NYCtraveler

This hotel has always been a favourite of mine. It has had many ups and downs through the years however my last stay was really lovely.

When I checked in, my room had been upgraded to a corner suite overlooking Union Square. High Ceilings great bed....old bank building and what I consider one of the BEST locations in NYC....Union Square. Hundreds of restaurants in walking distance and a 24 hour CVS convenience store right next door. Right above the transportation hub with all the trains.

Breakfast was lovely, one day room service the other day at Olives. Internet speeds were good. Staff was friendly as friendly could be and greeting me by name both coming and going. They were helpful and the concierge desk helped me out with packages and reservations always smiling. I felt at home this stay.

If I have one complaint it would be that I don't like the red white and blue renovation they did to the rooms last year....The grays and lavender colors it was originally decorated with were far more cool and the red white and blue reminds me of Cheap Vegas. Bliss amenities were excellent and I will stay here again and again as long as the product stays like this.

Thanks to the W Union Square! Cheers to all!

NYC

STARFLEET

As a devotee of these reviews, I was quite disappointed at our stay recently.
Although kudos to a lively, friendly & most helpful staff of guys at the hotel entrance, at first impression lobby the is overly dim and seems somewhat outdated, if not a bit shabby. We were assigned a "wonderful" room which, upon entering, smelled overwhelmingly of what seemed like cheap perfume. When I called the desk to ask for help, they said we could go right to a "spectacular" room to see if it was any better (although we were told that the smell was the "scent of the W," and was sprayed throughout the hotel...)

As an aside, this begs the question of why the better room wasn't offered from the get go, as a [minimal] platinum upgrade? As another aside, whoever named these rooms is certainly setting the W up to fall way below expectations.

The second room was less scented, so we stuck.

Breakfast was really great in the restaurant, and the platinum continental could be exchanged for anything up to $28pp on the menu...excellent food and service! This took a bit of the edge off what we were thinking was a truly ordinary hotel experience.

At check-out we were charged for an extra half day of parking ($48) even though we had not yet passed the 24 hour mark. It was removed after some discussion.

So, all in all, not the worst, but the W Union Square won't be my first choice in the future. Union Square is a great area, so I'm disappointed.

brosnan6

Heh, I came to this thread to figure out what the plat breakfast benefit is and saw your little fact - just turned around right now (sitting at the desk in my room) and noticed it is indeed true in my room. Pretty cool feature - gotta love the Ws for keeping it different ^!

Anyways, I booked this stay as a 5th night free on points back in Feb when I was still Plat but I lost the status starting March since I didn't stay enough last year. Fast forward to yesterday when I check in and the front desk still thinks I'm Plat - score! I'm certainly not one to correct hotels in situations such as this.

I was only expecting the free internet and not much else as a Gold but they wrote me out daily breakfast coupons and I still got my internet. I figured I might as well try for an upgrade since they still thought I was Plat. The only room they had was a Spectacular with 2 double beds - fine by me since I always enjoy using the 2nd bed as my dumping grounds. This is a very large room and extremely spacious.

I wasn't actually able to use the breakfast coupon today since I slept in but I'll be using tomorrow and my understanding is that I can use it for a continental breakfast in the restaurant. I'm curious if the swap option up to $28 still exists since the continental breakfast is $24 anyways.

Thus far I'm very happy with this hotel. I particularly enjoy that the lobby isn't as obnoxious as most other Ws I've stayed in. Another key success of this hotel is water pressure in the shower - it's fantastic!

heakja

Just finished a two day stay here. All in all a decent experience (upgraded to a Mega room on a high floor, which is usually what I get), but platinum breakfast was a mess since Olives now is gone and the hotel has no agreement (yet) with the new, privately-run restaurant (201 Bar & Restaurant). The platinum breakfast is now via in-room dining only, and you cannot (as per their assistant welcome manager) choose anything else than the items on the platinum card. In fact, you must spesifically ask for yogurt and/or cereal if you want anything else than their "Continental breakfast/Awake" (which consists of a pastry basket, OJ & coffee). On both days we got wrong items when we called for breakfast, so the whole platinum breakfast experience was very poor.

lrdpenn

Recently stayed at this hotel for a few days. Booked the smallest room and was not given any minimal upgrade despite plenty of non-suite room classes for sale at check-in. When I inquired I was told the hotel was "100% full". Had to ask how plat breakfast worked (it's still only room service.) Although the breakfast cards list yogurt/cereal as options, I was told these items were not available in the complimentary service.

I'll be waiting for retroactive credit for internet. Room was not stocked with bath products when I entered, but at least the housekeeper during my stay was exceptional. 2 of the 4 or 5 elevators were out of service for a portion of my stay. Great location but I would not return to this property.

Yul_voyager

That's bad. You should send a description of your experience to Starwood.

lrdpenn

I filled out the post-stay survey and outlined the issues during my stay. I didn't ask for any reply or compensation. To the hotel's credit I received an email a few hours later that apologized, followed up on a few specific issues, and offered what I thought was a generous amount of starpoints. There was no failure I found egregious enough to complain, but there certainly was a large collection of miscues over a few days.

greg99

The restaurant is closed for 2 weeks from February 16, 2015 to March 1, 2015 for renovation.

I was given a letter at check-in, no advanced notice.

Greg

latony

How have upgrades for platinums been here lately? I stayed here Dec 26th, & got a corner room, but pretty dark facing an alley. Wondering if suite upgrades for platinums happen here. I'm debating between here and Westin Grand is the hotel for nyc. Westin Grand central is a bit plain.

canadiantransplant

Just saw this in my work email and thought it was worth passing along...

https://commercialobserver.com/2016/...rket-for-sale/

MSPeconomist

That's a shame.

Weren't the rooms renovated recently?

canadiantransplant

I stayed there for my birthday in June of 2015 and vaguely remember them telling me that my room had been renovated (and no, there were no parties or dj booths involved).

It's a great location so hopefully it remains a W.

MSPeconomist

I like(d) it because even though it's a W, it has light colors in the rooms. Most USA Ws are black and dark purple in the rooms, hallways, and elevators.

EricH

What the article really says is that in addition to buyers who want to maintain it as a hotel there may be buyers who want to spend a small fortune to convert it to residences after buying it. That's always an option.

donotblink

not a party "sizable gathering!" ;-)

Glad you had a better experience! :-)