Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square [In-Depth Review]

I stayed at the Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square with my husband in early December. This property opened in September 2023, and staying in a new hotel in the big city was fun. The location was perfect. It was within walking distance of everything we wanted to do on our short holiday visit to New York City.

I was impressed by how this hotel blended warm hospitality with efficient functionality in the compact rooms. Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square was a calm, mostly quiet place to escape when we needed a break from the city streets. I appreciated the design touches, including wood paneling and live plants, that brought a sense of nature to this hotel in the heart of the city.

Although our room was small, we felt comfortable and had enough space for the 2 of us. Plus, it was fun to have a fold-up bed that served as a couch and table during the day.

Read on to see what we liked about this new hotel near Times Square and how our experience went.

Hotel Location

Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square is on West 48th Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue. As the name suggests, it’s right around the corner from Times Square and convenient to many tourist attractions in Manhattan.

I’d considered staying elsewhere because hotel rates in Manhattan were high for our stay. Ultimately, I’m glad we chose to stay in a central location where we could easily reach everywhere we wanted to go on foot.

Times Square and Broadway

From the front door, Times Square was just down West 48th to the left and then down 7th Avenue — 4 minutes away on foot. The hotel was convenient for reaching Broadway, too. It was just a 9-minute walk to get to the St. James Theatre via Times Square. On our way, we passed several hotspots, including M&M’s New York, Hershey’s Chocolate World, and the Disney Store.

Rockefeller Center and 5th Avenue

To the right down West 48th was Rockefeller Center, another easy walk at just 7 minutes away. Radio City Music Hall, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nintendo New York, and LEGO Toy Store New York – Fifth Avenue are all nearby. My husband wanted to see the holiday window displays at Saks Fifth Avenue and the hotel location was perfect for that.

Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square is next door to other Hilton hotels: Home2 Suites by Hilton New York Times Square and Hampton Inn by Hilton New York Times Square. Tempo by Hilton Times Square is just around the corner, too, a little closer to Times Square.

The James Earl Jones Theatre is next door to the hotels, now playing “Gutenberg! The Musical!” And right across the street is the Hard Rock Hotel New York.

Getting There

With a central location, there are many options for reaching Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square. It’s an 8-minute walk from the Times Square-42nd Street subway station, which serves several subway lines.

If you’re arriving from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) or John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), you can use the E line to get close to the hotel. We flew into Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). We could have reached the hotel on the Newark Airport Express bus with a short walk or subway ride from the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Ubers and taxis were another option — an Uber from the Newark airport to Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square was about $50 to $60 when I checked it.

Walking to Times Square

Arriving with time to squeeze in some sights before settling in at the hotel, we took a much less direct route than a bus, train, or car. We rode the Staten Island Ferry into the Financial District, seeing the Statue of Liberty from the ferry. Then, we spent the rest of the day walking up from the Financial District to reach Times Square.

Walking to Times Square from the Financial District is probably not what most tourists do. It was amazing but exhausting, and I’m still questioning whether or not it was a great idea. Still, we saw the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, the Ghostbusters fire station, Chinatown, Prince Street Pizza, Strand Book Store, the holiday market at Union Square, Harry Potter New York, Macy’s Herald Square, and Times Square, all in a single day on the walk to the hotel.

We considered the subway or bailing out into an Uber if we got too tired, but there was always something else to see just a little bit farther on foot. I’m glad we traveled light!

Booking

This was a last-minute trip booked just a week before our travel dates. We paid a fairly high rate to stay at Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square.

My husband has always wanted to visit New York during the holidays, so we found a few days to go. Those same few days were when a lot of other people decided to visit New York City for the holidays, including the first night of Hanukkah. Hotel rates in Manhattan were high.

We couldn’t adjust our travel dates, and I looked everywhere for a reasonable room rate. We’d hoped to stay 3 nights, but the cost was too high to justify it. I checked Google Hotels, Chase Travel, AmexTravel.com, and Hilton direct. Unless we wanted to stay outside of Manhattan or in hostel-like hotels, I couldn’t come up with anything better than Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square.

