u/Nice-Rain8185

Something to keep in mind about lounges in terminal 5! Which is where they all seemed to be in August 2026.

We were stuck on a delayed connected in Chicago O Hare airport and we tried going to the Lounges but couldn’t. We did not want to go through security again and followed signs for terminal transfer bus that you can use so you don’t have to go through security again but as we approached the area, we were told that we couldn’t board the shuttle for just visiting the lounges, you actually needed a flight connection from terminal 5 in order to use the shuttle.

So just be mindful of that for priority pass lounges- it’s too bad all of the lounges are in terminal 5! Plan to go through security again if you want to visit from another terminal.

Wasn’t worth it for us.

Was traveling through there in July 2026. Just a warning. It was four of us. They charged us 27$ for additional person without telling us or providing receipt. I am seeing this charge upon return from vacation after the fact.

We only showed one priority pass membership but husband had his membership too!!

Anyone else happen this to? At any of the lounges ?

We stayed at both hotels on a recent NYC trip and used the Chase Sapphire Reserve Edit credit at each property. We spent 2 nights at the InterContinental Times Square in late July, followed by 3 nights at Virgin Hotels New York City late July 2026.

Both had positives, but if we were doing the trip again, we would choose the InterContinental Times Square without hesitation.

InterContinental Times Square
We booked the hotel through Chase Edit and received both the $250 IHG credit and the $250 Edit credit within 48 hours of booking.
Check-in and upgrade

I called ahead of time to ask about early check-in. The receptionist said he would put a note on the reservation, but that the actual availability would depend on our arrival.

We arrived around 10 a.m. and were told that if we wanted a higher-floor room — which was the upgrade — we would need to wait until closer to 2 p.m. They could have given us a lower-floor room immediately, but we decided to wait. We dropped our luggage and went out to explore Times Square.

We received a text around 1:30 p.m. letting us know the room was ready, which worked out perfectly.
The location is excellent. It's very central, an easy walk to the Times Square area, and the subway station is essentially right outside the hotel.
Room and view

Our room was on the 27th floor with two queen beds, facing northeast.
The view was decent. We were looking down toward the parking lot across the street, but we could also see a little bit of the Hudson River to the left. It wasn't a spectacular NYC skyline view, but being on a higher floor made a difference.

At check-in, they also asked whether we'd be requesting late checkout. We said yes, and they made a note of it.

Unfortunately, when we came back the next morning, our room keys had been deactivated and we had to get them reactivated to access the room for our late checkout.
This seems to be a recurring mystery with hotel key systems and late checkout — somehow the keys often stop working even when late checkout has already been noted.

It happened to rain one of the days, and we were able to borrow umbrellas from the lobby.

For the welcome gift, we received a drink voucher. We don't drink alcohol, so I ordered a mocktail instead. It was decent and was prepared quickly.

Breakfast — excellent
The daily breakfast for two was probably one of the highlights of our stay.
It was a buffet with a good variety of options, including:
Eggs
Potatoes
Pancakes/waffles, which alternated
Bagels
Salmon and fixings
Pastries
Fresh fruit
Fresh orange juice
Black coffee
The hotel still brings you a bill, but there are no charges for the included breakfast. You simply provide your room information.

The gourmet coffee/drink options were available for an additional charge, but we didn't try those.

The food selection was very good, and the service was excellent. They even gave us cups to go so we could take coffee with us when we left.

There was about a 10–15 minute wait one morning, but no wait the first day.

$100 hotel credit — Stinger
For the $100 hotel credit, we ate at Stinger and really enjoyed the meal.
We tried:
Habanero wings
Street quesadilla
Bucatini pasta
Grilled cheese with tomato bisque
Truffle fries
Everything we tried was very good. We ended up spending a little over the $100 credit — around $128 — and the extra charge was applied at checkout.
Overall, we were very happy with both the food and the service.

Virgin Hotels New York City
After the InterContinental, we stayed 3 nights at Virgin Hotels New York City and used the $250 Chase Edit credit here as well.
The biggest draw for us was the pool.
Pool
The pool is on the third floor and is relatively small.
For hotel guests, pool access is available until 11:30 a.m. After that, there is an entry charge, although my understanding is that the charge can be applied toward the hotel's $100 credit and/or food and drinks.

We arrived around 10 a.m., but there were no loungers available. People had placed towels on chairs to reserve them. There are probably around 20 or so loungers.

We still enjoyed the pool for about half an hour. The pool itself wasn't overly crowded — maybe around 10 people were actually in the water.

