After years of avoiding this hotel since its Grand Opening where I experienced one of the most disappointing Hyatt stays of my lifetime in any brand luxury property I returned back in late November some weeks ago
In the hopes to see if I could make it my go to hotel when in New York City as i had hoped to do after the original opening
At that time they had no interest in Globalists today things are indeed looking up from my recent experience^
After a great stay at Park Hyatt Chicago recently where I had an excellent complimentary Globalist breakfast and upgraded accommodations I was inspired to return
Unlike my first deeply flawed stay@ PH NYC I am pleased to say I had a great stay
Management has vastly improved and been replaced by a new GM which the hotel so desperately needed from the start
Its obvious the new GM understands the luxury expectation and it showed in every detail for the most part with everything other than F&B
Was upgraded to a lovely suite without so much as requesting an upgrade in the comments section of my booking
They did it proactively on their own. Perhaps I got lucky but the experience was 100% better from my first stay Being this was a one night stay perhaps I wouldn’t have fared as well if it was multiple nights tough to say
Received a beautiful handwritten note elegantly presented, a welcome amenity of two large Voss waters sparkling & still, a fruit plate )though the fruit was apples and overripe grapes)
Sorry to sound ungrateful but that's always an early sign of potential weakness in the kitchen (lack of attention to detail and not turning over produce)
My request for a newspaper was acted on unlike past requests which were ignored The front desk was welcoming as was most of the door staff & quite helpful
Now for the bad news the breakfast is simply average and very mediocre but only because of its 5 star pricing plus when the expectations soar for great execution and product delivery
Breakfast Service
I was greeted by an uninspired team member host who sat me down at a high table that was awkward and uncomfortable to sit at.
Requested to be moved and was sat at a more appropriate table wedged between two tables both having loud business conversations with the manager fawning over one of those tables in particular
If you have great service which they clearly don't all you need is a competent server at your table.
I felt like the team was operational professional enough but uninspired
Not thoughtful in any way and unable to make even basic conversation with guests other than taking an order
My apologies but Continental breakfasts costing 100 dollars and up per person without pastry muffins etc should be exceptional in all regards
I’ve had better at the Grand Hyatt DFW or Hyatt Regency Orange County where my breakfast and service was vastly superior and complexity complimentary for a Globalist as it should be
If I have to pay the difference which I am willing to do which pays for the entire breakfast cost I expect the best of what Hyatt can do
My continental breakfast was just under 100 dollars and sadly I tipped on top of that as I didn’t check the bill and added another 20% not realizing they add an automatic gratuity
Wouldn't it be nice to be informed when receiving the check or at time of seating ? (Sigh) Yes I know too much to ask a 5 Star Hotel.One small orange Juice was 11 dollars
I thought of the carrot juice for 12 or 13 dollars a glass but took the discount OJ
It was satisfactory but not as good as Whole Foods or Zabars the Ritz Carlton or the Mandarin Oriental. Acceptable I guess but a fail as I wouldn’t order again
Fruit Plate was 18 dollars I’ve had far better from my local supermarkets Nothing wrong with the presentation but over ripe blueberries and spoiled pineapple and out of season honeydew,watermelon and cantaloupe
Having come form the Mandarin Oriental just a week prior where I was mesmerized by my breakfast it was a sad showing and the Mandarin was less in cost and generous with portions and outstanding friendly heartfelt service
All of which the Park Hyatt NYC breakfast lounge gets a resounding Zero
My 34 dollar smoked salmon plate which had a meager portion size for the price (it did come with some avocado at that price) or its only 28 if you get it without a slice of avocado
My hot tea with one tea bag for ten dollars didn't even come with a sliver of lemon
Maybe if you spend 200 a person they will proactively bring lemon?
Server was nowhere to be found as they were understaffed and I would have had to stood to get a slice of lemon so I sucked it up and did without
The salmon was inferior to the Grand Hyatt New York who to their credit has excellent smoked salmon and I’ll add properly trimmed without black or brown spots
The Park Hyatt NYC had poorly trimmed salmon with black and brown spot.
Ice cold scraps of onion & tomato which shouldn’t even be refrigerated if you are a real first class chef
The preserves Stauds of Austria like they use in Grand Hyatt Berlin was the cheaper variety (less fruit) and they stopped the lovely variety they had when the Back Room first opened
When the hotel opened the one thing they nailed down right was the Back Room for breakfast it was outstanding as was the hospitable professional service
with some of Hyatt’s finest service professionals some from other Hyatt luxury properties
Today the amateur team and its F&B team have a long way to measure up to Hyatt’s 3 or 4 Star standards let alone 5 star I received an apology from the new GM by email
which I thought was a very nice gesture and when I asked to detail the experience further in the hopes of seeing a future improvement there was no response
My take is he wants nothing to do with the failure of the past or with the present restaurant and to his credit otherwise he is running the hotel very well in my perception
I'm going to assume Hyatt has allowed all of this to happen.Just look at Andaz Wall Street and Andaz 5th Avenue all of their restaurants have closed and reopened as something meager by comparison
Unfortunately I won’t likely becoming back as with the massive amount of choices in NYC even the lesser hotel’s know how to make a solid first class breakfast
Final Assessment if you want a room your in great shape based on occupancy and elite status.
If you want a good true premium first class breakfast and not be price gouged with satisfactory to below quality standards look elsewhere.
The Park Hyatt New York has an inadequate space to serve breakfast with average or below average service and lacking high dining quality based on current execution & pricing
Hotel 4 stars plus breakfast 1 to 2 stars.Which was the exact reverse when the hotel first opened.