The Plaza may well be the most well-known hotel in NYC, but for some reason, I don't see a lot of reviews on this property on FlyerTalk, so I thought I'd post one. It's a great option for a stay in downtown Manhattan, which most people should consider. I would fully recommend it.
My wife and I booked a long weekend stay to get away over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, which was also the Columbus Day weekend in the USA. We always like something luxurious and central to where we travel, and The Plaza seemed to fit the bill.
The location is hard to beat. The hotel is on the corner of 5th Avenue at Central Park South. You are steps away from Central Park and all of the action on 5th Avenue. Below are some photos of the hotel.
Grounds in front of hotel
There was scaffolding set up around the hotel, so it appears they are about to make some exterior improvements.
Looking across the fountain in front of the hotel toward the main entrance
Looking across at the hotel from Central Park
Looking across at the hotel from Central Park
We arrived from Newark airport around 1:30 PM, and were greeted immediately upon arrival. The bellman opened the door to the car, lead us up the steps into the hotel, while a second bellman took care of our luggage.
Checking in, our room was ready ahead of the standard check-in time, which was very nice, so we could get unpacked, freshen up, and go out exploring right away.
We stayed for 3 nights, and I booked a Grand Luxe King Room, which at 730 square feet, is a pretty good size room for downtown Manhattan. Upon check-in, we were upgraded to Junior Suite, which I wasn't expecting, because I did a dummy booking the day before and didn't see any availability. As far as I can tell, the Junior Suite is about the same size as the room I originally booked, except there is a partition between the living area and the bedroom. It also comes with personal butler service, but I didn't take advantage of that, as I like to pack and unpack my own bags!
I took advantage of a nice 30%-off deal, which gave an average room rate of right around USD$900 per night, which becomes closer to $1,100 once the various NY state and city taxes are added, along with the $50 daily destination fee. In any case, I thought it to be a very good rate for this property. I also booked it on a 5X points promotion, which adds a bit more value. I don't like resort fees, but at least with this $50 daily fee, you do get some useful things. It gives you $50 per day to use toward dining, $50 toward laundry services and $50 to use toward spa. Obviously, most people won't take advantage of all of those, so it's really just a way to get you to eat in the hotel, which we planned to do anyway, so at least you get something for the fee.
The lobby area of the hotel is very nice. When you enter the main doors to the primary reception room, you pass through another set of doors into a different lobby that is reserved for hotel guests.
I do love the detail in the ceiling.
Main lobby
Champagne bar in main lobby
Staircase from lobby leading to a bookstore and another bar upstairs. Concierge desk next to the stairs.
Beautiful ceiling above lobby
Lobby from above
Another lobby image
The front desk was just past the lobby and before the main guest elevators. There was a very apparent lack of Accor branding. Literally, there was nothing "Accor" at all displayed. Only the standard welcome drink certificate (which we didn't have to ask for, and they didn't even mention it was there) provided with my room key made mention of the word "Accor". It's "The Plaza" first, "Fairmont" second, and "Accor" probably less than third.
Front desk
Separation between elevator area and front desk
One of three guest elevators
Our room was on the 16th floor. I think the hotel has 19 floors plus the penthouse levels. Below is the floorplan from our guestroom door. This does not depict the entire hotel. Do note that one half of the hotel was sold off as luxury condominiums, and that side of the hotel has it's own resident entrance, lobby and elevator bank. The two areas do not connect in any visible way above the ground floor.
Our room had a view to the city. I believe some view a courtyard. I believe all of the rooms that view Central Park are private residences.
Upon entering the room is a coat closet and a small wet bar. The bar contains a sink, some glasses, a fridge in the lower cabinet and a microwave in the upper cabinet.
Entering the living room, the style was what I had expected. Crystal chandelier, herringbone pattern hardwood floors and period furniture. In spite of the historic nature of the design, things were updated, however. For example, all of the lighting and HVAC systems were controlled by a tablet computer on the desk (you could also just use the wall switches too). My only complaint would be a lack of electrical outlets, but this seems typical of a building of this age. It was sufficient for charging a couple of phones, but I had to use my power splitter, because I also have to charge multiple camera and GoPro batteries and my laptop as well as our phones. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever stayed in a hotel room where I had enough outlets at the desk!
The living area was spacious and comfortable, and had a flat screen mounted on the wall opposite the couch.
Main living area
Main living area
The bedroom contained a large dresser below another wall-mounted TV. The bed and pillows were exceptionally comfortable. The bedroom was separated from the living room by pocket doors.
Turndown service was as expected. Water was delivered, toiletries replaced, clothing items were folded neatly, slippers prepared on a mat on each side of the bed, and shades drawn.
The walk-in closet was large, and had enough room for everything we needed to hang or put away in drawers. The dresser in the bedroom contained even more space.
The bathroom was very large. Through the double doors, There was a vanity in the centre of the bathroom. On one side was a large soaker tub. On the other side was a huge walk-in shower with thermostatic water temperature control, and a separate water closet for the toilet behind a frosted glass door that matched the shower door. I would have preferred a double-sink vanity.
Below are some bathroom photos, and yes, the bathroom hardware really is plated in 24-karat gold! Even the sink bowl is branded with The Plaza hotel logos.
Somehow it's not in my photos, but even the bathroom had a hanging crystal chandelier.
Main vanity
Main vanity
Toiletries are all branded "The Plaza"
Bathtub
Walk-in shower
The room was very comfortable and quiet. Even being close to the elevator, we could not hear any hallway noises. Even being in downtown NYC, there was no noise from outside.
We made use of the complimentary car service. They have a Tesla (the 3-row model) for guests, and will drive you anywhere from the East River to the Hudson, and up or down about 10 blocks from the hotel. The hotel has a driver who waits in the car until the bellman notifies him that someone needs a ride. The Tesla is a bit of a change from the BMWs that Fairmonts use in Canada and the Cadillacs they normally use in the US, but I think it's a good choice to use an electric vehicle, considering that gas stations are pretty hard to find in Manhattan.
The Plaza house car
You will not go hungry at this hotel. We didn't eat in all of their restaurants, but they have a lot of them. We had our welcome drinks in the Palm Court shown below. The waitress commented hadn't seen an Accor drink voucher before, nor had the restaurant manager, but they had no problem giving us our free drinks.
We had a couple of breakfasts in the Champagne Bar, which has a full breakfast menu. There is also the Rose Club, Todd English At the Plaza and The Oak Room.
Palm Court
In addition to the various hotel restaurants, the Food Hall below the hotel had a wide variety of items you can either take to go or eat on-site, which we also made use of. I unfortunately forgot to take any photos of the food hall. But if that's not enough food for you, the hotel is on 5th Avenue in the centre of Manhattan. If you can't find anything you like to eat, then you're not trying very hard.
To conclude, I would certainly recommend this hotel. I'm really not much of a city person, and I don't know how often I'll be back in NYC, but I would certainly stay here on any future visits.