Not the experience I thought it would be
Lots of things going around in my head as I write this review. I'm an experienced traveller who spends at least 50 nights in hotels per year mostly for business and all over the world, so I know what makes a hotel work and what doesn't. 
The location of this hotel is fantastic and I'm glad we stayed in the Meatpacking District during our first stay in New York. It's a great base to travel into SoHo, Greenwich Village etc. As for the building, it's very cool looking and on the wonderful High Line and our room was clean and tidy and well maintained. There is also a great little gym on the 17th floor which has modern and clean equipment and great views across the Hudson - great for a later afternoon workout on sunset. So from a location perspective a big thumbs up.
However I feel compelled to outline my thoughts on this hotel as there are evidently there are far too many (how shall I put it....) "fanboy" reviews which make me suspicious and therefore I think it is important to offer a different perspective based on our stay.
Room type: We booked an Empire Corner King and were sent to our room on the 4th floor which had views of a building site (opposite) and walls of the opposing buildings (hardly the beautiful corner views of Midtown per the description). This particular room had no bath so we called the front desk and were told that these rooms didn't have baths. Funny thing was that the floor plans on the .pdf brochure they sent us indicated baths in these rooms (this was the reason why we chose this room) and only after digging this out and going down to the front desk and pointing to their brochure did they relent and moved us to the 11th floor, where yes, the room had fantastic views.
Noise: Not an issue for me as I travel a lot so a good set of earplugs is par for the course the minute I leave the house! If you are on a low floor on a Friday / Saturday night then you are in big trouble from the street noise as you'll get honking horns, shouting, and Police sirens until the sun comes up - what you'd probably expect in a happening area. As I said, we were on the 11th floor and the street noise wasn't an issue with ear plugs in - but one to be aware of. The further up the floors you go then I think you then hit the second noise issue from the nightclub which other posters have commented on. Again, I cannot comment on this but the 11th floor seemed to not suffer from this issue so a good floor to be on and might be one to request!
Internet: Echoing other comments, yes it is very slow and yes it's ridiculous to have another "high speed" service for a daily charge considering there is free high speed internet in most department stores and restaurants in NYC. Why the hotel feels the need to charge $20 when I'm paying over $650 per night I don't know (just give us a decent connection please and no high speed / low speed apartheid nonsense).
Breakfast: I guess we were somewhat dismayed (it was a jaw-drop moment for me) that the hotel considers it necessary to charge extra for breakfast when you're paying over $650 a night. So we didn't bother and we went out nearby which probably turned out to be a much better option based on what others have said here.
The Roof Top Bar: This is probably my biggest gripe. We stayed for four nights and this was closed on all of them for private events. We only managed to go in for an afternoon drink on our last day and it was fantastic.
A word of caution is that when these events are on the hotel went from four lifts (elevators to our American friends!) to two which proved "challenging" (to say the least) when returning in the early hours. I think the record was a 10 minute wait to get a lift to our floor which (to add insult to injury) was when there was also an event on the 3rd floor with only one lift available for guests to use.
I'm not sure that the hotel management team have really thought this one through with 338 guest rooms and one lift in use at times, plus the lifts are also used by housekeeping, room service and the bell boys for luggage. When several people waiting in the rapidly assembled mob in the lift lobby questioned the "one lift" omnishambles, the lift operator said "yes, we're all angry" as the doors again closed and she returned to the 3rd floor to collect more venue guests and bring them down to the Lobby.
I think the moral here is if you are thinking of staying at the Standard High Line so you get to use the fabulous rooftop bar (made famous in the film Shame) then think again. And I'd actually go as far as saying that hotel guests are treated as more of an inconvenience compared to those hiring out the venues. From reading some of the other reviews again I now see that others had similar feelings for good reason - and I retract back my initial thoughts about other reviewers being over dramatic / sensitive.
Following on from what seemed like the eternally unavailable Roof Top Bar, we asked the Concierge for a suggestion for another bar to go to for a drink and were directed to one 4 blocks away which turned out to be an invite only place which wasn't even open. A big hint here: If you're gonna hire out your bar to those more important than your hotel guests then at least have the decency to have a list of alternative bars nearby which guests can go to, and are also open!
Cost: Our room came to over $650 per night with taxes and quite frankly with the above mentioned issues I think this is very poor value. Without the Roof Top Bar and access to the club (as other posters mentioned) there is nowhere else to go in the hotel other than sit in the Reception / Lobby area and the Biergarten. I speak as someone who stays regularly at the Ritz's and Shangri-La's of the world where there are always other options.
In conclusion, I know this sounds like a rant type review and I normally read (and ignore) them and think "that person must have just been an awkward so-and-so or having a bad day", but I think there needs to be some balance to the fanboy reviews. I think it would be a fantastic place to stay if you were fortunate enough to be attending an event and actually get to use the great rooftop facilities. But for us mere proles hoping to experience a cool hotel with cool bars there has to be a better option out there and next time I return to NYC I hope to find it.
Would I stay in The Standard again? I think you already know the answer.