As a travel writer and blogger, I stay in lots of hotels, and I always try to find ones that are interesting in terms of design, functional, provide great service and maybe even offer something slightly off the beaten path. EVEN Hotels in Times Square, New York definitely makes the cut!
On a family trip to New York City, we stayed at EVEN Hotels Times Square South, part of EVEN Hotels, a fairly new chain from the folks at InterContinental Hotels Group. We enjoyed it so much, it’s on my list of favorite U.S. hotels!
On our trip to New York City, all four of us flew nearly free on Southwest using Rapid Rewards points and our Southwest Companion Pass (download my free guide below to find out how we did it).
About EVEN Hotels in Times Square, New York
EVEN Hotels is all about helping you stay on track with your health while traveling. Do you overeat when on vacation or business travel? Skip exercising? Indulge in one too many sweets (me!!)? Lose your focus?
EVEN is designed to combat all of this from promoting good sleep and healthy eating to making exercise convenient. They explain their four focus points as: Keep Active, Rest Easy, Eat Well and Accomplish More. “We want you to leave feeling better than when you arrived,” says the hotel’s General Manager Dieter Schmitz.
This is one of the most innovative hotels I’ve ever stayed in. They truly execute this concept flawlessly from top to bottom. From the minute you enter this hotel, you feel like you have entered a peaceful respite from the chaos of the city with its Zen color palette with splashes of color.
Upon walking into the property, you are greeted by staff standing at a front desk “island,” allowing them to walk around to show you a map, direct you to a part of the hotel or just greet you. Many hotels are revamping the front desk, though I like this version best. I’ve seen some with no front desk at all where the staff just awkwardly stand around!
Rooms at EVEN Hotels Times Square South
The design of the rooms is modern without being pretentious and incredibly fresh and functional. So many hotels go for outlandish design at the expense of functionality. As a mom with two kids, I need the room to be functional with things like an empty mini fridge, space to move around, a place to put the suitcase and an area to store snacks and food. Check, check, check, check. Oh, and the spacious shower even had a place to hang my washcloth! Check!
Each room comes with its own workout zone complete with a yoga mat and block, resistance bands, stability ball, foam roller and mounted fitness wall. Feel free to work out on your own, use the in-room exercise guide or tune to one of many free fitness channels on your TV to get in your work-out in room. You can also watch the workouts on YouTube or on the IHG Rewards Club app.
Floors are made from cork, which according to the Times Square general manager, is to help absorb the sound of work-outs and for hygiene, as they are easy to clean and disinfect.
Need to do some work? Easy! Every room has free fast WiFi, a rolling desk so you can move it to the bed or wherever you like, a standing desk, which you can move to whatever height works for you, or you can even sit on the stability ball while working, just as the GM does in his office every day.
Oh, and there are only “even” room numbers :).
EVEN Times Square Amenities
The staff takes every new guest on a mini tour of the hotel. The property is not large, yet there is plenty of space for everything that you need.
My kids immediately zoned in on the ping-pong room where they spent a good bit of their time when we were not walking miles around New York City. It made for good down time that did not involve a TV or electronic device. 🙂 Plus, the property hosts a ping-pong tournament on Friday mornings, and if you can beat the GM, he’ll buy your breakfast!
The fitness room is exceptional with the best-in-class workout equipment and machines, including the currently popular rowing machine, free weights, treadmills, spin bikes and more. My son, who runs cross country, couldn’t resist getting in a couple miles on the treadmill despite having already walked all over New York City!
I am a stickler for hotels offering their guests free water. It doesn’t have to be in bottled form, but sometimes hotel water from the tap is almost undrinkable. EVEN offers “hydration stations” on every 5th floor and a free in-room water bottle that you can refill as often as needed.
My only gripe here is that the hydration stations were a touch finicky to get to work, but we had it figured out by the end of our stay. You can also fill up on ice cold water — herb infused or not — by the front desk.
After you workout, you can even drop your stinky, sweaty clothes and socks in a special in-room bag at the front desk, and they will wash, dry and fold and have it ready for pick-up in two hours. No more returning home with a suitcase full of stinky-ness :).
Dining & Public Spaces at EVEN Hotels Times Square South
The hotel offers one restaurant, Cork & Kale, with healthy options to keep you from falling off the wagon when traveling. They have things like salmon boards, a smoothie bar (these are delicious, I got hooked!) and freshly-squeezed orange juice with a fancy-dancy orange juice machine. There’s also a small grab-and-go market and you can even pre-order a healthy “Go” box to take on the road with you.
I loved the restaurant area of the hotel for working, as adjacent to the dining area is the “relaxation zone,” perfect for setting up your laptop for a little early morning productivity. I also enjoyed the “stadium seating” area with comfy pillows for a quick email check or phone call. There are outlets hidden behind the pillows!
EVEN Hotels Location in New York City
At first, I was not sure about the location, as we had multiple activities in Times Square and I was afraid this was too far of a walk. It was not, especially for attractions 42nd street and below like Madame Tussauds and Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum.
We did choose to take the subway when going a little higher up in Times Square closer to 53rd Street to see School of Rock at the Winter Garden Theater.
I actually really came to love this location. It’s just a block from the north end of the High Line in Chelsea, my favorite free activity in New York City, a couple blocks from the Hudson River where you can go jogging with the hotel GM a couple days a week, and was about a 15-20 minute walk from the Empire State Building. Hell’s Kitchen is also a block over with plenty of dining.
I have learned that I have gotten too old for Times Square apparently, as it absolutely drives me batty, so this was a nice location out of the chaos, but close enough to get to it.
EVEN also has a Midtown East location that is close to Grand Central Station and ideal if you are visiting on business, as it’s convenient to much of the city by train. It is a slightly smaller property, but offers all of the same amenities.
Be sure to check out New York Pizza Suprema, recommended by an EVEN Hotels staff member our first night, which was hands down the best New York pizza I’ve ever had and gave Chicago deep dish a run for the money. Needless to say, we ate there multiple times, as it’s tough to pass up $3 per slice of awesome pizza!
Stay at EVEN Hotels Using IHG Points
Want to book at stay at EVEN Hotels Times Square South? It will cost you about 40,000 points per night on average.
The IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card currently has a bonus of a bonus 60,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first three months, plus another 5000 when you add an authorized user who also makes a purchase. That almost gets you to two nights!
If you decide to apply for any of the credit cards mentioned in this post, please use the TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS links in the Go to Travel Gal main menu above. There is NO COST TO YOU and it allows me to earn a commission to help pay the blogging bills, so I can continue to bring you great information free!
Note: EVEN Hotels provided us with a room at no charge in exchange for an honest review.
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