Stayed in a corner suite for a long weekend break and it was pretty good overall. Suite was decent sized for NYC and all clean and new. Disappointing that the top deck bar and pool won't be ready for months yet but location was spot on for exploring the city. One thing I would say though is to keep an eye on extras being charged to your room. We were billed for merchandise that we didn't even know was supposed to be there never mind having used it. On checking out I managed to get the charge waived but they obviously need to review how they check inventories in guest rooms. The buffet breakfast wasn't the scramble we were led to believe but it was a bit ordinary and the room they opened to provide seating was utterly soul-less. Not a tip-top class hotel despite trying to charge top end prices but overall very acceptable in a city where there are some absolute shockers of rooms.

Just got back from my second stay at the Empire. Very pleased both trips Nov 2007 and Mar 2008). Decided to stay at the Empire because of proximity to the MET Opera House (it is right outside the hotel front door)! The staff on both visits were delightful and very helpful (especially Ben at the front desk). Hotel was clean, rooms are a bit small but this is NYC so not a big suprise. The hotel was pricey but you get what you pay for-location and service! I only stayed one night during both of my visits so I don't know what other reviewers about 3 night minimum were complaining about. Keep in mind if booking this hotel the rooftop pool and restaurant do not open until later in 2008.

We Stayed at the Empire for 5 nights 15 th - 20 th Feb. We found the hotel to be comfortable & cosy. The room & bathroom were not huge but had everything you need for a good nights sleep i.e comfy beds , plasma t.v, i-pod docking station . The shower was great ,powerful & with a choice of overhead rainfall shower or hand held body only attatchment if you did not want your hair to get wet ! The hairdryer was also really good & powerful.You could hear the traffic tooting etc from the street but this did not worry us & we still slept well.
The complimentary breakfast was a good way to start the day, shopping, sightseeing etc is all within easy reach of the hotel.
The gym is well equipped.
The staff were all very helpful ,proffessional & friendly.
We would definately stay here again .

We have just returned from a long weekend at the Empire Hotel and found to be fantastic. We found everything about the hotel to be superb from the complimentray breakfast to the maids. It has obviously been re-decorated and is very very good, the rooms were big enough, this is New York and there was enough room for me and my wife and the plasma TV was a nice touch.
I am not a great lover of eating at the tourist restaurants and when I asked where some good restaurants where they gave me details of some fantastic places to eat, and when asking I thought maybe there were on some kind of commission but we never even mentioned the hotel to the staff at the restaurants.

It was only 5/10 mins from Times Square and so didnt have the noise of being in the middle of everything and the best thing was being just up the road from Central Park which made a nice walk to 5th Avenue.

Overall I would highly recommend this hotel and WILL be staying there again