Hotel Review: DoubleTree by Hilton New York Midtown Fifth Ave

I have a hate-love relationship with hotels. I love staying in them, but I hate the worry that comes with finding one. Do they have bed bugs? Is it in a safe area? Are the pictures deceiving?

That worry was only exemplified when I was trying to find the perfect hotel for our NYC trip. I wanted something central, but not in Times Square, and not crazy expensive. Google Reviews and I became very close as I scoured them for weeks trying to find a hotel. A month out from our trip, I still hadn't booked a hotel yet and I was starting to worry.

After a two-hour phone call with my mom where we were both looking for a hotel, we ultimately decided on the DoubleTree by Hilton New York Midtown Fifth Ave. It met my criteria of being in a central location—right off of Fifth Ave—and not terribly expensive for NYC prices. For two nights, we paid around $600, including taxes.

Now here’s the thing—the Google reviews for that hotel aren’t great. A lot of three, two, and even one-star reviews.

A lot of the negative reviews complained about room size, speed of the elevators, and rude staff. None of the reviews I read mentioned anything about dirty rooms or safety issues, so I decided to take a chance.

For a quick two-night trip with my boyfriend, it ended up being the perfect hotel.

Besides the smallish room, which wasn’t even really a complaint, we had nothing but a positive experience.

Plus, the view was unbeatable.

Location

Now, the part that made me fall head over heels in love with the hotel was its location.

Being right off Fifth Ave, you’re in the middle of a touristy area, but it feels different than being in the middle of Times Square. Quieter, somehow. Being there in early November, the holiday spirit was in the air—Christmas decorations were starting to appear, but we missed the Rockefeller Christmas tree and the Rockettes by a week or so.

All of the main Midtown Manhattan attractions are within walking distance, and for adventures further away, there are two subway stations within two blocks.

And while there is a little “convenience store” in the hotel lobby, a Walgreens is next door for any last-minute necessities or snacks. Note: Walgreens might show up as Duane Reade if you’re using your phone’s map app.

Hotel Room

From my understanding, the hotel was refurbished relatively recently (as of November 2023), and the modern decor in the room and lobby attested to that. Between the loveseat, queen-sized bed, table, and other furniture, the room was cramped—there’s no denying that. The room might be claustrophobic for a longer stay or bigger family, but for two people it worked out well.

I tossed aside the negative reviews about the slow elevators—what else was there to do except wait or take the stairs? And I very much would’ve rather waited for a slow elevator than climb up and down twenty-four flights of stairs. Maybe we lucked out, or maybe we’re just really patient people, but we never found ourselves waiting an extraordinarily long time for the elevator.

Staff

The other common reason for the negative reviews was because of rude staff members. In our brief interactions, we couldn’t have experienced the complete opposite.

We had an early morning flight, arriving at the hotel around 11:30am. I pre-checked us in on the Hilton Honors app, knowing that our room wouldn’t be ready, but hopeful that the hotel would hold our bags for us.

And they did!

I know that’s such a small thing, but having the hotel hold our bags while we explored the city was additional savings and one less thing we had to worry about. And, when we checked out, they held our bags for us again while we explored nearby before we had to catch the train back to JFK.

We didn’t interact with the hotel staff besides those two instances, but whoever was at the front desk always greeted us whenever we walked past. I do agree that rude hotel staff can dampen a trip, but I don’t think that that should be the cause of ruining a trip completely.

Dining

There’s no free continental breakfast, but this DoubleTree is home to Duomo 51, an upscale Italian restaurant. We dined there the night we arrived, wanting something easy after a long day of travel. Duomo 51 seems to cater more towards non-hotel guests and has amazing views of both St. Patrick's and Radio City Music Hall. The food was good, but after a very long day of travel, I think we were too tired to fully enjoy the meal.

If you’re interested, we had the Calamari Alla Griglia (grilled octopus), Tartufo (pappardelle with mushrooms, goat cheese, and truffle oil), and Bolognese (fettuccine with traditional veal ragu).

All in all, I absolutely loved this DoubleTree. If I were to go to NYC tomorrow, I’d stay here again.

Nearby attractions:

• Fifth Avenue
• Radio City Music Hall
• Rockefeller Center and the Top of the Rock Observation Deck
• MoMA
• The Plaza Hotel
• Central Park, near the Pulitzer Fountain
• New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
• Bryant Park

Nearby Subway stations:

• 47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Ctr (B, D, F, M trains)
• 5 Av/53 St (E, M trains)

Nearby dining:

• Liberty Bagels 5th Ave (16 E 58th St)
• DELIS 48 (48 W 48th St)
• Abitino's Pizzeria Rock Center (5 W 51st St)
• FIG & OLIVE Fifth Avenue (10 E 52nd St)
• Joe's Home of Soup Dumplings (7 E 48th St)
• HAMA (11 W 51st St)