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Times Square Adds 419 Room voco Hotel From IHG

voco Times Square hotel exterior at dusk near Broadway, highlighting the new IHG 419 room tower and rooftop views
6 min read

voco Times Square hotel choices in Midtown just got bigger. IHG Hotels and Resorts opened voco Times Square Broadway on February 24, 2026, positioning it as the voco brand's largest hotel in the Americas, with 419 rooms in a 32 story new build near Times Square and Broadway. For travelers, the practical change is simple, this is a large, loyalty friendly, full service hotel option in the Theater District footprint, which can matter most on high demand weeks when inventory tightens and prices surge.

The hotel sits at Seventh Avenue and West 48th Street, and IHG is leaning hard into the differentiator it thinks travelers will remember, a hotel rooftop with unobstructed panoramic skyline views, paired with a 2,400 square foot indoor outdoor rooftop space. If you are booking a Times Square stay for shows, late dinners, or early departures the next morning, that rooftop and the short walk to Broadway corridors is the kind of feature that can justify a rate premium, but only if the room quality and noise profile match your trip's priorities.

voco Times Square hotel: What Is New for Travelers

The headline is scale and location. voco Times Square Broadway opened as a 419 room, 32 story property in Midtown's Times Square area, and IHG says it is the voco brand's largest in the Americas. It joins two existing voco properties in New York City, voco Times Square South New York and voco The Franklin New York, expanding the brand's footprint for travelers who want IHG One Rewards earning and redemption in Manhattan.

For itinerary planning, the most decision useful detail is where it sits and what that enables. The hotel's listed address is 170 W. 48th Street, New York, New York, which puts it in the Times Square core walking radius for Broadway theaters, and a short hop for Midtown offices and attractions. IHG is also marketing the rooftop as a unique angle, describing it as Times Square's only hotel rooftop with unobstructed panoramic views, which is the kind of claim that is meant to pull both guests and locals into the building's food and beverage spend.

Who This New Times Square Hotel Fits Best

This opening is best for travelers who value proximity over quiet, and who plan to use Midtown as an on foot base. If your trip is built around Broadway shows, Midtown museums, Rockefeller Center, or a tight schedule of meetings, the location can reduce daily transfer friction and help you avoid time lost to rideshare variability in the Times Square grid.

It is also a clean fit for IHG loyalists who prefer booking direct, and who want an additional Manhattan option when other IHG hotels are either sold out or priced above your threshold. For group travelers, IHG is explicitly positioning the rooftop as an events capable space, which can be relevant for wedding weekends, corporate off sites, and social groups that want a single property that can host both rooms and an elevated gathering venue.

The tradeoff is predictable for the neighborhood. Times Square adjacency can mean more street noise, more lobby traffic at peak check in windows, and longer elevator waits in a high rise. If you are traveling primarily for sleep quality, early mornings, or a quieter feel, you may still prefer neighborhoods that are one or two subway stops away, even if the room is slightly less convenient for theaters.

How To Book, and How To Reduce Friction on Arrival

If you are traveling on a high demand week, book earlier than you normally would for Midtown. Times Square inventory can compress quickly around event weeks, holiday windows, and big convention arrivals, and the best room categories often disappear first, especially higher floor rooms that travelers associate with better light and less street noise.

If your schedule includes Broadway nights, the simplest threshold is timing. Stay here if you plan to walk to shows, and if you would rather avoid post show rideshare surges. If you are commuting daily to Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Queens for most of the trip, consider whether you are paying for a location you will not use, and whether a different neighborhood would save both money and time.

For planning around city crowding, it helps to treat Midtown like a series of timed connections. If your dates overlap with a known surge event, build more buffer for curbside pickups and check in lines, and use rail more aggressively. For a reference point on how Manhattan event weeks change transfer math, see New York Fashion Week travel guide, September 11-16.

Why IHG Built This, and What It Changes in the Hotel Market

IHG is expanding voco as a premium brand that can scale through both conversions and selective new builds, and this property is being framed as a milestone opening, largest in the Americas, and one of the last new build hotels approved in the Times Square area. The design narrative is also doing work, IHG says the hotel draws inspiration from Prohibition era speakeasies and the Jazz Age, aiming for a lobby and public space atmosphere that feels more character led than a generic big box Midtown hotel.

Mechanically, a large new hotel in this footprint can affect travelers in two ways. First order, it adds supply in a zone where compression pricing is common, which can create occasional relief on nights when Midtown inventory is tight, especially if the hotel competes aggressively during its ramp up period. Second order, if the rooftop and bar become a local draw, it can increase internal traffic, which may matter for guests who want a calmer lobby and quieter public spaces during peak evening hours.

If you are comparing hotel models and operational reliability across brands, it is also worth remembering that not every "new" lodging concept performs like a traditional hotel under stress, especially when staffing, systems, or ownership structures get complicated. For a broader explainer on what can go wrong when the model is not a conventional hotel operation, see What Sonder's Collapse Means for Apartment Hotels.

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