Hotel Riu Plaza New York Times Square

Great location, great breakfast. Friendly staff. Would return. Rooms are small but we knew this when we booked. This didn’t bother us as a family of 5. We were exploring. Travelled as 2 adults 14,13 and 11 year old.

Myself and my daughter stayed here for 6 nights at the beginning of December,fantastic location,good breakfast included would recommend going early as it gets busy later. Was on the 9th floor at the back of the hotel which was good as had no traffic noise,rooms good and cleaned each day , take a travel kettle no tea or coffee facilities. Times Square only 2 minutes away,in the middle of broadway, subway nearby, central for getting around. The weather was cold but dry even had sunshine most days 🌆🌃

I’m not sure what the high reviews for this hotel are for. I do not understand. This hotel is definitely NOT a 4 star hotel. Hotel is CHEAP. More like a Motel. Faux leather sofa. Cheap engineered wood on the floors. No valet parking. They send you park 10 mins away and walk back to the hotel with your luggages… For the amount of money they charge, you’ll think they’ll have an underground parking… No water bottles in the room. You have to purchase at front desk. I will not even bother complaining about how rude the staff is…. Worst of worst: Imagine paying 535$/night to be intoxicated by weed smoke all night. As soon as we got out of the elevator to our floor we were welcomed by a very strong weed smell. What a pity and disappointment. I had young kids with me. Husband called front desk to complain and was ensured it was going to be taken care of. 30min later husband called to re-iterate the issue and request room change. “They are still investigating the room where it is coming from and will get back to us…” at that point it is 10pm. Kids are exhausted from the trip and slept off - husband decide to take a shower - front desk call back and ask if we are all packed ready to move out of our room. “They don’t have cleaning staff in the evening so they are trying to find someone to clean our room immediately but it has to be done right away”. Instead of them apologizing they behaved as if they are doing us a favor by swapping our room in like the next 5min… could not be ready in the allotted time so we ended up swallowing the weed smoke all night cause yes people kept on smoking on and off. Worst hotel experience ever. Can’t be trusted. Elevators are packed. Coming down we had to use staircases ….

Not recommended at all

Stayed here with children ages 11-15 as part of a 2 family trip, us from Ireland and the other party from Canada. Hotel is centrally located in Times Square. No issue getting a good sleep. Lifts were fast and efficient (in contrast to our previous stay in NYC). Room was clean and adequate though small for our family of 5. Breakfast buffet offered lots of choice from fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, hot food, pastries etc. While busy, we were expecting that, and moved quickly to get all we were after. Staff were friendly. Gym was well equipped but make sure to bring your own water along. Would certainly be happy to stay here again on a return visit to NYC.

We have just returned from an amazing trip to New York from the UK. It was our first time in New York and we stayed at the Riu Plaza Hotel. I cannot say enough about this hotel. The staff were friendly and could not do enough for us. Check in went smoothly with no issues. We travelled with 4 adults and had 2 rooms. On check in we had to pay £266 tax total and a damage deposit of £200 total. The hotel is in a great location near to all the main attractions and close to the subway for anything further away. The hotel is spotlessly clean and was decorated very festive for Christmas. Breakfast was good every morning, no complaints. The hotel was busy but they managed this well.

Would definitely stay at this hotel again when we return to New York in the future.

Nice hotel in a great location close to all attractions in Times Square. Staff was friendly and helpful. Rooms were a good size.

We stayed at the Riu Plaza New York – Times Square as a couple and had a really enjoyable stay overall.

Check-in was swift and efficient, and the reception area immediately made a great first impression — it was spotless and beautifully decorated for Christmas, which gave the hotel a warm and welcoming feel from the moment we arrived. We had requested a high-floor room in advance and were initially allocated a room on the 24th floor, which we appreciated.

Unfortunately, when we got to the room, we discovered that the bed frame was broken. We contacted reception straight away and someone came up promptly to assess the issue. As it couldn’t be fixed, we were quickly moved to another room on the 28th floor. This was handled professionally and without any hassle, which we were very happy with.

