I recently finished a 5 night stay at the Chatwal with my wife. Overall, I was fairly pleased with the hotel. It is in a perfect location for attending Broadway plays and musicals (and we saw 4 shows in the 5 nights we were there, so from that standpoint the location could not have been better). Everyone was helpful, from the front desk folks, to the doormen, to the concierge, to the "butler" at the hotel (who helped us with some mail). The rate was 80,000 points for the 5 nights ... twice that of the Manhattan (where we stayed 5 nights following the Chatwal and had an equally great time), so we were kind of expecting something special for spending the 40,000 extra points. In the end, tough to say if it was worth the extra 40,000 points as we always get treated so nice at the Manhattan (which is also perfectly located on 51st and 7th).

I let the Chatwal know well in advance that it was the first trip for my wife and I in about 11 years without the kids and we were celebrating a special anniversary together. I asked in advance if they could try to get us into a courtesy suite upgrade for even a couple of the 5 nights and I was told they would try very hard to make that happen. We were given a Jr. Suite which was, obviously, an upgrade, but we were told from the outset as soon as we showed up that there was NO chance for a suite any night. Yet, just a week or so earlier I got the clear impression when I spoke to the hotel on the phone that there was a decent chance some or all of our nights would be in a courtesy upgraded suite? Admittedly, no guarantee was made to me that I would be getting a suite. However, very little was done in the way of an amenity for us. We were told that platinum guests not only get the 500 points, but also an amenity at the hotel as a matter of course. To be honest, I was expecting perhaps a bottle of wine and some cheese and crackers with a card wishing us a nice anniversary (especially since we were not getting a suite for any of the 5 nights). Instead, there was a dish with 2 apples, 2 oranges and 2 pears and a tiny box of chocolates. Nothing else was done for the 5 nights we stayed there. Maybe I am just accustomed to the way the finer Starwood hotels recognize special anniversaries.... such as the St Regis in Dana Point, CA where we have been on more than one occasion for a special event.

What's worse .... the 500 point amenity that I selected when I checked in (and reconfirmed when I checked out), was apparently forgotten about by the hotel all together. I had to spend 15+ minutes on the phone tonight with SPG Platinum to have them manually enter my 500 point amenity, which they confirmed was not given to me by the hotel. This is happening more and more throughout the Starwood system best I can see (at least to me)... my previous stay the night before I arrived at the Chatwal also was a stay where I did not receive my 500 point amenity and SPG Platinum had to manually give me those 500 points as well.

In any event, as I mentioned at the outset, I was fairly pleased with the hotel stay, but, at the same time, I personally thought the hotel could have done a little bit more. My wife simply did not get the full experience of just how wonderful a top rated Starwood hotel often treats it platinum status guests for a very special stay.