Originally Posted by trojanman

FWIW, I just spoke to my Virtuoso / FSPP agent and she sent me the complete STAR reports* for all partner properties in NYC. All reports have been updated within the last 6 months, I believe. Some are as new as last month.

According to the STAR reports, she said only 3 hotels are rated as "SUPER-STARS" in NYC:

- Carlyle (Supposedly this is the top choice of royalty, movie stars, and captains of industry who desire ultimate service combined with ultimate privacy in a residential-style setting).

- Crosby Street (interestingly, this is the only 4-STAR property that received "SUPER STAR" status. They also said it is the "Best townhouse-hotel in Manhattan". My agent is very keen on this property as well.

- FS NY



Other "5-STAR" properties that belong to Virtuoso or another "premium" marketing program offered by my agent:

- The London
- MO NY
- NY Palace
- Pierre
- Pen
- RC CP
- St Regis
- Waldorf Towers
- Trump Soho

4-STAR properties:
- Setai (though it has only 4-STARs, my agent is very keen on this property)
- Plaza Athenee

If anyone wants more detailed reviews, I can share privately. Due to the copyright and subscription-only nature of the STAR reviews I would not feel comfortable posting them publicly.

*For those not familiar with STAR reports, they are a product of Smith Travel Research. Acronym stands for Smith Travel Accommodation Reports. The number of stars does not necessarily correlate to the traditional AAA, Mobil, or World Tourism Organization travel ratings. They supposedly use empirical unbiased data to produce scientific reports on hotel performance. They take that data and combine it with TRAVEL AGENT reviews. Supposedly, they don't use lay guest reviews and therefore the reviews are supposed to be more thoughtful and evenly judged than Tripadvisor or other sites. I can't explain how they do it, but my Virtuoso agent claims the reports have never steered her wrong; she trusts them unfailingly.