The rooms themselves are great — modern, clean, and a good size for New York. We didn’t spend much time in the room, but it was comfortable and well maintained. Even on the 28th floor, you can still hear the constant buzz of the city, which is to be expected given the location. Our room was also close to the lifts, and there was some lift noise at all hours. This didn’t affect our stay, but light sleepers may want to take earplugs just in case.

The only thing missing for us was tea- and coffee-making facilities in the room. Tea lovers may want to pack a travel kettle and tea bags. There is, however, a Dunkin’ Donuts directly across the road, which we visited daily for a morning brew.

The location is absolutely unbeatable — just one block from Times Square and very close to subway stations, making it easy to get anywhere in the city.

Breakfast was another highlight. The selection was excellent and really set us up for a full day of sightseeing. Despite some reviews mentioning long queues, the longest we waited was around five minutes, which we felt was very reasonable.

Overall, this is a fantastic hotel in a prime location. Despite a small issue on arrival, the way it was handled made a very positive impression. We would definitely stay here again and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone visiting New York City.

We had a fantastic experience at this hotel. It came recommended so we booked it.
First impressions are good. The Bellboy asks you to leave your luggage and check in. Once we had our room number we gave it to him and he bought our bags up to us.
We got a free upgrade and were on level 21 so had a decent view of the whole street below.

A short walk to Times Square.

Breakfast is busy but well organised. Plenty of hot and cold food. Staff were busy but polite and the tables were cleared quickly.

We ordered a car from the hotel back to JFK for $125. Very comfy and on time.

Rooms cleaned daily with fresh towels. There is shower gel, shampoo and conditioner in the room.

My only niggle is that we asked for late check out, was charged $40 which i paid at the time but then i was invoiced for it again. I am still waiting to hear back from reception about this.

We used the subway to get around. £2.18 each trip

We bought a Go City package which was really easy to use and amend timings if you
needed to.

Highly recommend this hotel for location, cleanliness and friendliness

Typical high volume New York City Hotel in a tourist area. Lobby was busy but efficient check-in. Nearly $1,000 for the night which is likely more than double from their summer rates but understandable.

The room was a Corner Room Superior king with a City View. The full length windows are nice as opposed to many New York City hotels that have regular size. The room was still pretty small! The bed comes with only two pillows so we asked for two more and they were brought up fairly quickly.

We did not try the included breakfast.

No place to park in front to drop off luggage passengers Etc, as there is a travel lane directly at the curb.

Hot water was not so hot! Has a see-through or fairly see-through shower glass wall in case that's something that may trouble you. You have to step away from the common glass wall that separates you from the room if you do not want to be seen in silhouette.

Unfortunately you have to pay up at the Holiday times but the hotel for example has vinyl flooring in the hallways and not rug, so I would say three star hotel.

Great location, great room, great service! For us this hotel was perfect. Close to Times Square, but not smack in the middle. Great walking distance to everything.

