Originally Posted by
jjLDNY
[MENTION=746602]Foofighter69[/MENTION] Excellent and comprehensive review. The brightness and layout not being conducive to relaxing were my biggest concern, as I don't know how they can fix that without a full refurb. Glad to hear the Soho is a little more intimate and won't have the 'living wall' and bright lights - perhaps the move will be to grab dinner and a few glasses in Chelsea (menu and chilled drinks allowing) and then head over there.
Perhaps I’m being a bit cynical, but maybe management’s off-the-record goal is to make Chelsea a dining room / brief stop off of sorts, similar to how the JFK FFD did not have more than two lounge chairs as it was designed for just dining. Or, they just missed the mark. Ideally, feedback will lead to some adjustments to the extent feasible.
On the service front - it is not surprising as FFD was always understaffed and the legacy FL was typically overrun during peak times.