Hotel Review: Millennium Hilton New York Downtown
The Millennium Hilton New York Downtown is one of the taller hotels in New York City and, perhaps appropriately enough, is located adjacent to One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the United States and in the Western Hemisphere.
When planning the hotel in the early 1990s, developer and New York Post owner Peter Kalikow chose to spell the hotel’s name with one “n” to make the name more distinctive, perhaps in anticipation of the arrival of the millennium in under a decade.
The single “n” stuck when what was then CDL Hotels International acquired the property in 1994 and, when CDL acquired Copthorne the following year, the company integrated the Millenium name, single “n” and all, into its new corporate name, Millenium & Copthorne Hotels, now Millennium Hotels & Resorts. In 2017 an extra “n” was added, and the original Millenium became the Millennium Hilton New York Downtown.
I hadn’t been at the Millennium since it had been damaged during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the city and its subsequent refurbishment, having reopened in 2003. Walking into the elegant, wood-paneled lobby with its high ceilings and impossibly tall lamps, I encountered the first of several reminders of the unique nature of this particular property.
THE ROOM
I reached my King Bed Deluxe Cityview room, located on the 55th floor, rather quickly thanks to the hotel’s elevators that travel at 1,400 feet per minute (426 meters per minute), making them the fastest in an all-hotel building in the city.
The room was nice enough, but it was the view – the second reminder – that really stood out. Immediately in front of me was One World Trade Center in all its glory, with the New Jersey skyline as a backdrop. It was something to wake up to and I am not one who is easily impressed.
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