Pick another hotel the price v's the service will leave you disappointed
We choose the hotel because we were after a boutique type hotel for the final stop of our honeymoon.
The hotel is nice because it is like a boutique hotel. The entrance and lobby is really lovely and has great ac. The bar near the door is nice and feels very sophisticated – a bit like you were on the set of gossip girl! The cocktails were nice too but a bit on the pricey side (about $15 each). The bell boy was really lovely and remembered us and spoke to us each evening which was nice as it gave the personal touch. He recommended a pub restaurant around the corner from the hotel which was called the crooked something….i cant quite remember the name but the food there was fantastic and great value for money. We ate there most evenings…if you stay at The Roger go to this pub…you may need too after all the hidden charges they add. The décor is really chic which I really loved if only the rooms were a bit bigger…..
My husband emailed the hotel manager to tell them we were arriving for the last leg of our honeymoon. The manager didn’t bother to respond to my husband’s email and when we checked in nobody said happy honeymoon or anything which would have been a nice touch on the hotels part and doesn’t cost them anything! The check in was relatively easy – no long queues or anything.
Our room was sold to us as a ‘superior newly renovated room’ so it was disappointing to see it was really tiny as the pictures on the hotel website made the rooms look bigger. The bed was huge and very comfortable and the tv was great however there was barely any room to walk around the bed which I found frustrating as I kept stubbing my toe on the bed. We loved the bed but it did leave me wondering why they didn’t put a normal size comfortable bed in the room to allow for more walking space around the room. The bathroom was again really tiny and just felt like everything was miniature a bit like a borrowers bathroom…the bath was so tiny there was no way anyone other than a small child could lie down in it! The sensible thing would have been to make the bathrooms into wet rooms with good showers. Also whilst we were there it was hot and very humid in New York and the ac unit in our room was so tiny it didn’t do anything to cool the room down thankfully some rain came to my rescue which brought the temperature down a bit. There was a fridge however this was locked and you had to pay for the bottled water in the room. It might be a nice idea for the hotel to offer you a glass of water when you check in especially those who have just come off a flight. There was a price list for everything in the room including small things such as toothbrushes, shower caps and candles. Some of the things on the price list are generally included in the room price in most other hotels and I thought it was a bit cheeky given the huge service charge bill we were given when we checked out. There were no tea and coffee making facilities in the room which again just added to the list of negatives I am like a grisly bear without my cup of coffee in the mornings..my poor husband! Ideally if you are going to stay here you want to be out of the room as much as possible.
The two guest lifts in the hotel were relatively small and there was always a wait for the lift which I wouldn’t mind if they weren’t both stuck on the same level. The lift also has a key card access which was very temperamental if you didn’t get the knack straight away which we didn’t.
The evening before we were due to check out I approached the hotel desk to ask if we could have a late check out the following day as our flight was not until late the following evening and we were really tired and needed to pack the next morning. The assistant advised us we cannot ask the night before only the morning of checking out so we were to ring down in the morning to ask. My response was surely you know how many guests you have checking in tomorrow so is it possible we can hold onto it for another hour or so….apparently she didn’t know…What would have been better is if the assistant had offered to get someone to call us the next morning to let us know if they could accommodate us….It was no big deal in actual fact but just an example of how their customer service could be better. The morning of check out after asking for a late check out at about 8ish in the morning the cleaning lady loudly knocked on the door and let herself in…We had to jump out of bed to say we hadn’t actually checked out yet so we didn’t get our lie in anyway! She was very apologetic but again it is just another example of how their service could be better.
When we checked out there were a stack of extra service charges on our room along with about three different types of tax!!!! This left a sour taste in our mouths if I am honest. The service charge is for the internet, local calls and the fitness centre however we didn’t use any of these facilities and didn’t even realize there was a fitness centre until after we have checked out. We were on our honeymoon not on business so none of the extra service charge items applied to us. Maybe this is something the check in staff should explain to you upon check in! Also reading other reviews on trip advisor I can see the manager always comes back with the same response the service charges are in line with any other hotel in New York the difference probably being the other hotels explain what the extras are to you upon check in.
The location of The Roger is fabulous. You are really close to Fifth Avenue and the Empire State Building. We walked everywhere including Central Park, Times Square and Wall Street.
Would I stay again….no…It is a real shame as this hotel has the potential to be really fantastic given the location and the fact it is so chic…..Some work on their customer service particularly their communication would make this truly hotel fantastic. For a boutique hotel you can afford to spend the time making sure your guests have a fantastic experience as it is not like they have hundreds of guests each night to cater too. Initially i could not rate this hotel so i sent an email to the manager about our stay and the service we received however after three weeks he has still not replied so it concluded my initial feeling....their customer service is shockingly bad!!!!!!!!!!!