My husband and I stayed there 2 nights, 12/2 and 12/3/2025
We checked in around 5pm on 12/2. After unpacking, we discovered that only scalding hot water ran from both the hot and cold taps in our room. I let them run a good 10 minutes and the water only got hotter. I called down to the main desk 5 or 6 times and no one ever answered. I went down and explained the problem. The host said that engineering would look into it. No one ever showed. We could not shower or brush our teeth. We had to leave at 6:15 for a 7:00 PM show. On our way out, I checked with the host at the desk. She said that someone would look into it. When we came back around midnight, no one had fixed it. I was told by the front desk that it was a "hotel wide" problem in the areas of that hotel and to just let the water run a while. So I did. After 20 minutes, it was still scalding hot. I called down and she said engineering would come up. They did. They could not figure out why there was no cold water. He also suggested we just let the water run for a while. After another 20 minutes, the water was still HOT (not warm -- steaming HOT). I called down to get another room. They said there were no other rooms in the hotel.
At 1:30 am, we turned out the lights to sleep. I allowed the water to run. At 3:30 AM, I discovered that the sink had overflowed because the sink was draining very slowly. I cleaned it all up. The next morning, before we left for the day, I spoke to the manager and told him that we absolutely could not stay in that room. He moved us. I told him that I was told that RIU had no more rooms. He said that wasn't so. SO -- we moved all of our things to a new room. I was understandably indignant that there was no attempt to remunerate us for that unacceptably horrible first night. This manager said that the only thing he could offer were 2 - $20 discount coupons to be used at the bar or the "Grab and Go". I was at least expecting "half off" or better. At any rate, when we went to grab and go, we were told that these coupons could only be used once and that whatever they were used for had to be $20 or under and that you couldn't apply it as a discount toward the total bill. The coupon clearly stated that it was worth $20 to used against the total of the bill. She said that wasn't so and that the desk shouldn't be giving those out because the printed offer was not what they were able to honor. Wow.
At around $630/night, I am very disappointed that this is the best they could do. I have never had such a strange experience at any hotel that I've ever been at. I have had no hot water before -- never only hot water and no cold water.
I was very reasonable. The fact that the manager thought it appropriate that I had to pay full price for a room that I could neither shower in, wash up in, brush my teeth in, etc... is to me shocking.
I am going to challenge this bill with American Express. It's the only thing I can do at this point. Weird, huh?

We had a lovely stay at the hotel.

The room was lovely and spacious.
Big TV, fridge, lovely bathroom.
Beds were so comfy. Had a great night's sleep once we all nodded off.

Breakfast was great and had everything you could want.

The location is Superb. Walk out the entrance do a left, not even a 5 minute walk and you're at Times Square!

The staff were lovely. The Bellboys were fantastic on our last day storing our luggage and ordering us a lovely big SUV to the airport.

A couple of niggly negatives that dropped our rating to a 4 star . . .

There are no stairs, the only stairs we could find were for the staff. Being on the 4th floor by the time the elevator gets to the 4th floor it's rammed! We ended up using the staff stairs.

On our last day the breakfast queue was round the corner. It wasn't even 8am! I can imagine it's only going to get worse closer to Xmas.
We had breakfast out on the last day as we were not prepared to queue.

Room corridors are very loud and doors don't half bang. Once you're asleep it's fine but trying to get to sleep with banging doors can be a pain!

Would we stay here again . . .

100% yes .

Like I say. Just a couple of small negatives.

We stayed at this great hotel for 5 nights . We had a 10 out of experience
Greeted on arrival by welcoming staff luggage was taken to our room . Are checkin was very smooth and helpful staff member Brahim We had a fabulous room on 22 floor with a great view .location was excellent so close
To explore the city . Hotel was decorated beautifully for Xmas every staff member was friendly and most helpful we had breakfast each morning which had everything you could want the hotel was very busy but we never had to wait more than a few minutes.our room was serviced each day . We availed of the happy hour each evening drinks very good
We had a great stay and would definitely recommend this hotel and are already planning our next trip . We would like to thank RIU for a very memorable and joyful stay

Easy check-in. Friendly and accommodating staff. Zero entry via automatic (slowly) rotating door or bypass through traditional doorway. Large lobby with several personnel where guests check in. Banquette seating on one side, tables beyond and a snack bar in the back with a small menu. Guests can drop their bags with the Bell Captain in the same area. 6 elevators: 3 go to the lower floors and 3 to the upper floors. Safety: Must scan your key to gain access to your floor (love that). Room located on the 16th floor. LOVED my room! No carpet on the floor (my preference). Nice view. Comfortable bed, plenty of pillows. All the typical amenities: fridge, 2 bottles of water, iron and ironing board, hair dryer, shampoo, body wash and hand soap provided in large containers. Step in shower (my preference). Plenty of task lighting. Large TV. The price was around $360/night which is not bad for NYC, but, wait for it -- Self-serve breakfast was included. Wait till you see breakfast! Served on the 5th floor. Guests come down to the lobby and get in line to be taken up to the 5th floor. Use the sheet they given at check-in or just remember your room number. Get there early! Anything you can imagine for breakfast: American style, European style, any type of breakfast food you desire is available. Check out time is 12 noon (another nice convenience). Upon leaving if you need a cab, the bellhops are there to help you. If the prices and amenities stay consistent I would definitely stay here again. This is close to Times Square which I stay away from but it's close to many theatres and restaurants.