I booked a Flex Room with a Wall Bed. My other options were a queen bedroom, a slightly larger twin-over-queen bunk bedroom, or the same 3 options with city views. The queen bedroom and Flex Wall Bed prices were the same. I was curious to sleep in a Murphy bed and wanted a daytime couch, so I went with the Flex Room.

Hot Tip:

Booking directly with the hotel is usually the best way to go. I compared prices against multiple sources, and the Hilton website always had the best price for this property. And by booking directly, I could take advantage of my Hilton Honors status benefits at the hotel.

Cost

All in, we paid $1,273.50 for 2 nights in our Flex Room at Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square. That included a nonrefundable room rate of about $488 one night and $555 the next, taxes, and a $30 per night mandatory destination charge. I wasn’t thrilled to pay over $600 a night. Had I waited to book until the day we arrived, we would have paid closer to $400 per night plus taxes and fees. Looking ahead to January, nightly room rates are under $150. Clearly, the rate can vary quite a bit depending on when you visit.

Points vs. Cash

Points rates for this hotel are reasonable, usually about 80,000 points per night. It would have been a good redemption, but I was about 2,000 Hilton Honors points short of 80,000. I would have had to use the Free Night Certificate I earned this year to get the second night by spending $15,000 on my Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card*.

It probably would have been good to buy the small amount of points I needed and save $1,200+. Still, I prefer to save my Hilton points and free night certificates for longer stays. That way, I can take advantage of getting a fifth night free as a Hilton Honors member on rewards stays.

Ultimately, I paid cash for this stay because I didn’t have a straightforward redemption.

Paying cash, I earned a hefty amount of Hilton Honors points for this stay. I earned 36,316 points immediately after my stay, which included base points, my Diamond elite 100% bonus (which effectively doubled my base points), plus 11,772 under the Multiply Your Points promotion, and another 1,000 from MyWay preferences. Once my credit card statement closed, I earned 12x points per dollar for what I spent on the booking and food and beverage charges: another 16,404 points. That’s a total of 52,720 Hilton Honors points — enough to book a free night at many Hilton properties.

*All information about the Hilton Honors Surpass card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points.

Hilton Honors Diamond Status

Another reason I decided to pay cash: I was about 10,000 points short of reaching Hilton Honors Diamond for the second year in a row. Paying for this stay with my Hilton Surpass card earned me enough points to secure my Diamond status for another year.

While I haven’t been impressed by the difference between Hilton Honors Diamond and Gold, it was still worth making an effort to reach Diamond on points with this stay. Diamond status accelerates my points earning, and having top-level status with Hilton makes it easy for me to match my status with other loyalty programs. For example, I used my Hilton Honors Diamond status this year and spent $99 on a now-expired status match deal with Spirit Airlines to get Free Spirit Gold status. That gets me free bags, seat selections, snacks, and other benefits on every flight. I will probably status match with Frontier Airlines before the end of the year.

Checking In

After our hours-long trek up Manhattan, the front door of Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square was a welcome sight. It was decorated with holiday greenery, including a Christmas tree next to the door and a garland surrounding the front door. A doorman greeted us and opened the door to let us in.

Just to the right of the front door entrance was the front desk. We walked right up without waiting and were greeted warmly by a front desk agent. She acknowledged my Hilton Honors Diamond status and confirmed our 2-night stay. Then, she told us about the amenities, including the fitness center and how to use the elevators to get to our room.

We were informed of the coffee bar and restaurant hours, and she told us about our food and beverage credit. I thought I heard $48, and my husband heard $56. Ultimately, we ran into a snag on the credit, and the math didn’t add up anyway, so I honestly don’t know how much we were actually supposed to get.

The front desk agent told us she’d look for an upgraded room for us with a city view but couldn’t find availability. I’ve yet to get an upgraded room since reaching Diamond status with Hilton, though I was upgraded multiple times as a Gold member. I appreciated that she tried!

