The Biltmore

I lived here for two years. The apartments and lounge are nice, but two things lead to this rating:a) The management. Packages are sometimes delivered at the front, sometimes on the 5th floor. It's unnecessary and confusing. Frequently, the doorman would tell me my package was on the 5th floor, then I would go down and they would tell me it is in the lobby. Then the doorman could not find it. Ridiculous. Even worse, one time the doorman handed me the wrong package. When I started to open it and realized it was not mine, I returned it immediately, and the doorman tries to act like it was my fault he handed me the wrong box and they have a terrible system.The elevators are also frequently broken down, and it can take forever on a Friday night to get up or down when only one elevator is working for the building. In general, the building is in need of some serious maintenance.b) The trafficAt first, I liked being in the center of everything. But after a while, it becomes tedious to always have tourists around by the thousands. Doesn't feel like a home. Also and something to be aware of... it gets super crazy around New Year's because of its proximity to Times Square. You can't actually see the ball drop from the building, but police still shutdown the area which is a huge hassle.

Good building; few complaintsOverall, I feel pretty good about the Biltmore and have had very few complaints living here. The apartments are of good quality. It's relatively quiet, even though it's right next to Times Sq and the views are gorgeous from the higher floors. If there are any issues, maintenance requests get resolved within a day.

For the cons,- I am sometimes frustrated by the early closing hours for the package room (8pm on week days) and the fact that the packages are sometimes to be picked up at the valet and sometimes at the front desk. I wish packages were available just at one place and for longer hours.- The gym is adequate for most uses, but still pretty small for a luxury building.- The apt floors are not of the highest quality and are a bit noisy to walk on, although I got used to this pretty quickly and don't notice it anymore.- Heating/AC is not central and is a large additional cost- The bike storage room is an additional cost- Dryers in the laundry room are weak and don't dry completely sometimes- The building is in a good condition, but there seems to be little maintenance going on to keep things in top shape. Nothing unacceptable, but not as well kept as I'm used to from living in some other buildings.

Nice building;

WORST elevators in Manhattan. Truly. Slower than molasses and always out of service. Like adding another 15 min. to your travel time.