Hotel Riu Plaza New York Times Square

We recently stayed at Riu Plaza Times Square and overall had a mixed experience. The location is unbeatable if you want to be right in the heart of Times Square, and the bellmen were fantastic — genuinely helpful and attentive throughout our stay. We were also pleasantly surprised that our room was ready early on arrival. The rooms themselves are clean but definitely showing their age. Soundproofing is a real issue too — you can hear pretty much everything happening in the hallway, which made for some restless nights. The biggest letdown was breakfast. The dining area is packed (we felt like sardines), and the food itself wasn't good — all the bread items tasted like they'd been sitting out for days. Our advice: skip the breakfast package and just grab something outside the hotel instead. One more tip: if you're hoping to extend your stay in the room past checkout time and are willing to pay for it, arrange this at check-in rather than waiting — that service sells out fast. Overall, a solid choice for location and staff service, but manage your expectations on the room quality and definitely skip the breakfast.

I first stayed at the RIU Plaza New York Times Square in March 2022 and absolutely loved it. Since then, we’ve visited New York twice more and decided to try a couple of different hotels, but after staying elsewhere, we realised just how much we liked RIU Plaza Times Square! We returned in December 2025, which was especially magical as Christmas time in New York is something truly special. The atmosphere in the city was amazing, with the Christmas lights, decorations and festive feeling everywhere you went. Staying at RIU Plaza Times Square made the perfect base for enjoying everything the city has to offer at such a wonderful time of year. We loved our stay so much that once we were home, we booked our next stay for next year That really says it all! The hotel is lovely and is kept spotlessly clean. You can tell the housekeeping team work incredibly hard to keep everything looking so fresh. The rooms are clean, comfortable and exactly what you would expect from a city hotel. One thing worth mentioning is that the shower has a frosted glass door. I was aware of this before booking, so I came prepared with a suction blackout shower curtain, meaning it wasn’t an issue for me at all. The views of New York are amazing, and they seem to get even better the higher up you go. Waking up with those city views really adds to the experience. The reception staff are friendly, welcoming and always happy to help, which makes a big difference when you’re staying in such a busy city. The only small suggestion I would make is that it would be great if the hotel could provide kettles and cups in each room. After a busy day exploring New York, being able to make a quick cup of tea or coffee in the room would be a lovely added touch. For us, RIU Plaza Times Square has become our go-to hotel in New York. We’ve tried other hotels, but we keep coming back — and we’re already looking forward to our next visit and hopefully many more returns to New York and RIU Plaza Times Square!