Elite Benefits

As a Hilton Honors Diamond member staying at a Motto by Hilton, I was entitled to 1,000 Hilton Honors bonus points and a food and beverage credit of $18 per person per night.

In addition to my elite benefits, the daily mandatory destination charge included other amenities. Those included internet access, a daily $10 food and beverage credit, 1 Crunch Fitness pass, 1 Citi Bike rental unlimited pass, and 2 bottled waters.

The Lobby

The lobby was small but welcoming. I loved the design touches, from the high ceilings and circular tiles to the wood-paneled walls and drop-down bubble light fixtures. At the center was another Christmas tree. The lobby offered various seating options, from a leather couch to stools and armchairs.

Tables had books available for guests to read. Live plants added a nice touch of nature and greenery to this warm and inviting lobby within the bustling city.

This space was often busy, but I always saw a spot available to sit. If our room felt too cramped or if we wanted to people-watch, we could have spent some time here.

Near the front door was a nook for luggage carts. I always saw at least 1 of these available.

Elevators

The elevator technology frequently amused us because the elevators had a touchscreen operation instead of regular buttons. We pushed our floor number to call an elevator to get to our room. Then, the screen told us which elevator number to use, and the elevator took us directly to our floor. After decades of using regular elevators, our brains kept forgetting that the elevator was automatic. We always looked for the floor button to push as soon as we got inside the elevator, only to realize there wasn’t a button and we’d be taken to the right floor.

While the touchscreen technology was entertaining, we were also impressed by the speed of the elevators. We reached the 14th floor in no time.

Each of the elevators had a friendly greeting of hello and goodbye that amused us, too.

Lobby Cellar

Space on the main floor of the lobby was fairly limited to the front desk, seating, and the lobby bar and restaurant. There were no restrooms or water fountains on the main floor, but both were available at the lobby cellar level.

We could enter the lobby cellar by taking beautiful wood-paneled stairs down from the restaurant or using the lobby elevators.

The lobby cellar was basically a hallway. It had the elevators and stairs on 1 side and the restrooms and fitness center on the other. At each end of the hallway were doors to staff areas.

This is where the lobby restrooms were, with accessible individual all-gender restrooms. A full-length mirror was available between the rooms, and the restroom area had a shared sink and mirror space.

Just between the fitness center and restrooms was a water fountain, including a water bottle filler.

Heading back up to the lobby restaurant, the stairs had dramatic lighting and more holiday greenery on the top banister.

Amenities

Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square is a small, urban hotel, and it doesn’t have extensive amenities. While it does have a fitness center and restaurant, it doesn’t have a pool, meeting spaces, or a business center.

A QR code sticker on our bathroom mirror led me to a hotel page. It helped us access the guest services directory, including amenities, at Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square.

Clicking on Amenities & Services took me to a page that explained some of the amenities. Bike rental was included in our destination charge. However, it wasn’t mentioned to us at check-in, and this page indicated it’s coming soon.

Fitness Center

Downstairs in the lobby cellar was the fitness center, which was larger than I expected.

It had frosted glass and required a key card for entry at all hours. That was nice for privacy and security.

The guest services directory gave me details about the fitness center. It also told me about the 1-day pass to Crunch Fitness and offered suggestions for walking and running paths and trails nearby.

Inside the fitness center were a few aerobic machines, a TV, free weights with a bench, balance balls, stretch bands, medicine balls, kettlebells, and Peloton bikes. All of the walls were lined with mirrors.

Just inside the door were a couple of treadmills and an elliptical, each with an interactive screen.

In another corner were 3 Peloton bikes, 1 with an interactive screen.

At the back of the fitness center was a rack of free weights along with a weight bench nearby.

Near the entrance were the phone, water cups, trash can, cleaning wipes, sink, towels, and a balance bar with a mirror for ballet practice.

On the opposite side was a bin with foam rollers and another bin next to it filled with earbuds.

I was excited to find these because I can always use more earbuds, as my kids constantly break or lose them.

