Ritz-Carlton Central Park, NYC

100   Recommended
September 12, 2014 by EXPERT

 Map | 2 Reviews | 100% Recommended
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The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park
 Map | 2 Reviews | 100% Recommended

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This past Christmas my sister, my best friend and his wife, and I went to New York City to spend Christmas together. We had wanted to stay at the Waldorf Towers for all 5 nights but the first night's rate was over double of what we were paying for the remaining 4 nights. As such, we found a good deal at the Ritz Carlton Central Park and since much ink has been spilled singing its praises I thought I would try it out for myself. This is my report. Overall, I didn't see the service levels that people report during the stay. Service levels were quite high prior to the stay (especially the Concierge service) but the stay itself was rather mediocre. I was disappointed. We booked an Avenue Suite at the Virtuoso rate (which is equal to BAR) for $1095 a night. The Virtuoso amenities were upgrade on arrival subject to availability, full breakfast for 2, and a $100 credit towards afternoon tea at the Star Lounge. My TA was able to negotiate with the hotel to have breakfast for all 4 of us included in our rate.

Check In

Our first glitch was that I was under the impression I had booked a car to pick us up at LaGuardia (after a redeye from Vancouver connecting in Toronto). Apparently, the Concierge did not see my e-mail so no car was booked for us even though I had e-mailed the request a week prior and the last e-mail communication from the Concierge was that all was in order. No big problems as it was easy to take a cab (and at 1/5th the cost!!) but still, this was a glitch on the part of the hotel. We arrived at the hotel just before my friends arrived. The welcome was adequate but as soon as we entered the hotel we saw what an absolute zoo it was. It was just chaotic and crowded. Check-in was decent and as expected the hotel was full so no upgrade was available. The room was not ready at 12:30pm and we were promised a phone call when the room was ready. The hotel had no note that we had breakfast for 4 people included. We then went out for lunch to Cafe Gray in the Time Warner Center which was very average. The food was heavy and very aggressively salted, BTW. We never received a phone call from the hotel informing us our room was ready. However, we returned to the hotel for 3pm as we had afternoon tea reservations. Only when we returned and when I went to the Front Desk did they acknowledge our room was ready and gave us our keys. No room escort was provided nor offered. Our luggage was to be sent up immediately but was not in the room when we went up after the tea at 6:00pm. I had to call down for the luggage to be brought up and it took another 45 minutes for our luggage. Simply not acceptable.

Room

We were allocated a nice suite on a high floor (cannot remember which one) with a partial park view overlooking 6th Avenue. The suite is a good size (about 800 sq ft) with a nice master bedroom with full bath, a small living room with one arm chair, glass topped table, sofa with double sofa bed, work desk, B&O stereo with an old CRT tv, and a half bath (toilet and shower) off the entry way. The decor was warm with muted tones of gold, yellow, and greens. We had requested for a roll away bed in addition to the sofabed but the hotel tried to talk us out of the rollaway. My guess is that they were all out of them despite our request in our reservation. The room is perfect for families and is very comfortable. The Frederic Fekkai toiletries are quite nice (and pricey-- they are $9 per bottle at Sephora!!) My best friend and his wife just got married in November so the hotel, ever so kind, sent up a bottle of sparkling wine, a box of chocolates, and a fruit platter which was very much appreciated. It was too bad that the all the fruit were dirty and had to be washed again. Nevertheless, the gesture was very much appreciated. In addition to this amenity, there was another fruit plate and 2 bottles of water as a welcome amenity from the Travel Agency.

