Enjoyed a four night family break in New York staying at this hotel. Got an excellent price through LastMinute.com and, like others, arrived with mixed feelings following the very mixed reviews.
Thoroughly enjoyed the stay. The hotel is quite central, although away from the 'city-tour' bus stops, but on the right side of Manhattan for JFK airport. Our rooms on 11th floor were of reasonable size with excellent bathrooms, good storage, individual room cooling / heating (very noisy) TV and mini-bar. We all felt that an in-room safe would be much more useful.
The rooms were in good decorative order, as were the hallways.
As with other contributors, we used the Moonstruck Diner across the road for breakfast. Excellent food, large quantities and free-flowing coffee at very reasonable prices.
Final tip. Happy hour in hotel's bar from 5pm to 7pm every evening!

Hae just arrived back from New York and the Jolly Madison Towers . I was a single traveller first timd have to the states, and having read some previous reviews i was apprehensive. However being an ex holiday rep. I went there with an open mind. To sum it all up I HAD THE MOST AMAZING TIME !!! :)) The staff were FANTASTIC ,HELPFULL & FRIENDLY !! My room was a little ols but VERY CLEAN , with a fab bathroon . I had seen other reviews and took there advice re Food its far cheaper to eat out. Moonstruck diner just across the street open 6am till 1 am. Mulligans Irish bar on Madison ave 1 min walk was great to even going in there alone the staff were and locals were helpfull and freindly, also pub lunch was great. Had done so much in 4 days i found the grey line hop on and off buses and tours great. Times square only 15 min walk. The Jolly Madison Towers has a great location as not to noisey at night compared to staying in Times square. Looking forward to returning hopefully 2014 :))

We´ve just spent six days here and feel the hotel is good value. OK, it´s not five star, and could probably do with a bit of updating, but our bedroom was a good size (fourth floor so a bit noisy but it´s amazing how quickly you get used to the traffic!) with three windows, a view of the Empire State (when the mist lifted!) and 5th Ave junction. The bathroom had been updated and it had a good shower. Fresh towels every day, and the linen was clean and crisp. It´s a great location though, and easy to walk everywhere (which we did!) Staff are not over-friendly, it´s true, but are helpful and efficient when asked. If you want a mini bar, check when you arrive. They don´t provide them in every room, apparently. Well, there was one in our room, but there wasn´t a key that fitted. But the deli next door is great and supplies almost everything you need. We used Moonstruck for a few meals - it´s across the road so convenient and open long hours - and the food was quite good. French restaurant down the road is expensive we found, and don´t bother with the Italian fast-food next door. Lasagne was terrible, although we were the last customers that evening. Make sure you pre-book Ground Zero Memorial Garden - it´s fantastic - and also you MUST go to the Museum Workshop in the Meatpacking District. Take some tissues. It´s extremely emotional. All in all a great trip, but generally more expensive than we had been led to believe.

Went for a quick weekend getaway close to Christmas. Prices for hotels at this time of year were outrageous so we chose this one, which was slightly cheaper than others. We were impressed. Great location, great value! We were in a corner room, which had no view but was large. Bathrooms were updated and nice. Overall, we would recommend this hotel and definitely stay here again.