Stayed at the Barclay last weekend.
I'm just IHG Gold, so I didn't arrive with any expectations. Actually, I had very positive expectations about the property as a hotel, and I was right-- beautiful place, nicely refurbished, gorgeous lobby that we actually hung out in the first night, reasonably efficient front desk, and good place to eat breakfast across the street (a kind of deli with literally dozens of options a very reasonable prices. For example, an omelet with potatoes and toast is $5.45).
Had booked a room with 2 beds (standard award, 60K points/night) for the first night-- but then a 1-bed room for the next 2 nights. Forgot to call ahead to merge reservations.
The morning of check-in I looked at my booking online and the second reservation had been changed to a 2-Double Bed room (an upgrade, since it's consistently $40 or so more than the lowest category standard 1 King room. )
But the rate had gone up $100 for and "extra person charge" so I called.
I think it was a computer glitch because neither she nor the eventual check in agent could see the extra $100 fee.
When I asked about the room category upgrade, and mentioned how it was awesome they did that for me (other than the fee) because it was what I wanted in the first place, the agent was quick to scold me: "It's not an upgrade, we never upgrade anyone except Ambassadors, and you're not an Ambassador."
Yikes!
"The rooms department may have been switching some categories to balance our bookings."
Uhh.... so as long as I don't say "upgrade" we're good, then?
Room ended up being great- loved the style, everything was nice and new, it was spotless and housekeepers and one concierge was really friendly. Doormen/bellmen/security weren't interested in greeting you unless you needed a taxi.
But in general, super happy with the $159 rate we got! A beautiful hotel, amazing lobby and lobby bar--
THEN.......
Saturday morning I didn't feel well and ended up at the Urgent Care, then the NYU ER, then admitted into NYU Hospital for an emergency appendectomy! Fun times.
It was done lapaproscopically so I was back to the hotel by Saturday night but of course would be needing a few extra nights in NYC. I asked if they could honor the same rate for Sunday to Tuesday (2 nights). Friendly agents moved aside for a manager type to (without making eye contact) tell me "for your room category it's $360 per night." OK, I get it-- computer says no, and so does the Barclay.
My "computer says no" too.... That's too much for me-- so we moved to the Hilton Garden Inn Central Park-South. $95 per night AAA rate. Ummm.... at the HGI, EVERY SINGLE WORKER stopped what they were doing and helped me, greeted, me, asked how I was doing, and told me that if there was anything they could do to make my stay more comfortable, don't hesitate. This happened throughout my stay-- That included housekeepers, doorman, security, bellhop, front desk, and breakfast staff. Holy crap. You can't train that into people, you just hire good people.
Can kinda recommend this hotel for general cheap stays-- especially the $119 rate that seems to be available weekends in January/February-- but absolutely forget assuming you'll get an upgrade (though a "room category change" may be possible if you DON'T ask for it!), and staff will be 5* professional but not very warm, which gives a bad name to the half of the staff who really does try at the Barclay.
For $119-159, that's a great price, location is great too.... good Japanese restaurants all around, good 5th Avenue Shopping a 10 minute walk away, and Grand Central also 10 minutes away! But once you get over those rates, I'm not sure it stands out enough.
I'll be staying at the HGI next time, but had my emergency not happened, I'd recommend the Barclay for those WITHOUT status. Just kind of what I expected.