Pet Friendliness

We didn’t travel with pets, but pets up to 50 pounds are allowed at Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square. There’s a nonrefundable $50 fee.

The Room

Our room was on the 14th floor in the hallway behind the elevators. Though it was cozy at 155 square feet, the room was functional and comfortable, and we enjoyed the flexibility and novelty of having a wall bed.

The space, layout, and features worked perfectly fine for our visit as a couple. That said, my husband and I agreed we would need adjoining rooms if we stayed here with our kids. Even if a single room had a bed for everyone, we’d drive each other crazy in the small space. It looks like many rooms have adjoining rooms — ours had a room on each side — so we could probably get a room for the kids and another for adults.

Bedroom

Walking in, the bathroom was to our left, the sink to our right, and the bedroom straight ahead. It featured a queen-sized wall bed, a wall table, 2 short upholstered stools, a TV, and a lamp. The window stretched most of the outside of the room. On each side of the room were doors for adjoining rooms, and 1 of them had a full-length mirror while the other had hanging hooks.

Flex Bed

The bed took up most of the bedroom, so having the option to put it up into the wall was great for saving space when we weren’t sleeping. I was worried I wouldn’t sleep well on a Murphy bed, but I sank right into the pillowtop mattress and soft, fluffy pillows and slept great. The headboard was padded with leather in a design that looked a bit like a skyline.

The only thing I didn’t like about the Murphy bed was that the wooden edge was uncomfortable to sit on while putting on boots. We just used the stools instead.

Each side of the bed featured a built-in lamp with an adjustable head. I just pressed on it and pointed it to where I needed light.

The headboard had some depth to it, with an upholstered pillow behind the bedding pillows and another layer of leather-upholstered headboard.

The other side of the bed, closest to the window, had an identical light on the side. The window had a shelf deep enough to hold small items, including phones.

Above the bed was an outlet, including 2 regular and 2 USB outlets. We didn’t use this outlet because I found the placement odd. The headboard was thick enough to plug your phone or other devices in and rest them on it above your head, but I didn’t want my phone above my head all night, and I was also worried it would shift and drop into the bed.

Bed Adjustment

On the side of the bed frame was a warning that it could only be operated by qualified staff. We probably could have called down to ask the front desk to adjust the bed for us, but we decided it was easy enough to fold it up ourselves.

We found it very easy to fold the bed up. All it took was removing the pillows, grabbing the end of the bed, and pushing up until it rested vertically. Once it was up, we had a small sofa and table where the bed had been. This was for great relaxing and eating in our room. I’d much rather eat in a living room setup than try to not get crumbs from a deli sandwich all over the bed!

Wall Table

At the end of the bed was a table attached to the wall. There wasn’t much clearance between the bed and the end of the table, so we had to shimmy a bit to get to the other side of the bed if we didn’t want to climb over it or if it wasn’t folded up.

A lamp, phone, remote, and a box of complimentary items were on the table. This area also had outlets above and below the table, along with the trash and recycling cans.

Inside the box on the table were 2 bottles of water, some cookies, and 2 packaged pairs of earplugs.

The screen displayed New York City scenes on the wall-mounted TV above and greeted me by name.

Below the TV was the main outlet we used in the room, featuring a pair of regular and USB outlets.

Bathroom

At the front door was the bathroom area, with the toilet and shower to the left as we walked in and the sink with storage to the right. It was followed by an adjoining room door with hanging hooks. These were convenient for hanging bags and coats.

The counter had a single sink and a couple of cups but no coffee maker. I liked the plant-based basd amenities. The soap was mint, and the lotion was citrus grapefruit.

On the bathroom mirror was a QR code, which we scanned to access the guest services directory.

Underneath the sink was towel storage and extra toilet paper. A rail on the side and the front had space to hang up towels.

Storage and Utility Cabinet

Next to the towels was a cabinet with a safe and a tiny refrigerator.

The refrigerator was large enough for some leftovers and had a small freezer up top.

