WORST NYC HOTEL EXPERIENCE...LOOKS GREAT, MISERABLE HOTEL
This hotel is about appearances - it's very sexy and pretty - but once you get past the "rouge", it's not a proper hotel with proper service...
- when I checked in I was shown a dirty room. The next room they showed me was occupied. I finally got to my room at 2AM.
- the air conditioning didn't work all of the time (this during a NY summer) - I had to learn how to reboot the compressor myself as I grew tired of asking
- Wasn't getting Channel 4 in the room – that's the Olympics channel – called maintenance and was told it wasn't possible (was told that the wiring in the building let some rooms see Channel 4 and others couldn't) - so I missed a lot – miraculously the issue was fixed after complaining a fourth time...seems the wiring is fine.
- the phone flashed all of the time but there were NEVER any messages – ever. Was told to pull the plug out and put it back in – is that really the solution?
- no room service menu in the room or on the fancy ipad (which baffles me). Called 3 times and it never arrived. Finally called the restaurant and they recited the menu until I found something that "sounded" edible. When food showed up I was told that Housekeeping had the menus and thus the delay. I did ask, "yes but isn't there a restaurant in the hotel with menus?" to which I got a non-answer answer.
- drinks aren't served on the lobby floor patio – which makes no sense.
- was told the rooftop bar wasn't for guests – that I'd have to get dressed up and wait in line for the privilege for a cocktail in my own hotel
- understand they can't serve alcohol on the street level patio – but how about juice??? I sat out there for 3 hours one night and was never offered a glass of water
- ipad – the ipad in the room should, if it were intelligent, contain the room service menu, local restaurant lists/guides, shopping guides, etc. - it doesn't – it's a barely formatted ipad which defies all marketing logic
- came to the room and the door wouldn't open – took 2 engineers and my mother making a lot of noise to get it solved quickly
Staff were extremely apologetic every time and in the end the hotel comp'd my ride to the airport...which is all fine but I prefer to stay in hotels where I don't have to hear "I'm very sorry" every day for what I consider to be service basics.
This hotel was a total disappointment...right there with the Soho Grand. I'll stick to more business traveler savvy hotels in Union Square or elsewhere in the future - as hotels in Soho/Village just don't seem to understand what it takes to deliver great service unless they're charging $500US/night.