Wow, what a fabulous hotel. My first time staying in this hotel. I'm a Spire Elite and was really impressed with both the room but also the staff. The staff is extremely friendly. Literally, everyone had a smile on their face and greeted you warmly every time they saw you. Even the cleaning lady in the lobby warmly greeted you when you entered the building. During COVID traveling I've found most employees just aren't too friendly or offer good service.
People complain a lot about the wait for the elevator but honestly, I think they are exaggerating. We stayed 3 nights during the busy Memorial Day weekend and it never took long to get an elevator and certainly they allow more people to go in now than before. The elevators are really quick. We never had any issues waiting long for the elevator and they are super quick.
We booked two rooms (one for my wife and me and one for our 3 kids). They had upgraded our rooms to a Club level room but then when we told them we needed connecting rooms they gave us a normal room on the 43rd floor. They had initially had us on much higher floors in a bigger room. My wife and I both are Spire Elite and booked separately.
The room was clean and the views were fabulous. Valet parking only and it was really busy but it never took long to drop off our car and we'd call down 15 minutes before we would leave and they always had our car ready. It IS pricey at $50 a day for parking. The Club Lounge was closed but they said they recently opened up the bar on the Lobby level (70th floor). There are a bunch of restaurants in the area but we had reservations at our places in different neighborhoods. We did eat at nearby Egg Slut in the Grand Central Market which is really cool! Highly recommended.
I used two of my Chase Free night certificates for 2 of the nights. I was surprised we were able to use them at such a nice hotel as many others I've tried to use lately are much higher. For data point, they didn't charge us the $30 resort fee per night. I'm not sure if it's because we are Spire Elite but I certainly didn't complain!
I'd definitely come back to this property. Nothing at all to complain about.