We stayed at the Carlton for a family wedidng in New York after having read the reviews here. Overall, the hotel is great value for money and in a really good location. You can walk to Central Parl if you want to and can also get Downtown very easily. If you like Macy's then it's a few blocks away, as is the Empire State. My only compalint about the hotel would be the chaotic front desk. It had been hard work booking the room - their website is not a secure one so I completed the form and faxed it over. Annisa was my primary contact but I had to chase and chase, eventually having to make a call from the UK to verify that the room was booked, which she confirmed it had been. When we arrived, there was no record of my faxes/emails or our conversation so they wanted to charge us a higher rate. I refused to do so and, to their credit, they not only honoured the cheaper rate but threw in an upgrade to a king-size room, which was fabulous. I would definitely return to this hotel but I would recommend that you do not book direct and let a travel agent take the strain. There were also some problems with my parents booking, so this wasn't a one-off.

After discovering a bedbug at a neighboring hotel (Manhattan Red Roof Inn), my sister and I went on the hunt to find a new hotel at 6:00 a.m. on a rainy Saturday morning. After looking at many overbooked and shabby hotels, we happened upon the Carlton. The desk manger, Annisa, sympathized with our situation and showed us three different rooms. All three rooms were roomy, clean, and well-appointed. We mentioned to Annisa how we wanted to see The Color Purple and she told the concierge to start investigating for us. We were really impressed with her dedication to customer service. We did not request the help with the tickets, but she made it her business to assist us. The concierge, Topher, was a joy to work with. He hunted down wonderful seats to The Color Purple and also took the time to research a variety of restaurants near the theatre for us. The Color Purple was phenomenal, a definite must see!!! From the bellmen to the front desk personnel, the employees at the Carlton treated us like royalty. The accommodations were clean and comfortable. While it was a little bit out of the way and much more expensive than the other hotel, it was well worth the money. Great place, I would stay again.

I would like to say a huge thank you to the staff at this wonderful hotel.
We picked this hotel from others as the reviews were very good.
We arrived at the hotel at midday and was able to check in straight away.
The room was lovely plenty of space and just as the picture on their website.
The staff were extremely helpful and couldnt do enough for you.
In the four days we didnt experience any problems and will definately book again.
From our experiences II cannot recommend this hotel enough.

I am just back from three nights at The Carlton on Madison. I was disappointed in the hotel given the many very positive reviews on this site. Other than the beautiful lobby, the excellent Country restaurant and a reasonably good location, I thought the hotel was average at best and there were certainly some below average features which I have listed below. All of the staff that I interacted with were very pleasant.

1) The rooms and bathrooms are very small - yes, even for NY. The bathroom door cleared the sink by a millimeter at most. The shower curtain (as another reviewer noted) had an industrial look and had noticelable mold on it. The closet was small enough that the hangers did not hang in it properly - they bumped into the back wall and had to be turned at an angle. I was alone and that made the size workable but I would hesitate to recommend it for two people.

2) The free Wi-FI was a case of "you get what you pay for". My signal fluctuated between "Low" and "Very Low" and was essentially useless most of the time.

3) My 6th floor room which was on the north (the 29th Street) side of the building was very loud at night and there is construction going on immediately across the street (they start at 7:00 AM). They sold this to me as an "Empire State Building view" at check-in (but did not mention the construction), and from the right angle, there was a view of the ESB.

4) Although I had booked a non-smoking room, the room smelled heavily of smoke upon check in.

5) For a recently remodeled hotel, the room carpet looked worn and dirty. There was also a stain on my desk chair. The comforter was nice enough but the sheets were of very low quality for a hotel charging these kinds of rates.

6) The room safe was inoperable the duration of my stay.

7) This is one of those hotels where you have to call room service to get ice.

Overall, I didn't think the hotel was terrible but I can't see staying here again when there are so many other alternatives at this price point.