Empire Hotel

Nice funky little hotel in a GREAT spot right across the street from Lincoln Center. The room was small but lovely and had a retro feel to it that was fun. Definitely will stay there again. Also, the bar/lounge on the first level was a nice spot for an after-theatre drink.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

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Genuine Hotels.com guest review

We stayed one night again. We were upgraded to a "Corner Suite" but we asked for a quieter room, so the very nice clerk (Gunita) gave us a "Junior Double-Double," which looked out to an air shaft. Perfect! Very quiet. Spacious room. Comfortable beds. Clean throughout. In room food & drink are outrageously priced, so we don't buy any of it. Ed's Chowder […] House is in the hotel. For Lincoln Center, this continues to be our preferred hotel. Read more

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Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Excellent location, right across Columbus Avenue from Lincoln Center. Very close to two subway stops, and 1 1/2 blocks from Central Park. The staff was very accommodating and friendly. We were there for three nights, and went to the Metropolitan Opera one night. Location was perfect!

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Stay was great,we had a upgrade to a junior sweet , the hotel had a great roof top bar

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Room a bit small but expected for New York City. For some reason the shower was missing the sliding glass door, but otherwise a comfortable room.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

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Genuine Hotels.com guest review

A very comfortable experience, even if the hotel itself felt a little frayed around the edges. The room was small, but not smaller than you'd find at any New York or major European city hotel. Although, if you're planning on spending a ton of time in your hotel room, you might feel a little cramped. Good location for getting around. I'll be honest, […] I stayed here because of the Gossip Girl connection so I had a blast hanging out in the lobby bar. It was a little trippy walking into what is essentially a set for one of my favorite television shows, but that part was also REALLY fun. It's a little cheesy to have the GG cocktail menu, but seriously, try the "S". It's *delicious*. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Very nice hotel, I was there for my aniversery & they upgraded my room to a exec king & that was very small not sure how small the rest of the rooms was. We would go back again close to resturants & bars & walking distance to the park.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Got to love the wide variety of stuff you can buy in the room and the wide range of room service items you can get.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

We enjoyed our stay at Hotel Empire and found many convenient accommodations including valet parking, bell service, fully stocked mini bar and plenty of towels. The room's temperature was comfortable. Our only gripe was the phone systems. I suggest pressing '0' to speak with someone if you need assistance, because any time I was transferred to another […] line, it would return me to the main menu. It took a few tries for me to reach the valet service. Overall, a great stay, beautiful hotel and located in the friendly and lively Upper West Side neighborhood. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

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Genuine Hotels.com guest review

The bathroom was missing a shower door, a floor mat, washcloths and the shower head dripped all night. In addition, there was no exhaust in the bathroom and the walls and ceiling got wet and dripping after a shower. Very surprising for a supposedly 4 star hotel.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

I treated my husband to a romantic getaway for his 40th birthday; what a wonderful hotel. The staff was always very nice and professional. The location is perfect. We had a bird's eye view of Lincoln Center and Columbus Circle. We were able to walk everywhere, get on the subway that is only a few blocks away and had multiple restaurants across the street. […] But the best is our unsolicited upgrade to a junior suite for no reason. We had a very comfortable and quiet room at the end of the hall that we both loved! I would definitely recommend this hotel and stay again! Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

My visit was good but i found the room to be very small.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

The hotel is located across from the Lincoln Center Square..........We had beautiful Opera music most nights, musicians playing their instruments around the area, and nice food in every direction. Now for the things that may be irritating: 1. The room and bathroom were both very small; 2. The rooftop pool is very tiny; 3. Our air conditioning unit was […] very loud and annoying; 4. Some of the front desk staff were less than cooperative. My wife and I are not sure that we want to stay there again. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