On top of the sink counter was a storage fixture that featured hangers and small appliances. It had a standard hair dryer in a bag and a steamer, a more compact option than a clothes iron and ironing board. On an end was another hanging hook convenient for bags as we walked in the door.

Opposite the sink was the bathroom, but it would be a stretch to call this enclosure a room. It was basically a glass closet with sliding doors and 2 sides, 1 with a toilet and the other a shower.

On the left was a wall-mounted toilet with a trash can. The door to this closed but didn’t lock. When we had the shower door slightly open, we sometimes had difficulty figuring out which door should go where.

On the opposite side was the shower, a small square shower. It had a rainfall shower head as well as a handheld shower head. The amenities were from basd, all in the mint version of the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.

The View

The front desk agent tried to get me a view, but it didn’t work out. Our view wasn’t great, but it wasn’t awful, either. It looked directly at a storage and smoke break area for an adjacent building.

We could see some city depth just to the left, but the view was limited on the 14th floor.

Noise

Ahead of our visit, I’d read reviews that said Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square was noisy and provided earplugs. I wasn’t surprised, given that it’s a hotel around the corner from Times Square. We found the earplugs in our room and had a mixed experience with noise.

I’m always noise-sensitive, but I felt the street noise was very limited. I didn’t hear much from outside unless there was a loud siren.

However, the indoor noise was another story. Our neighbors woke me both mornings as I tried to sleep in. One morning, I heard nearly every word of a phone conversation with one of them. I suspect the adjoining room doors let the noise transfer from room to room. There was also construction that started each day at 9 a.m.

Another noise factor was the air conditioning, which was loud and constantly cycling on and off. Sometimes, the air would be on for just a minute before turning off again, only to turn back on again another minute later. The fan’s white noise would have been welcome to drown out neighbor noises, except that it was disruptive as it turned on and off. We had the fan set to auto, but I’d probably just use the fan’s on-setting next time so we wouldn’t have to endure the constant on-and-off noises.

Food and Beverage

Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square had 2 breakfast options: the Motto Commons coffee bar and The Alderman restaurant. We tried and enjoyed both, though my food and beverage credit didn’t work out correctly.

The guest services site offered information about our food and beverage options.

Motto Commons Coffee Bar

Accessible from the street or around the corner from the front desk was the Motto Commons Coffee bar. This bar offered snacks and drinks, including coffee.

There was additional seating in the bar, either on barstools or at tables that blended with the hotel lobby.

We got a couple of lattes and pastries the first morning, and our bill came to just under $30, including tax and tip.

The Motto Commons Coffee Bar was open daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Alderman Restaurant

Beyond the bar was the much larger restaurant, The Alderman, open for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. The website indicated it will be open for lunch and dinner soon. The front desk agent told us this restaurant opened less than a month before our visit.

The Alderman was about the same size as the entire rest of the lobby area and had a lot of booth seating along with some small tables.

Like the lobby, much of the restaurant featured tile, wood, and lots of fresh greenery with modern light fixtures.

The dining area had multiple large booths.

The Alderman Menu

I couldn’t find an online menu for The Alderman, but my husband snapped some photos the first morning while he was at the bar getting coffee.

The Alderman offers what the front desk agent referred to as “upscale American” meals. Breakfast entrée options ranged from $14 to $32, from a yogurt trifle or breakfast sandwich to a butcher steak and eggs. The Alderman Breakfast featured 2 eggs, beef fat fingerlings, slab bacon, grilled broccoli rabe, and a pumpkin biscuit — a breakfast feast for $26.

We also had the option of ordering sides or bakery items ranging from salad, eggs, and bacon to grilled peasant bread.

Beverage options were extensive. We got regular drip coffee with free refills, but we could have ordered various coffees and teas or juices. Juice options were freshly squeezed grapefruit, pineapple, or orange juices, or raw cold-pressed concoctions such as the Boss Tonic featuring ginger, turmeric, and lemon.

