The following is a post from my daughter who recently stayed at the Virgin Hotels New York City

We won a contest for three free nights at any Virgin Hotel. I already had flights booked for a trip to New York City, but hadn’t arranged my hotels yet. My trip was in May and the New York City Virgin Hotel location opened in February. The hotel looked beautiful on the website and I was pleased to see that it was just as beautiful, if not more, in person!

The hotel has 460 rooms including Chamber Double 2 beds, Chamber King, Sky Chamber Double 2 beds, Sky Chamber King, the Grand Chamber Suite, Sir Richard’s Flat, Sky Grand Chamber Suite, Sky Grand Chamber Terrace Suite, and the Sunset Penthouse Suite.

The hotel was easy to find on Broadway between 29th and 30th, just a few streets from the Empire State Building. We were given the Sky Chamber King City View room. We were on the 26th floor with a fantastic view of the city. You can book a room that has a view of the Empire State Building or just a view of the city. The location felt safe and was close to a metro station.

One of the best features of our room was that we were on the corner so our window was very large. I also loved that there wasn’t a tall building right next to the hotel that blocked the view like another hotel we stayed in.

All of the staff that we interacted with were helpful and friendly. A bellhop helped us get to our room and brought our luggage. We had arrived earlier than our check-in time and they were able to offer us early check-in. It did seem like the hotel was less busy and this was likely due to it being fairly new. I would expect the hotel to be busier now.

We saw that there was a sky lounge rooftop area on the website, but this hadn’t opened yet when we arrived. We didn’t make it to the outdoor pool during this trip, but it was open and looked great.

The shower is a good size for a New York City hotel with a large rain shower head and a hand held shower head. The toilet is on the other side of the sink and there is a vanity with a light up mirror; perfect for getting ready before heading out in the city.

The mini bar was well stocked and depending on the item, reasonably priced. I would definitely skip the small treats like M&Ms and popcorn, but there were great drink selections.

Each floor has a water and ice machine. Our room happened to be right next to the ice machine, but we quickly discovered that it wasn’t working. After notifying the front desk, they came to help us and it seems that the machine was just touchy. The next day, it wasn’t working for us again. Normally, I would just go to another floor and use that ice machine, but the key cards only give you access the floor of your room and common areas. The staff that helped us with the machine noted that the ice machine was hard to use and not working great, but nothing more was done to help us.

During our trip, we explored other parts of Manhatten for food and didn’t grab food at the restaurants and carts within walking distance of the hotel. However, we did want to try the restaurant at the hotel, Everdene, during our stay. Check the hotel’s website during your stay for events that may be happening at the restaurant. During our stay, there was a drag brunch that looked like a lot of fun! We had brunch at Everdene and tried the belgian waffles with blueberries. They were incredible! I wasn’t blown away by the latte and would’ve tried a juice or cocktail if I were to go again. The interior of the restaurant and bar was beautiful.

Overall, we really enjoyed our experience at the Virgin Hotels in New York City and would go again! We loved being in the center of Manhattan with a great view of the city. It’s a quick walk to a metro station so you can easily get around Manhattan. Expect to pay around $500 dollars a night depending on when you book. This is a hotel that you definitely want to book early. We’ll never forget this trip to New York City and we can’t wait to go back for another slice of pizza.