So, while the pool was a major reason we chose Virgin, I wouldn't say the pool experience alone would make me choose it over the InterContinental.

Upgrade and welcome amenity
We were told the hotel was sold out and therefore couldn't provide the Chase Sapphire upgrade to the next room type.

Our welcome treat was a bag containing 3–4 large chocolate chip cookies.

Our room was on the 12th floor and had a nice view of the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building is also within walking distance from the hotel.

The hotel has decent subway connectivity, although I found the walk to the stations to be a little longer — roughly two blocks or so.

The room itself was nicely designed and had very modern finishes.

However, the room was tiny. There was a huge amount of seemingly wasted space around the dressing area, while the actual bedroom area felt extremely cramped. We had a king bed, and you could barely open a carry-on on either side of the bed.
There is a bench attached to the bed frame, with perhaps 2–3 feet of sitting space where you can lounge next to the bed, but it doesn't make up for the lack of usable floor space.
The separate shower and toilet areas were nicely designed, but overall the room felt much smaller than expected.

I requested late checkout, they extended it by one hour from standard which I believe is 12pm so not much. Checkout was on a Monday.

Location
Virgin is in Koreatown, and while the location is convenient enough, we didn't like the immediate street environment as much.
The area felt less clean and less polished to us compared with the area around the InterContinental Times Square.

There is plenty to do nearby, and the Empire State Building is walkable, but we strongly preferred the InterContinental's location.

Breakfast
The weekend breakfast buffet at Virgin was actually very good.
There was a live omelet station with very little wait, along with:
Scrambled eggs
Potatoes
Pancakes
Salmon
Cucumbers
Onions and other lox toppings
Mini croissants
House-made pastries
Orange juice
Grapefruit juice
Black coffee
We really enjoyed the weekend buffet.
However, the hotel struggled to keep the buffet stocked. Several times the milk and cream containers at the self-service coffee station were empty. I also waited for croissants to be replenished, but they never came back out while we were there.
Weekday à la carte breakfast — disappointing
The weekday breakfast was a completely different experience.
We didn't like the options or the service.
My husband ordered an omelet with toast. His meal came with one slice of toast. When he asked for another slice, we were told it would be charged to the room. Funny to me- when you r paying almost 500$ a night to stay! Clearly if a guest is asking for another toast, something is amiss.

We didn't appreciate that and skipped the extra toast. Needless to say, he didn't feel particularly full afterward.

I ordered an omelet with potatoes. The potato serving was very small, and there was no toast.
For a hotel offering a breakfast benefit, we would have preferred something more substantial — for example, an omelet with two slices of toast, a reasonable scoop of potatoes, or the ability to substitute fruit.

Orange juice and coffee were included, while other specialty drinks were available for an additional charge.
Rooftop bar
One of the best features of Virgin is the fantastic rooftop bar/club with beautiful views.
We were traveling with kids, so we couldn't really experience it as much, but we were able to walk through and take a look.

The views were beautiful, and I would recommend checking it out or dining there if you get the opportunity.

One downside: during our three-night stay, I believe it was only open for one of the nights we were there.
Elevator access
The card system required to access the guest-room elevators was a pain.
It's very touch-sensitive and finicky, and we found it unnecessarily annoying.
Housekeeping
Housekeeping was inconsistent.
One day, they replaced the towels, but otherwise didn't do a particularly good job. All of our wastebaskets were oddly sticking out with the inside canisters, and even the dirty coffee dishes weren't taken away.
The following day, housekeeping did a much better job.
$100 hotel credit — Everdene
We used the hotel's $100 credit for dinner at Everdene.
We chose to sit outside, which gave us a nice open view and was a pleasant setting.
Unfortunately, we weren't particularly impressed with the food.
The menu is fairly limited and has a Korean-inspired approach, which makes sense given the hotel's Koreatown location. However, we didn't find the dishes particularly flavorful. Being from California, we know our Korean food!!!

We tried:
Kimchi fried rice
Seoul chicken bites
Rock shrimp spaghettini
We had originally wanted to try the spring onion penne, but it wasn't on the menu during our stay. There was instead a fettuccine Alfredo-type dish, which I believe had ham.
We asked if they could substitute chicken or shrimp because of dietary restrictions, but they wouldn't accommodate the request. At one point, the waiter even suggested that the amount of the ingredient was small when we explained the dietary restriction, which we found odd.
The rock shrimp spaghettini was okay.
The Korean chicken bites were probably the best of what we ordered, but even those were only about a 3/5 for us.

For us, InterContinental Times Square wins, if we had to come back, we would come here or try the other Intercontinental NY location.