Iglesia y Convento de la Merced

I wanted to really love this hotel as it is in a great midtown location near Herald Sq. The surrounding areas are lively and safe, with lots of subway access and restaurants/coffe nearby. The hotel offers a wonderfully charming and boutique experience compared to the typical hotel. The building has old world charm. However, it is apparent that this charm comes at a cost as the infrastructure issn't up to par. One night I was awoken by honking cars at street level. The sounds came through crystal clear as if I had a window open, but upon checking the windows were clearly closed. Street level noise came through loud and clear. When opening my closet, the door knob fell right off. When using the shower, a loud vibration noise would come randomly from the wall mid shower. Not everytime, just randomly at certain points during a shower. When this noise happened, I would adjust the shower pressure and the noise would go away. A few light bulbs in my room were burnt out or dimmer. Otherwise, the staff were friendly and the overall hotel was clean. Wifi was blazing fast and stable. There is a cafe on ground floor that offers guest one free drink each day (I did not partake). There are two small elevators that can be slow when it is busy.

For the price I just cannot accept that you don’t get an in room coffee machine. They offer free coffee in lobby up to 10:30am, but I hate having to trek down first thing in the morning. Hat to also call to get shower gel as there were no extras in the room. Check in took 15 mins. Room was ok for the price. Service was good.

We had a great 5 nights stay in Aura Hotel. Conveniently located only 2 mins from Times Square, the hotel is fairly priced, clean and the staff is friendly and quick to accommodate their guests. I especially want to thank Barbara (reception) for being kind enough to change our room when we raised an issue with the initial room we were given. Also thanks to Carlos for being always friendly and attentive to our needs. We recommend this hotel and will be coming back another time.