The hotel is in an ideal location just one block away from Times Square so we were close enough to walk there.
The atmosphere was electric. The hotel was busy but staff always had time for us to help with any queries.
The rooms were immaculate and cleaned every day. We stayed in a family room and it was huge with amazing views of the city.
The hotel was not too expensive either and well worth the money.
We had bed and breakfast and ate at the hotel each morning. The food was freshly prepared and lots of amazing choice from savoury to sweet plus hot coffee available too.
We booked experiences through the concierge desk and this was very helpful too.
We would definitely book the same hotel again as everything was perfect.

The best thing about this place is the location.
First impressions matter, and check-in was a warning sign for what was to come. Arrived after long flight travel and a long 1.5 hr taxi ride to front desk representatives laughing and not acknowledging us - even in the Riu class line. It was like we were interrupting their conversation. No smile or welcome just, “Name”. Was told room wasn’t ready and then we would be put on a “waiting list” and then I asked (because I had read online) if we paid extra could we get an earlier check-in and suddenly our room was available right away. No offer to help with bags. Handed piece of paper with WiFi code and told elevators to the right. The room we were given was on the 14th floor - family room so decent size. It seemed clean until we discovered long black hairs on the sofa. Vinyl floor and odd decor-it looked and felt very cheap, pretty much in line with a 2 or 3-star property at best. Regretted decision and wanted to leave but tried to keep an open mind. Had the fridge in the room but when opened it smelled of mildew. Felt the need to pour the water into a cup rather than smell the bottle or put your mouth on it. The mattresses and bed linens are poor quality. You know the sheets are thin when you can see the lines of the mattress pattern through them…the bathroom and shower were OK. Surprisingly the towels were fluffy and better quality, but the provided bath products were not luxurious. Hot water and pressure fine.
The elevators were busy but typical for a NYC hotel of this size. People struggled with the card reader and often rode up and down as a result.
The grab and go cafe next door was convenient and had much better service and pastries. The Fashion Bar was again “cheap looking” with plastic uncomfortable bar seats and very limited selection - ordered a common White Russian one night and told no can do.
And then there’s the “touted” breakfast. It’s as has been described very busy and chaotic, but it was much, much worse than that. It was like waiting at a line at Disney at first and then racing around like bumper cars trying to find food. There are multiple seating sections, and the people working the lines and tables were not friendly - many of them frowning or disinterested. They stand right outside the elevators and bark orders. One day there was a misunderstanding-we thought we were told to go to the “bar section” but when we went there got turned away and accused of not telling the truth, and the person who originally told us copped an attitude and said when she said go to the right she meant to go behind the wall to the Disney-like weaving line and not to the bar on the right. The bar section apparently closes at 9AM even if there is a long line. How were we supposed to know? We ate at the bar the day before. We didn’t even know what was behind that wall. She argued with us and made us feel stupid and very uncomfortable. I got her name and went to the front desk to complain and the manager “took down my info.” Then when we finally got in the breakfast area they were low on certain food and had no juices or water. And fast forward to the next day they were pretty much out of food at 9AM in our section and when I told the supervisor he patted me and said you can go make a complaint at the front desk. So I did. But again, the front desk manager just apologized for the inconvenience. The breakfast item quality was also hit or miss - plenty of options - but way too stressful to enjoy even if included in the cost. Not a great way to start our days…at all.
As a result, really because of the low quality feel and lowest quality customer service we would not recommend or stay here ever again, even if there was a good deal. They obviously don’t care about customers and rely on their location. Been coming to the city and stayed in different places for 25 years. Had seen this location and read reviews for months on a couple of hotels trying to decide and landed on this one. So if you like are considering, DON’T DO IT! I regret not staying at the other choice where the room was smaller but their email correspondence to questions about booking was so kind and refreshing. Wish we had stayed there or anywhere else -this was so disappointing.
It’s still the greatest city in the world, but this hotel is the worst place we have stayed in it!

