortable. Looking at my review then, it was really so dry.

Millenium Hotel Broadway

 

 

The  Millenium Broadway Hotel is a modern hotel right at Times Square.

It is next to and connected to the Hudson Theatre and also to the Premier Hotel which is also under the Millenium Group.

I had a free night stay from my credit card and redeemed for a night here back in November 2013.

Why choose this hotel?

Located at 145 West 44th Street, one cannot get much closer to Times Square!
The clean, modern decor is also very appealing.

The Management

Millennium And Copthorn hotels manages this hotel as with Orchard Hotel in Singapore which was reviewed previously.

Getting to the Hotel

The central location posed no difficulty to cabs or walking.

The Hotel

The lobby is very spacious and with exits at the adjacent streets.

The large art pieces added glamor to the hotel.

I really like the modern elegance with clean lines and wood/metal contrast.

The lifts are located off the lobby but are slightly dark although I do like the large number of lifts and the resultant short waiting time.

However, the corridors seemed a little underwhelming and mismatched to the feel of the lobby.

The Rooms

I was given a 1-bedroom suite (on a free stay!) for the night.

The suites are named 'Broadway Suites' and described at the website as "Located from floors 50 to 52, high above the city overlooking the vibrant Times Square, the thoughtfully appointed Broadway Suites feature comfortable furnishings and a separate living area."

 

The separate living room has a small toilet which was invaluable when 2 people needed to use the washroom at the same time.
Toilets are hard to come by in New York City.

Somehow I felt the bathroom was mismatched with the scheme of the bedroom and living room.
Otherwise it was really spacious, but had no separate standing shower.

The view from the room is definitely not as great as pictured in the hotels website.

The Food and Drinks

Breakfast was served in the lobby and had a small but adequate range and the quality was fine.

Service was rather prompt but there was definitely room for improvement.

The Service

The front-desk agent was rather prompt and friendly. Otherwise there was minimal contact with the hotel staff.

I presume this was because the hotel is a busy business hotel and guests usually did not want to be disturbed.

The Gym

The fitness centre was rather small but empty.
Nothing to shout about,but I guess it can be considered functional.

 

In Summary

The hotel was very kind to upgrade the room to a suite and the service other than the front desk was a bit cold.

So if one is looking for great service, that may be a little hard...

There were no major hiccups during the stay thankfully.

Undeniably, the location is fantastic and that is a great reason to stay here. 

Happy Travels!

fred