Service

We were allocated a nice suite on a high floor (cannot remember which one) with a partial park view overlooking 6th Avenue. The suite is a good size (about 800 sq ft) with a nice master bedroom with full bath, a small living room with one arm chair, glass topped table, sofa with double sofa bed, work desk, B&O stereo with an old CRT tv, and a half bath (toilet and shower) off the entry way. The decor was warm with muted tones of gold, yellow, and greens. We had requested for a roll away bed in addition to the sofabed but the hotel tried to talk us out of the rollaway. My guess is that they were all out of them despite our request in our reservation. The room is perfect for families and is very comfortable. The Frederic Fekkai toiletries are quite nice (and pricey-- they are $9 per bottle at Sephora!!) My best friend and his wife just got married in November so the hotel, ever so kind, sent up a bottle of sparkling wine, a box of chocolates, and a fruit platter which was very much appreciated. It was too bad that the all the fruit were dirty and had to be washed again. Nevertheless, the gesture was very much appreciated. In addition to this amenity, there was another fruit plate and 2 bottles of water as a welcome amenity from the Travel Agency.

I understand that we visited at a terribly busy time but fundamental service gaffes pervaded the hotel part of our stay. I think the hotel cannot handle the volume of business for its size and it most certainly did not handle the chaos very well. I had to prompt the hotel at almost every step -- the service was not effortless or intuitive; at best, it was reactive and only when prompted. We had requested turn down at a certain time, but housekeeping came at their convenience. When we asked her to return later, we were told that she could not come back. The luggage should have been waiting in the room for us since they had at least 3 hours from the time we received the room keys to when we finally got upstairs. Not all of our baggage arrived when it finally came upstairs despite our two baggage tags being handed to Reception at check-in. When I asked for the luggage to be sent up I was asked for the tag number; when only half the luggage appeared, I was again asked for the other tag number. The service at the Star Lounge and BLT Market was not very good which was slightly disappointing. The Hotel did not believe me when I confirmed that 4 breakfasts were included as opposed to the 2 which is standard. I gave the name of the Sales Manager who confirmed it and I even had to suggest they contact her to confirm. I had to show the e-mail from the Sales Manager, which was on my laptop, to the Reception Agent (the copy I printed out and brought with me somehow disappeared). I was asked to e-mail them a copy for their records -- when I asked if there was WiFi in the Lobby I was told that I could do so from my room with applicable charge. Only then, when the agent looked through my reservation more carefully did she see the note from the Sales Manager about the breakfasts. At check-out, we were charged for the two extra breakfasts as well as for the Afternoon tea. I had to show the welcome letter the hotel gave me to convince the Reception agent that the afternoon tea was included in our rate as we did not go over the $100 limit. Such issues marred what could have been a wonderful stay and should not have happened at a hotel of supposed calibre as the Ritz Carlton. Next time we will try another hotel.

Dining

We ordered in Room Service for dinner as our dinner plans fell apart at the last minute. We ordered very simple food -- a cheeseburger with fries, french onion soup, a chicken panini, and caesar salad. The food was decent if not again aggressively salted. The meal was fairly timely (late by 7 minutes) but was not very hot by the time it arrived. We had breakfast the following morning at BLT Market. The quality of the breakfast was decent but nothing mind-blowing. Service was awkward and not particularly attentive. Eggs were cooked to perfection and the coffee was excellent. The food for the afternoon tea was again decent but nothing special. The teas were not that great and the service was lacking. The tea is a 3 course set with the first course a 3 tier selection of bit sized finger sandwiches. 45 minutes after we finished the sandwiches the second course of a scone per person with devonshire cream and raspberry jam was served. The scones were cold and were a little tough. The third course were mini petit fours which were decent. The harpist was nice but the service was lacking. We ended up pouring our own teas, which were set on a decorative chest behind us as there was not enough room on our table for the tea. We were appreciative of being squeezed in despite the Lounge being full but I would have been upset if I had to pay $45 per person for this tea.

Spa

We all had spa treatments the morning of our check-out. I had a 90 minute deep tissue massage which was one of the best massages I have had in quite some time. The therapist, Jaime, is a Post-Accident physio specialist and knew how to ease the tension in my back and neck. The other massages were also excellent from what I heard but my sister's manicure and pedicure were very poor. The Spa is on the 2nd floor, adjacent to the Ritz Carlton Club Lounge, and is very intimate. The men's waiting area is very small and if more than 2 people are waiting for treatments there is no additional room. The lockerroom is compact but well appointed. The treatments were not cheap but were very well worth it (except for the mani/pedi).

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