I've always seen the hotel but never had an opportunity to stay in it. Late this summer I decided that I would give it a chance when my girlfriend mentioned that she wanted to come in town to visit me. I reserve a room and she and I had a great (almost) 24 hour date. She came in and we changed and sat at the rooftop pool deck for a couple hours as the […] sunset. She really enjoyed it. Afterward we walked around Lincoln Square, which is right there and was beautiful. We went out for dinner and to hang out with friends in the city. The location of the hotel made it easy for us to get back to it at the end of our night. It's a couple blocks away from the subway station. We would have liked to have gone to the rooftop bar lounge area but we didn't make it back before they closed around 4am which was perfectly fine. Instead we had a very comfortable sleep in our bed. The hotel is extremely beautiful. I'd highly recommend it, perhaps we may have a 48 hour date there one weekend. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

NOW, the BAD!!! My wife and I were planning a romantic getaway. We looked at several hotels. We chose the Empire for a few special things it had to offer. The club on the roof of the hotel is advertised as a selling point. There is a club, but it is NOT affiliated with the Empire! So after great anticipation of having a few drinks there, you can imagine […] my anger at having to wait outside on the street to get in......and after an hour wait, not even getting into the club at my own hotel. So after that disappointment, we decide to rent a poolside cabana for the next evening. There are many pictures on the hotels website. There are placards in the hotel directing you to the cabanas. There is even a price guide in the information packet welcoming to your room. So NOW, imagine my disbelief when the concierge tells me, as I'm trying to reserve a cabana, that they "got rid of the cabanas LAST YEAR". So basically, the two things that swayed us toward staying at the Empire Hotel, are NOT part of the Empire Hotel!!!!! I tried to speak with the hotel manager. He must be a VERY busy man. Either in a meeting, unavailable at the moment, or just simply not here right now are the reasons i got for not speaking to him all 3days we stayed in his hotel. I have been home for 3 days now. And after many more calls and emails, I still have yet to be contacted by him. I will be returning to New York. But I will DEFINITELY not be staying at the Empire Hotel!!!!!!!!!!! Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

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Genuine Hotels.com guest review

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Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Stayed last Saturday night. Location was good and the reason we stayed there. We were going to a show in midtown. Convenient. Nice lobby, bar and roof top bar great for the end of the night for us. Room was nice and a little larger than I expected based on other reviews, probably because it was a handicap accessible room, which we did not need or request. […] The bathroom had an open shower with no door or curtain which was fine. It was set up for handicap access. However, when you took a shower the pitch is such that the water flows to the rest of the bathroom. So you have massive water in front of the sink and the rest of the bathroom. They were fully booked and could not change the room. It was inconvenient. Just don't get room 837. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Fair hotel in a great location. Bring plenty of money. There are lots of hidden costs.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

My girlfriend is a big Gossip Girl fan, so I took her here for a little holiday get-a-way. We loved NYC and the hotel was nice too. Downside - the rooftop bar is not owned by the hotel and drinks were very expensive (even for NYC standards) and they did not have a room ready for us until about 3:30 PM (Check-In is around 3). Upside - Great location, […] friendly staff and beautiful hotel. Rooms were small, but very well maintained. Showers were terrific and the concierge was very knowledge (but seemed to get stressed out quick). Overall, great trip and we wish we had more time to spend there. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

I booked two nights for NYE; one of the reasons I booked here was the rooftop lounge advertised on the website. Both nights I was here it was booked for a private party, and not only was the hotel managent useless, they were very rude. "The rooftop lounge is under a different management group and is not part of the Empire Hotel." is what I was told. […] It is on the website as if it was part of the hotel. This place sucks. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

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Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Staff was very friendly, hotel is in great location, rooms are smaller than advertised and music from rooftop club made us move to a lower floor at 3am in the morning. Staff handled it well, but wish I had more notice. Lower floor was not an issue with noise and we enjoyed the rest of our stay.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Great location but a bit pricey and sadly we had the unfortunate circumstance of our initial room's bathroom smelling like vomit. While the staff dutifully gave us another room, the new room was significantly smaller, so much so we thought it must have been in another "price class". They told us it was not. Having pre-paid through hotels.com, there […] wasn't much we could do. They offered no form of compensation. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

