It may be very nice inside the Doubletree, but just walking past the hotel and spending more than a few minutes in the area I was so glad they were booked when I made my reservations.
And, you'll remember, DR Jane, I approved of your choice.
But I loathe Times Square. The only part of New York I hate being in (and I've been throughout the South Bronx.) Always an unpleasant experience.
But BK likes it. Which is what makes horse-racing. One man's thoroughbred is another man's manure, as the French say.
So, a hotel near 42nd and 8th. I hope you mean the Hilton, which has those fun sculptures we now have on the islands of Broadway (Otterness? Something like that.) The lobby is rather thin. As a New Yorker, I can't really know what it's like to stay in the town's hotels, but, as pieces of architecture, well...
I hope you don't mean the Westin, which occupies the northeast corner of 42nd & 8th, and has its entrance on 43rd. There's no doubt that this is the ugliest building built in New York in the past 15-20 years. It looks as if the architect's kindergartner drew a building with crayons and the architect said "I can do better than this" and failed. The so-called "clean-up" of Times Square has made it an uglier place, but new and large buildings make for a world of possibilities. The Westin squanders these with silliness.
Can someone post pictures? You'll all recoil!