Stayed here for 4 nights and couldn’t fault the hotel. The location was perfect, so close to Times Square. The subway and theatres/restaurants
The room was good, very clean and considering the location it was fairly quiet.
The breakfast buffet was fantastic, so much choice and yes it was busy but the staff were very efficient and made sure things ran smoothly
The staff overall were great. Really friendly and nothing was too much trouble

We recently had an amazing stay at Hotel Riu Plaza New York Times Square to celebrate a family member's milestone birthday, The location was perfect and allowed us to easily walk to several attractions and was also close to the subway for longer trips. The room was clean and modern. The breakfast buffet offered a variety of high quality options. Most importantly, the staff went above and beyond to make sure we had a great stay from check-in through picking up our bags after check-out when it was time to leave NYC.

Highly recommend! Chose based on close location to Richard Rodgers theater for Hamilton, good reviews, and reasonable price for NYC. Hotel was very busy but we had no problems checking in or getting elevators (make sure to put in your room key to select floor going up). All staff was friendly and helpful. One king bed room for two friends was not huge but big enough (normal size for NYC). The bed was very comfortable. We were on the 15th floor on the 8th Ave side, so there was some noise but not terrible. I would ask for in inside room next time for less street noise. The temperature was easily adjustable. There was some rattling of a vent when the air first kicked on, but not bad. Shower temperature and pressure (waterfall head) were good, with all showering amenities provided. The frosted glass wall in-between the bathroom and bedroom was opaque enough that it was not a problem for a non-romantic partner.
Buffet: huge seating area to handle a lot of people, and the biggest and nicest breakfast buffet I've ever seen! The first day we ate in the main room, but the second morning we were in the bar which was smaller and more quiet but with the same massive spread of every food imaginable.
We did not use the bag check or gym. We asked to waive the facility fee because we were not using any of the included services, but were told $27 of the $33 fee went to pay city tax.
Would definitely stay again!

Riu Plaza Times Square is situated in a ideal spot for everything you want to do while in New York, 2 min walk to actual times square where something is going off all the time, its lit up beautifully at night which adds to to sparkle. We was on the 20th floor with a view of the side streets with theatres on every street, there was building works going off across the road but we didn’t hear any noise from it, the main noise i heard quite a lot was police cars & fire engines sirens, but u have to remember its a busy busy area. The breakfast catered to everybody the only downside is it felt a bit crammed but the staff are continuously clearing away. There was 5 lifts in the foyer and at busy breakfast times there always full. The staff were all very polite & friendly. We went on get your guide to buy tickets for Empire state building, Top of the rock observatory, Ground zero 911, Staten island ferry which cost about £114 each person for all of them. We used the underground to get to places a bit far to walk to which was surprisingly easy and the staff there was always happy to help. We ended been late ( we got lost) walking to staten island ferry but the staff was great and allowed us to still do our trip. Central park is lovely but there are lots & lots off people trying to get you to do a tuk tuk or horse & carriage around it, the prices are set so even if someone promises a cheaper price dont get fooled. There is a ice skating rink at Rockerfella centre but only small but the 1 at Central park is a lot bigger and lots cheaper, loads of squirrels running around and New York was just starting to trim up for christmas which made our trip even more special. Alcohol very expensive & food can be too but we expected that its the tipping bit that confused us most as they expect at least 10% but then say you can give 20%,30%, 50% but wen ended up worrying if they thought we was mean by not giving top tips.