Arrived on an early flight and didn't expect a room to be ready-- but didn't expect a gum-smacking girl at the front desk with attitude either. So we left our bags and headed out for some exploring the neighborhood. The hotel is in a great location on Lexington Avenue and is really close to shopping. Bergdorff Goodman is a few blocks, Saks Fifth Avenue is a few blocks, and all the rest of the great smaller store. My favorite store is Takashimaya New York, located at 693 Fifth Ave-- there's a Japanese Tea Room in the basement which has great Daily Bento Boxes for lunch.
So back to the hotel lobby at the W. I could not believe that over the three days, not one single doorman ever greeted me or offered to open a door at the entrance. They also never asked if I needed a cab-- I've never had this happen at ANY hotel in NYC. Seems like the "casual" attitude has taken over.
The W's motto is Whatever/Whenever and all I can say to that is "Whatever!"
Let me say a few nice things: They do offer free apples and refreshing towelette wipes at the front desk. In the afternoon they had cucumber water near the elevators which was a nice touch. The Concierge was INCREDIBLE and deserves high marks for getting me two tickets to the Tony Award winning "Grey Gardens" which was completely sold out and was closing that night. Sure it took a chunk of change, and about an hour, but he did it: 10th Row Center on the Aisle. The only downside was I couldn't put them on my room tab to get "SPG points."
Speaking of points: Upon check-in I was told, repeatedly, that I would not be receiving SPG points. Repeatedly. Did I say repeatedly? This was due to my booking through Expedia and not through the "official" SPG website. I was not even getting credit for the nights toward my upgrades. Bummer....So, I get no points, I paid over 300 bucks a night for one of the smallest rooms I've ever stayed in NYC, and I get a big dose of attitude. This should be fun.
Spectacular Room for over $300 per night. The room really was small. There was barely space to pass sideways by the TV-MiniBar console (there was tray that was teetering on top of the TV) on the way to the torn slipcovered chair shoved up against the bed next to the window. The only thing Spectacular was that they were getting $300+ a night.
While the bathroom was very neatly styled, there was nowhere to put my travel case since there was only a glass shelf with all the glasses and hotel items, and a pedestal sink. NOTE: Not all rooms have bathtubs-- my room had a shower only. Waterpressure was great and the showerhead was adjustable for tall guys like me.
Sometime around midnight the air conditioner stopped blowing cold air. Since I didn't want to have to wake up and have guys in my room fixing it at midnight, I left it until morning and sweated through it. I called down in the AM and asked them to fix it while we were out. But they didn't. So I called again when I got back that afternoon and after waiting 45 minutes, I called again and asked for a manager-- instead of connecting me to a manager... they finally arrived a few minutes later. After a few minutes inspection the guys brought in a brand new unit and installed it. I had already noticed mold and rust on the unit myself (see photo), and I also snapped a pic of the gapping hole where they pulled the unit. You can see, cleanliness is not next to godliness at the W NY. They were nice guys, quick to apologize, but they should have cleaned the mess behind the wall, which they didn't.
The new unit broke that night around 11pm. Called. Waited. Finally had to move rooms-- to a smaller room!!! And not even any kind of credit to my bill. How Spectacular!
I've stayed at many NYC hotels. I'm a SPG Preferred Guest. And this was the worst experience at a hotel in Manhattan, aside from the Ramada Plaza near the airport, but that was because of a bumped flight, and I think it's technically in Queens.
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