Sofia L. Vandaele, general manager of W New York Downtown, sent us an email upon reservation. “We're looking forward to your arrival," she wrote. The W may have a well-meaning GM, but delivering consistent service isn’t one of its strengths.
“Do you have a bell boy here?” we asked a en employee lounging by the entrance “I’m the bell boy!”, he replied, but showed no intention of helping with our luggage until we urged him to do so. The check-in process was pleasant enough, and the concierge was both congenial and chatty. This, however, can’t be said of the bar staff, our next stop. Deeply engaged in conversation when we approached them, the servers didn’t let our presence interrupt their chatting. The bar tenders didn’t seem acquainted with the menu, and couldn’t tell the ingredient of a standard cocktail it contained. And their conversation continued even as they served our drinks.
After an enjoyable night at the well-appointed yet quirkily decorated room, we attempted to check out. A humdrum event in most hotel properties, this checkout was a weary experience. It required four or five iterant revisions to our bill, a quest to recover luggage we left earlier, and then multiple phone calls to the hotel after our departure due to mysterious charges to our credit card. Before leaving, we asked to be contacted by the front desk manager. We are still waiting.
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