The condition, location and amenities of this hotel were great. We loved the roof bar the last time we were in New York but were disappointed to find out during our stay that there was a private party there the night we wanted to go to the bar. The roof bar was the reason we decided to stay at this hotel and we as guests were not informed in advance […] that the bar would be closed to the public on the night we wanted to go there. This happened to be our last night in New York, some advance notice would have allowed us to shift our plans so we could've visited the bar. Room service times were very long. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Great hotel. Great location, and because of that I had high hopes. I suppose that is where I failed. The room was a bit small for a superior king. There were some issues in the bathroom when I got to the room, but it was tended to rapidly. I liked the overall hotel and look. Main reason for being there was the Rooftop lounge.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

The rate per nite for room with only one window, 2 ft from next bldg, next to the elevator, shower door missing, and not enough room to change your mind in, was a bit much, even by New York standards.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

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Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Pros: Great location Great service from reception, valet, bell and room service Clean & cool lobby, lounges and bar Cons: Rooms are terrible: Very cheaply furnished, stains and water damage in multiple areas throughout room, floor was lumpy, looked and felt like a roadside motel room.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

... the water pressure is so low that the shower is just a trickle. I asked about it. The desk said it's due to the water processing system the hotel uses. Better replace it. Such as shortcoming hardly befits such an excellent hotel. Also, there was a leaking sound in the radiator most of the night. I think what they did is do a wonderful remodel of […] a grand old hotel, but didn't redo the water/heating system. Time to call the plumber. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Nice classic hotel; even upgraded to a suite - just need ot revise the shower so water does not go on floor.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Good hotel,. A lot noise from the aircon though.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

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Genuine Hotels.com guest review

We liked the Empire but had some issues. We tried to watch a movie and the satellite signal sucked because of the rain. We called the front desk and they said they weren't going to charge us for it. But the next morning the charge was on our bill. The room was a little on the small side but not terribly so. Especially for prime New York City real estate. […] Our other big problem was the shower, it was a fancy one, we couldn't get it to work and then when my husband tried a piece broke off. But they sent maintenance up to fix it pretty quickly. I'm not sure if we would recommend the place to everyone we know who might come visit, but to some people certainly. It was classy but trendy and attracts a certain type of crowd for that reason. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Fabulous accomodations, great bar, right at Central Park

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

My husband and I live 40 mins from manhattan and decided last minute on our anniversary to stay in manhattan and try and grab tickets to a performance at Lincoln center. We struck gold with the hotel location and quality of hotel. We will definitely be ba k and our daughter came the follow day and enjoyed the roof top bar. She will as well make it […] back. Thanks hotel.com and trip advisor Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

this hotel is very nice. It has a great lobby and beaiutiful rooms with an amazing rooftop. We stayed in the king master suite. It was nice but a little small. Also the staff was nice but did not seem to go above and beyond. I asked to have my bags stored for some time before we checked in. They said that because of security this wasnt possible- It […] was weird. Overall I think you can do better for your money if you are staying in NYC. This is especially true if you plan to sightsee during the day and party at night. Finally, if you are stayying there because of the club, they are sure to tell you that the hoteland the club are not affiliated so you cannot be guaranteed admission ahead of those online. Thats a little weird to me. Next time I will stay at a nice hotel that isnt soo happy with itself. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

The hotel was one block from Central Park; across the street from the Lincoln Center; and in a good neighborhood with lots of small cafes and restaurants nearby.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Just across from Lincoln Center and a few blocks from Central Park and subway stops, the location is wonderful. The room was very tight, with little light (interior location), which we found out when we arrived. At the price, a bit of natural light would be nice. It was not the cleanest we've seen, and was missing hand towels and wash cloths, which […] seems odd. The shower was not working properly and there was some dirt/mildew in the tile grout. I would probably book it again because of the location, but would insist on an exterior room, which I'm sure would cost a lot more. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

comfortable and acccomadating. make sure you bring bathing suit.

