Park Hyatt New York = Good Potential But Service Still Falls Short

100   Recommended
Studio Suite
July 4, 2019 by

 Map | 7 Reviews | 86% Recommended
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Park Hyatt New York
 Map | 7 Reviews | 86% Recommended

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Studio Suite

Liked:
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Service
Food
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Room
Studio Suite

I have stayed a few times in NYC in the past but always on business so I would not have considered expensing a cash stay at the price level of Park Hyatt.  I stayed mostly at hotels such as Conrad downtown, a couple of Hiltons, etc. and the only hotel that would approach PH’s level would be Ritz Carlton Battery Park which has since been deflagged.  Because I have not stayed at hotels very comparable to PH then my opinion probably is not the most reliable; in addition the PHs I have stayed at before are in Asia and South America so once again, not quite an ideal comparison with the NYC market. It’s with that in mind that I am throwing myself into the polarized discussions about PH NYC.  

After doing some homework ahead of time I was aware of the potential drawbacks of PH NYC and therefore there was no major disappointment or bad surprise during my stay.  I found that most of the comments I read were generally spot on.  Great hardware, breakfast is good in some ways but could be improved in other ways (Globalist benefit), service issues are numerous, value for points is good, value for cash is lacking. 

 

Room

I booked two rooms with points and both were upgraded to a studio suite on the 10th floor next to each other and were ready when we checked in at 11am which was great.  I am not familiar with the different room types at this property so I am not exactly sure what the differences are between the entry level room and the studio suite other than being a bit larger, but for what it’s worth the cash value of the upgrade seems to be about $350 per night according to hyatt.com so quite material.  I tend to enjoy new and modern rooms, more than older historical properties so PH NYC is a good match for me but that can be a matter of personal preference; some people can easily prefer the Plaza (Fairmont) in that price range.  The hardware at PH is excellent and the room very spacious particularly for NYC standards.  Doors are thick, floor tiles are good quality with soft colors, the room is nicely decorated, blinds and curtains are electric, there is a TV in the bathroom mirror, ceilings are very high, the bathroom has heated floors, there is a mirror with integrated lights in the shower, the mood lighting in the bathroom turns itself on automatically if you walk in the bathroom during the night, the safe is in what looks like a treasure box in the entrance hallway, etc., to name just a few features.  I expected Toto toilets by scanning reviews of this hotel but it was not the case for either of our rooms which was disappointing.  It is interesting that you can open the windows by a few centimeters and that windows on our floor were curved towards the top which is unique, but unfortunately you cannot really see it much from inside the room since the blinds are hiding it which is unfortunate.  Being on a low floor the noise from the street is audible and views nothing special since you just see the building on the other side of 57th street and depending on the time of day because the room is long rather than wide, the window frontage is limited so it can get a bit dark in the room.  Soundproofing from the hallway is not very good either and we could hear doors banging or people talking in the hallway which is unfortunate for a hotel of this age and quality.  Fortunately the bed is quite far from both the windows and the entrance door due to the shape of the room which mitigates the problem, also there are simply not many rooms on each floor therefore it’s not like there is a constant noise problem from the hallway during the day or night.  The bathroom is a strong point of the room and water pressure was very strong for rain shower standards.  I liked that you can use the hand shower at the same time as the rain shower.  

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Location

I won’t comment much about location because many readers are more familiar with the city than I am, but personally I prefer the quieter location of PH near Central Park rather than the hectic Times Square, yet PH is still within walking distance of Times Square.  Location of PH is perfect for me.  

