We chose this hotel after a work colleague recommended it and we thought the pool would be a real asset given the timing of our visit (July). We have done lot's of traveling and stayed in a wide range of hotels inc the higher cost bracket (eg Raffles, Oberoi, Shangri La)
Immediately on arrival at the hotel we were disappointed by slow and offhand performance of the check-in staff. It was 4pm and the lobby bar was already crowded, with loud music so we started to wonder how relaxing the visit would be. However we got up to our room and were quite impressed with the decor and size, although the hallway to the room was rather trendily dark so it was quite hard to see the room numbers. We went to the rooftop bar for a drink where we enjoyed the views but $16 for a glass of wine and $9 for a beer was a litlte steep.
The next day after a long day of sightseeing (heatwave started so it was 104) we headed for the pool at the end of the day. We were very lucky to get 2 loungers as most of the seating was taken and there as not much space around the side of the pool to walk. The music was absolutely banging so not very relaxing. As others have mentioned in their reviews this seemed to be more an area for hipsters to pose and hang out rather than a relaxing pool. It was ok but not the oasis of peace that the pictures suggest and we didn't go back to the pool after that so it was a bit of a wasted opportunity for us.
The other peeve we had with the hotel was that because there were lots of people heading to the bar in the evening as hotel guests we were competing for the lifts with these guys when I would have expected to have a guest only lift. The hotel doesn't really acknowledge guests as meriting any special treatment - at 400bucks a night I think that's a little poor.
Having said that the front desk were very helpful on our last day allowing us to check out 1 hr later than normal at no charge.The housekeeping staff were also very nice and the turndown service was good.
Location wise this is a pretty good spot with lots of Restaurants nearby (we tried Spice Market, 5th on 9th, Bus stop cafe, the Diner). The Chelsea Market food 'mall' was nearby and that was a lovely spot for breakfast or a coffee. Just a couple of minutes walk to the subway which was ideal. For SATC fans it's also a fun place to stay as you will recognise lot's of places from the series inc the Soho house pool which the Gansevoort pool overlooks.
Would we stay there again - maybe but probably not in the summer. Currently this place is a bit too focused on being trendy and not on customer service for hotel guests.
hotel reviews