This was our first time staying at the Carlton Hotel. First I want to acknowledge that every employee was very professional and helpful. We stayed in room 322 for 5 nights. The room was on the small side but very clean. The bathroom was pretty small with nice amenities and plenty of towels. The decor was decent and the bed was comfortable. The room and bathroom needs some attention to detail. It looks like when the room was updated they missed some spots. Also, there was no full length mirror in the room. That is a big "no-no"! The only meal we had at the hotel was breakfast which as quite good! The restaurant, Millesime has a piano bar several nights a week. Finally, they have $1.00 oysters at Happy Hour! We would certainly stay again.

4th time at the carlton. PERFECT location -- Union Square 6 blocks away..pillows and bed are SO comfy! Can't ask for more!?! Staff is really helpful and know the areas really well! Will be back Of course! Rooms are such a good size, i mean this is NY..so if you're expecting a huge room then go to Dallas..the rooms are actually larger in the Carlton than the W in Union Square which is way more money. It's a great value.
Never ate at the restaurant but hang out in the bar and it's lovely. Great restaurants in the area as well.

The lobby is beautiful, as are the hallways. The rooms have modern decor, but falls short when you look at the details (wallpaper falling off in some areas, broken marble tiling). The hotel should've spent some of the money they did on the lobby/hallways instead on the rooms. My room was also facing a generator or fan on the rooftop of another building, which the noise was masked slightly by the air conditioner - so I'd say I got a crappy room.

Service-wise, this was my experience:
I checked in at the correct check-in time (3pm) but was told my room wasn't ready (along with a number of others waiting in the lobby). I had an engagement to attend to, so after waiting another 15-20 minutes, I addressed the front desk staff to check the status. Their answer was "the hotel was fully booked the night before, we'll let you know when your room is ready". The best solution they could come up with was offering me a standard room (instead of a deluxe king) with a free continental breakfast - a bit of a cheap alternative. I took it as I had to get into a room, period. The hotel needs to understand that sometimes, time is the number one priority for people and a free continental breakfast doesn't make up for the inconvenience (not to mention the room downgrade). Plus, a fully booked hotel the night before is never an excuse to not have rooms ready for check-in the next day, mainly because it's not the customer's problem ... especially if a hotel claims to be "luxury" and "4-star". I've stayed at similar described calibre hotels, to which they meet expectations, this one doesn't.

I feel a sense of mixed emotions starting at this hotel, as you can encounter moments of real satisfaction among a large number of moments of dissatisfaction. While the hotel is clean and pleasant, the service is very limited, it is as if the staff don't care and are just counting the minutes until clock out time