 

Dining

Breakfast timing is very convenient when in NYC on leisure. You can have breakfast 7am-12pm which is late enough that we could go out early morning, come back for a shower late morning and still have time for breakfast.  As noted in previous reviews the breakfast room is not a proper restaurant but the atmosphere was relaxed.  As Globalist the breakfast benefit was one main course per guest from a selection of 5 options, or we could mix & match from the a la carte menu for up to $50 per person.  I requested the Globalist guest of honor benefits for the second room so my parents could get free breakfast too.  The menu choices are more attractive than standard North American breakfasts which is suitable for a hotel of the caliber of PH; the Japanese breakfast was good but not great, and it included a generous piece of salmon.  The traditional breakfast was a bit small however and seemed overpriced (for people paying for it) so I would not recommend it. The lobster scrambled eggs were fantastic and had chunky pieces of lobster – it was a treat and pricing of this dish quite reasonable for the quality of what you get.  Having the ability to get the Globalist breakfast via room service is a significant perk in my opinion which I value highly and it’s not offered to Globalists in a lot of hotels.  As discussed in other reviews, I also wish the Globalist benefit was a bit more generous than $50 but it will probably be sufficient for a decent number of people and if you exceed the amount it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things considering the room rate.  When I look how much berries cost in local markets, how much a thick piece of salmon or a lobster dish would cost in a nice city restaurant, I am not outraged by PH prices and we could eat something very nice within $50.  Yes there are a few items on the menu that are overly expensive (traditional breakfast as noted above) but it’s not the entire menu which is priced poorly.  The issue with $50 is that as soon as you want to order a small extra you are likely to be over $50; the breakfast benefit does not break Hyatt rules, but most folks will compare to many other hotels which go above and beyond the rules particularly luxury hotels who just want to wow their guests for breakfast and provide a universally positive experience, rather than make guests count about whether they will go over their allowance or not.  So I am grateful for room service being possible, and there are enough great items on the menu to make me satisfied with this breakfast. But it could be a bit better at a modest cost for the hotel, after all how many Globalists stay there on any given night who would want to order a basket of pastries on top of their main order… should the hotel attempt to irritate them with a modest overcharge, probably not.  Anyway that’s how I would handle it if I was the hotel GM, the dollars involved are not worth creating bad publicity for the hotel.  

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Service

Service was the major issue during our stay but since we already knew going in, it was not a negative surprise.  The problems were mostly during breakfast.  On the first morning, my dad got ham despite ordering bacon and got croissants despite ordering toast, and my mom was missing the orange juice she ordered.  That was on top of having a somewhat unfriendly server - not rude but quite cold, he did not make us feel very welcome and it felt like he wanted to limit the number of words he was muttering to the bare minimum.  The second morning I ordered room service for my room at 10:10am and I was told it would be ready around 10:40am.  I then ordered for the second room at 10:25am and I asked staff to bring both receipts to my room for signature.  At 10:50am they came to my room but surprisingly it was not with our breakfast, it was to sign the bill of the second room.  I told them I was confused why my parents’ breakfast was ready but not ours given that their order was placed second and I was told our breakfast would be ready around 10:40am; staff answered that he would check and get back to us.  I am not sure if they had forgotten about us, anyway a bit after 11am our breakfast arrived but our bill was identical to the other room which was incorrect because we did not order the same things, not that I cared all that much since charges would be wiped off at check out anyway.  The situation felt like there was definitely some confusion.  Also I should note that my dad had a muffin missing from the order. I did not complain about any of these issues on either morning nor did we ask them to substitute what they got wrong; we are fairly laid-back folks and we can deal with it.  However I should objectively note these issues in my review because what might be fine for me might not be fine for someone else paying top dollar for the room, and in addition in different circumstances (if I am grumpy and jet lagged) also it might not be fine for me either.  On the third morning we also ordered room service and everything arrived as requested however the problem ended up being something else. My mom is highly allergic to gluten and my Hyatt concierge notified the hotel before our stay that she would need entirely gluten-free food without cross-contamination.  I repeated this fact before ordering breakfast each morning. Unfortunately on the third morning she had eggs & steak and got sick later that day.  The service was not on par with our stay at Hyatt Regency Cartagena earlier this year where I also brought my parents and staff in the lounge could not have been better about the gluten situation and even brought a Nima machine to our table every day to test food.  Bottom line, PH NYC still has issues to fix.  If it had been only one small issue, it might easily be chalked off as an honest mistake, but there were far too many mishaps to brush it off – I believe there is rather an underlying problem in terms of how staff work together that needs to be addressed.  