Breakfast at The Alderman

I opted for the French omelet, which was fantastic. It featured brown butter, ricotta, carrot, and sage with a mixed greens salad on top. I’m obsessed with eggs I don’t have to make for myself, and I loved this omelet.

The egg was soft, and the ricotta blended with sage was perfectly creamy. Still, it was solid enough not to turn into a runny mess on my plate once I dug in. The brown butter flavor really came through, and the salad was very delicately dressed.

My husband had never had a Dutch baby pancake before, so he tried out The Alderman’s version with candied sweet potatoes, vanilla, cultured cream, and New York State maple syrup. He was impressed by this cast-iron pancake, and I especially liked the cream and sweet potato topping.

We also ordered slab bacon, which I’m usually not a big fan of. I tried this but didn’t like it because it was too fatty and chewy, though my husband enjoyed it.

Food and Beverage Credit

I’m thoroughly confused about our food and beverage credit. Hilton switched from offering free breakfast to Gold and Diamond members to food and beverage credits in July 2021, and I’m not a fan of the credit. In my experience, the credit doesn’t come close to covering an entire breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and I’ve had multiple experiences where the credit didn’t apply correctly. A genuinely free breakfast would be much more welcome than dealing with customer service after I’ve checked out.

When we checked in, the front desk told us we had $48 (or $56, which my husband remembers hearing) total in food and beverage credit. My Hilton app told me we had $18 per person per day ($72 total for 2 nights), and the destination charge included a $10 food and beverage credit. If we go off what the app and booking site said, that would have been $46 per day, or $92 total — which doesn’t match what either of us thought we heard at the front desk.

We decided to go ahead and get food and see what came out on the bill. We got coffee in the bar the first morning (a little under $30) and breakfast at The Alderman the next morning (about $67).

Customer Service

After we checked out, the bill didn’t reflect a food and beverage credit at all. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice it until we were long gone from the hotel. I chatted with an agent in the Hilton app, which took about half an hour, including getting past the AI auto-response hurdles. The agent set me up with a claim, and I got a refund of exactly $69.41 the next day.

The $69.41 amount was a confusing, very specific number, just slightly more than our restaurant breakfast. It wasn’t any of the numbers we thought our food and beverage credit might have been. Even if we just got $18 per person per day, that would have been $72.

I’m still not sure what exactly our food and beverage credit was, but it’s probably not worth spending another half hour chatting with an AI bot and customer service to figure it out.

I will take it as a lesson learned that when we use our food and beverage credit, I should get a printed receipt at check out to spot issues before we leave. I’m sure it would have been much easier to talk to the front desk than dealing with the Hilton online chat after we got home. It would have been even easier if the credit had been applied correctly without my intervention — or we just got a free breakfast without messing around with credits.

Bottom Line:

My experience with Hilton food and beverage credits has been inconsistent, and this is the second time I’ve had to contact Hilton after a stay for a food and beverage credit that wasn’t applied at all. I recommend getting a copy of your receipt before you leave the property to verify it’s correct.

Service

From the front desk agent to our server at The Alderman and the maintenance workers we encountered, all of the staff at Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square offered a positive interaction. The front desk agent was kind and welcoming, and we got prompt, attentive service at The Alderman and the coffee bar. We were pleased with the service we received at the hotel.

Of course, the drawback to service came after we checked out when I had to take the time to correct my food and beverage credit that didn’t apply. This interaction wasn’t directly with the hotel, and the agent I talked to was perfectly polite — the problem is that I had to reach out at all for a credit that should have been automatic.

Final Thoughts

We felt welcomed at Motto by Hilton New York City Times Square. The entire hotel had a warmth to it, and although our room was small, it was comfortable, functional, and a great place to rest in the bustling city. It was, for the most part, quiet aside from neighbor noises in the morning, and we felt instantly calmer walking through the front door and getting up to our room. Our breakfast at The Alderman was excellent, though slightly soured by the need to contact Hilton afterward to get our food and beverage credit applied.