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

I booked a Superior King Room for the Fourth of July weekend. I was hoping to upgrade but the rooms were booked. However, I was originally given a room with no view in which the concierge was kind enough to change and grant us a later checkout (1pm). The view proved to be pointless though, being that the windows were extremely dirty on the outside and […] we were only on the second floor. We had to call for an iron and a bucket of ice, which I always felt should’ve been supplied at our convenience. The bathroom was very small and no bathtub :( . The shower didn’t have a door on one side so water was easily splashing onto the floor. Also the shower knob was WAY too complicated in figuring out how to use. I was stumped, playing around with it for 10minutes and even when I somehow figured it out the next I had the same issue (very frustrating-they should consider putting up instructions). Another downside was the staff’s inability to comprehend the purpose of a DO NOT DISTURB sign. On the morning of our checkout someone knocked (as we were too tired to answer) then proceeded to enter the room 3 different TIMES!!!! NOT COOL! The hallways had a slight dingy stench which something as simple as ventilation could air out. The pool is very small and narrow. On the website the picture is only seen at an angle, which gives it the perception that it is a lot bigger than it really is -_- Overall the physically makeup of the hotel was beautiful. I feel in love with the decor of the lobby, which was very spacious and made for a lovely background in my pictures. On that note, I would imagine if I would have stayed in a more expensive room I would have been more impressed with the layout … But if that’s case spend the money elsewhere i.e. Gansevoort park NYC (a personal fave) Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

If you aren't planning on spending too much time in your room, this place is great. The room was clean and comfortable, but a little tight on space. Perfect though for those looking to check-out the city and still have a nice, convenient hotel to stay in. Only complaint was the valet service. While I realize it wa a 3rd party overseeing the valet service, […] it tookthwm 40 min to get my car. Definitely give ample time if you call down from your room. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

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Genuine Hotels.com guest review

We were celebrating our second wedding anniversary and brought our two Yorkies since the hotel is pet friendly. My husband Dan called the concierge days before to get champagne and flowers put in our room as a little surprise for me but not one phone called was returned I later found out. We checked in to our queen size room which was described as "cozy" […] and unpacked and went out to dinner. When we returned a couple of hours later we were suprised to find a note that said " Your dogs barked all night!!" and the hotel had locked us out of our own room.  We went down to the front desk and talked to a woman named Justina, she explained quite obnoxiously that she had complaints from other guests about our dogs barking so she decided to go into our room ( which had a privacy card on it) and see if she could handle the dogs herself. Really? A stranger is gonna go into someone else's room with someone else's dog to calm them down without permission? That is quite unbelievable. She went on to tell me that I needed to control my dogs and that is why she locked us out of our room( control my little five pound yorkies?) and she was extremely rude and disrespectful. I know my dogs, they bark for a little while and then they give up and calm down, but if they think someone is breaking into their room that they don't know of course they'll go crazy and bark. I asked to speak with the general manager and she informed me he wouldn't be in till Monday. The next day I went down to speak with another manger to see if we could switch rooms so maybe it would be less bothersome to the guests that had complained maybe to a corner unit and he informed me that if I wanted a corner room I would have to pay extra to move. I repeatedly asked him what the solution was and he suggested I stay in the room with the dogs the whole visit. Every time I left the hotel and came back there were notes on the door, it was harassment! I felt very insulted and when hotel management was confronted about how Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

Great location and set up. We unfortunately didn't have a great experience. Room wasn't ready for more than an hour and then they put us in a suite. Too bad the suite smelled like a stink bomb went off. After they fixed that we settled in for sleep but it was way too noisy on the front side. NYC is happening and PJ Clark's rocks till around 5 am. Best […] to ask for courtside rooms if you want to sleep Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review

The standard room is small with poor view--but more than adequate because you want to be out seeing NYC. But the bathroom design is challenging. The sinks are too shallow, the shower glass panel doesn't keep the water in the shower so the bathroom door is very water damaged. The room above ours developed a leak and management immediately moved us to […] an upgraded room--that had windows and more space and was lovely. But the bathroom still had the same rotten design. Staff very helpful. Location is awesome--easy to walk to Central Park, Lincoln Center and even to Broadway. Read more

Genuine Hotels.com guest review