Service in aspects other than breakfast was up and down.  I ordered a razor to be brought to my room and I received a nice gift bag with the razor in a box (not the throw-away kind normally found in hotels), which was a nice touch.  

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Some people in previous reviews have commented about the lack of door men at the entrance of the hotel.  Personally it does not bother me, but I recognize that for a 5 star hotel some people expect to have door men at all times and this is lacking at PH. The vast majority of times we came back to the hotel the doors were just left wide open and there is only staff inside the building.  They welcomed us back but it’s not the same as other hotels.  Check-in was done at reception and we were escorted to the elevator, which is different than some other PHs were check-in is in the room. Once again, not that big a deal for me, but some of the little details are below what you can expect from a PH. Regarding housekeeping the room was spotlessly clean every day which is what mattered to me.  However refills of amenities was lacking on the first night (for example, no more mouthwash), but generous on the second night. 

A lot of these service issues (for example getting breakfast orders wrong) would be a problem even if it was a Hyatt Regency so even more so at a PH.  It’s not like there would be a massive cost required to fix them.  People’s expectations are elevated in that price range so when they fail, the reaction is stronger than if a HR at $150 per night fails.

Wifi

Wifi was slow at peak times for a hotel of this caliber. In early evening I tested 2-3 Mbps whereas at 5am it was close to 30 Mbps.  

Overall

Overall my experience was mixed and I can see why opinions differ since the strong points are very strong, and the weak points are very weak.  Would I return?  For a points redemption, probably yes.  It is hard to deny the value of using points which included parking fees being waived as Globalist, and even better if booking two rooms and using guest of honor to extend the breakfast benefit to the second room.  Andaz 5th is 25k points per night so I would instead pick PH at 30k pts again.  For a cash stay I might try Andaz 5th at some point depending on the nature of my trip, and also Conrad is often a good choice for me and considerably cheaper than PH.  I can see PH being part of a rotation of hotels I stay at, because the strengths are important enough and are for things that I value (breakfast room service, very large room, great hardware, quiet neighborhood) and I can overlook some issues (service, low floor, no view) as a compromise.  

Whether PH is overpriced for cash rates, in my opinion yes to some extent, but the solutions would not be that hard to implement: train restaurant staff better, and improve the Globalist breakfast slightly; and then the experience would be better all around.  That said, regarding the high price tag I partially give them some slack because of the location and how big entry level rooms are.  In many other parts of the world, one location or another location in a city might not have large cost ramifications.  But here I think it’s more material if you want to be at this address – you are in “The Billionaires Building”.  If I compare to PH Tokyo, the neighborhood is in a less attractive part of Shinjuku so not prime real estate to the same extent as PH NYC is.  Also if you want a room of 45-60 square meters rather than other hotels with rooms less than half the size (and possibly subpar hardware), then guests have to pay up, plain and simple.  If someone intends to spend very little time in the hotel for a particular trip or if location is not very important, then most likely that person is paying for something not being used much on that trip so it can be a bad fit.  In that case it is probably better to book a room much smaller, with lesser hardware, and in a cheaper (although not necessarily cheap) location in the city.  Take the brand new Le Meridien that just reopened after renovations on the other side of the street opposite PH.  You could book that hotel for a fraction of the price at PH and essentially be in the same location.  However your room will be barely above 20 sq m, if you are Marriott Ambassador perhaps you get upgraded to a junior suite 32 sq m, even the full suite is still only 45 sq m.  I have not stayed there but most likely the hardware is not nearly as nice as PH.  So realistically, how cheap is PH supposed to be for very large rooms with top quality at this specific address?  I personally think if PH provided a more generous breakfast and if they spent more on staff count and generally improve service, they might be able to compete with Plaza (Fairmont) + St.Regis and would satisfy some clients who are disappointed about their stay in what should be a top Hyatt property worldwide.

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