This place is a Thompson??
I just stayed here earlier this week as my last two days as a NYC resident, just prior to a cross-country move. We needed extra space since we were taking large suitcases, a large pet carrier, etc. We booked the King Suite in advance using a standard daily room rate (just over $100) and points upgrade. I’m kind of surprised how positive the feedback has been on this hotel, but I guess it comes down to expectations. The suite was spacious and suited our needs, but I’ve stayed at many of the Thompson hotels and love their style and service - this hotel in no way belongs in the category of the others. They slapped some paint and artwork on the walls to make a feeble attempt to bring this up to brand standards, but otherwise this is a dilapidated hotel that really belongs more in the “Centric” category. If you set expectations accordingly, I guess it’s “fine”.
Issues we had:
-We had a lot of luggage at check in. The staff could not find a crate and while they were trying to locate something, the restaurant host came out to the street within 5 minutes complaining that we had to move because we were in her space. Note that we were not blocking anything, even the sidewalk, and it is the hotel restaurant. We moved everything into the lobby piece by piece to appease her.
-We checked in at 4p (well after check-in time) and the room was not ready. The worst part is that they couldn’t give us any estimate as to when it would be ready and claimed it shouldn’t be too long and we should just wait in the tiny lobby. After 30 minutes, we asked again and said we could leave and come back if they wanted to call us, but they said it was almost ready. One hour after we arrived, the room was ready. They apologized for the wait, but no compensation offered, the only thing they offered while we were waiting was bottled water.
-As others have mentioned, AC is loud and not very effective.
-Looks and feels like an old hotel with minor cosmetic changes to make it feel Thompson - it doesn’t.
-Needed to pack up a few boxes to ship, they have no packing tape anywhere in the hotel (??).
-At check out, I saw that they had added $40 per night as a “Suite Upgrade Upcharge”. They had asked at check-in whether I was paying with points, I explained it was a paid stay with a points upgrade, but seems like they hadn’t understood that. They did take it off.
Can’t comment on Globalist benefits as this stay actually will put me over the line from Explorist to Globalist. As an Explorist, they did offer 2p check-out at check-in, which we used. And the restaurant (yes we went there despite the rude host) was quite good. We did the set lunch, which was a decent price and quality was great.
I honestly can’t complain too much about a $100/night hotel in Manhattan. At the end of the day, it was a cheap stay for a large room that met our needs. But when rates go back to normal, they really need to up their game and I can’t see any justification for this being under the Thompson umbrella, unless they really start to cheapen what I think is an excellent brand.