Visiting New York City for a short trip? If you are anything like me, you’ll probably spend most of your time exploring the city, and not much time in your room. In that case, you may consider staying in an affordable hotel with a great location but with smaller rooms – like the Yotel New York Times Square.
We received a complimentary one-night stay at the Yotel Times Square NYC during our recent trip for purposes of review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. A purchase/click through one of these links may result in a commission paid to us at no additional cost to you.
Review of the Yotel Times Square NYC
Location of the Yotel Times Square NYC
Right before Christmas, we were in town for a brief, 24-hour stay to see a Broadway show. Location was very important to us because we didn’t want to waste our time getting around the city. The Yotel Times Square NYC is located on the corner of 10th Avenue and West 42nd Street, just a few blocks from Times Square in Hell’s Kitchen.
This Midtown Manhattan hotel offers easy access to many of the popular attractions in New York City, including Bryant Park and Broadway. It’s a short walk to many of these sites. We arrived in NYC from Boston via Amtrak train and took a brief cab ride to the hotel.
Rooms at the Yotel Times Square NYC
Once we got out of our cab, we headed into the lobby of the Yotel. Guests start out at the automated self-service kiosks, where you can check in and print your keys. Unlike most hotels, there isn’t a front desk at the entrance of the hotel. If your room is not ready, you can use the lobby Yobot robot to store your luggage.
Our room was ready, even though it was a little early and before check-in. So, instead of storing our luggage, we were able to immediately go to our room.
After leaving the lobby, you’ll take an elevator to Four, where hotel guests will find the public areas of the hotel. This includes Mission Control, which is an information desk/guest service manned by hotel employees as well as the Green Fig restaurant.
At Four, you’ll walk over to a separate set of elevators which will take you to your hotel room floor. Guests need to use their room key to enter the cabin floors.
Yotel is known for its modern and space-efficient hotel rooms, and our room didn’t disappoint. For this trip, I was traveling with my teen, so we had a premium queen room with a view of the city. These rooms are definitely small but are well designed.
Our room included a smart TV (that can be connected to your streaming accounts), a shower, a lighted makeup mirror over the sink, a safe, a small work desk, plenty of USB outlets, two small closet rods, two drawers, several cubbies, and an iron/ironing board. There wasn’t a hair dryer in the room, but we were able to request one that was delivered immediately. Free WiFi is offered throughout the hotel.
These rooms also contain the signature SmartBed, which glides between a couch size and a full-size queen. The bed easily moves with the push of a button. We found the bed to be extremely comfortable, and it’s nice to be able to have a little extra space during the day.
There are other fun elements in the room, including mood lighting, which can change the color tint of the lights in the room, and floor-to-ceiling windows which offer great views of the city. Large refillable toiletries are located by the sink and in the shower and include lotion, soap, shampoo, and conditioner.
If you aren’t familiar with the Yotel brand, these hotels are typically meant for stays of one to three nights and have very affordable prices. While there isn’t much closet or drawer space, there is a luggage rack so that you can live out of your suitcase.
In addition to the premium queen room that we had, the Yotel Times Square NYC offers other room types. These rooms (called cabins) include the following:
- Solo rooms, which are for individual travelers. These rooms include a double bed
- Premium cabin queen rooms with bunks include a queen bed plus a single bunk. These premium queen rooms would be good for a family of three.
- Corner queen rooms are larger and have windows on two sides
- There are also several types of suites that would be best for families of four
- Accessible rooms are also available
After I checked into the room, I received an email with communication options for contacting the hotel. In addition to visiting Mission Control and using the phone in the room, I was also able to use Facebook messenger or text message to contact the hotel staff which is extremely convenient.
Amenities at the Yotel Times Square NYC
Although there are countless amenities in NYC steps from the hotel, there are also plenty of amenities at the hotel. Ice and filtered water are available on each floor of the hotel. We brought our own reusable water bottles, but there were also plastic cups in the room.
Small vending machines selling chargers are also available on each floor, in case you forget yours at home. There are also two vending machines on the fourth floor with snacks and beverages.
The Yobot robot in the lobby is available to store luggage. There’s a fee per bag. Because we were there on a very busy Sunday before Christmas, the Yobot was actually full.
Bell staff was on hand, however, to take and store bags. We left our bags so that we could explore before our afternoon train. As a bonus, the bellman was also able to help us get a cab back to Penn Station.
If you’d like to exercise while you are at the hotel, there’s a small hotel fitness center. In addition to regular cardio and weight equipment, there are two Peloton bikes. Outdoor bikes are also available for rent at the hotel.
Restaurants at the Yotel Times Square NYC
We arrived at the hotel hungry, so after dropping off our luggage, we headed right to Four rather than one of the other kid-friendly restaurants in NYC. The main restaurant there is Green Fig, which offers breakfast.
In addition to Green Fig, there’s also Komyuniti. In this area, you’ll find a small snack/coffee bar. There are also several tables in a lounge area where you can enjoy your food from Komyuniti.
A cabaret, called Green Room 42, is located past Komyuniti. You can see a show schedule here.
There’s also an outdoor roof terrace patio called Social Drink & Food. This is where you can get lunch (during the week), brunch (on the weekends), and dinner.
We really enjoyed our stay at the Yotel. It was a great location for our quick NYC vacation, and my teen really loved the quirkiness of our room. It’s a good deal in a city where lodging can be pricey.
Book your stay at the Yotel NYC here.
More resources: Read our New York City Travel Tips post here to read hotel, attraction, and restaurant reviews, tips, and ideas.