I should offer some follow-up. Morning of check-in looked on website and saw that suites were still available, called, spoke with FD manager on duty, asked about possible Glob as available upgrade, he said “we’ve already upgraded you to a suite”. I asked when the room would be ready, he said “it’s ready now” (10:30am).

Arrived at ~3:20pm, parking valet not wearing a uniform, it was difficult to determine and be confident that he was the parking valet.

Quick check-in. They asked/offered (Glob) 4pm checkout. Suite on 25th floor. No keycard needed for elevators, atypical elevator arrangement with 3 elevators for floors up to 22 across from the front desk and 3 more elevators for floors 23-?42 immediately behind but accessible only by walking around ~40-50 feet.

Studio Suite almost exactly as pictured on the website. The pictured shelves and drawers in the narrow space to the right of the bathroom door were not present, that space was incorporated into a closet with doors next to the foot of the bed. The pictured closet(s) to the left of the entry door were half as wide with the other half of that width containing 2 drawers next to a minifridge with the coffee maker, ice bucket and tea selection box on the counter above.

I was told that all suites have “city view” (south) which is more accurately a view of the tall buildings across the street. “Park view” (north) more accurately “small bit of the park visible between 2 very tall buildings” is easy to see, there’s a large window facing north in the elevator vestibule. The views might be different from higher floors (“Upper Stories” starting on 26) and/or rooms at the end of the hallway.

Staff universally gracious. I broke a corkscrew with the screw part lodged in the cork, bartender quickly uncorked the bottle. Due to construction, the fitness center was accessible only by walking outside for 20-30 feet. Asked about Lounge access (played the Fleet Week/Navy retired card again ), was told it’s only for Upper Stories guests. Had breakfast 1 day, at 6:31am, quick attentive service, generous tip. At checkout the balance was zero.

BUT … then the big hick-up for this stay. The contracted parking garage next to the hotel LOST my car key fob. (Obviously reinforced my (somewhat compulsive) always bringing 2 key fobs if I know I’ll be valet parking.) Took them 20 minutes to tell me and then the attendant simply asked me (as if nothing unusual had happened) if I had another key. I suspect that had I given him the second key he would have brought the car and done nothing more.

I went back to the FD, asked for a manager, he had me sit in the lobby while he investigated, 10-15 minutes later he returned, said they left the key in another car (undoubtedly parking garage nonsense) but fortunately it was a monthly parker who would be back the next morning, he would track it and overnight the key to me. It was terrific that he took ownership of the problem when it could easily have been passed off to the parking garage.

Next morning (2 days ago) he sent me an email, key still lost, he would continue to follow, “should they be unable to locate the key we will file a claim for reimbursement of the cost of purchasing a replacement “ and “given the inconvenience and in appreciation of your loyalty I will load 10k points into your account.” I’m still awaiting further information, I suspect that being a weekend might slow the search and that ultimately I’ll have to obtain a replacement.

Maybe next time they’ll give me lounge access ?

AFAICT the upper stories “experience” (per website) is mostly almost identical rooms and suites, with some larger suites available, and lounge access and an additional small room in the fitness center. Unless those floors are high enough to see over the neighboring buildings and the lounge offerings are stupendous, hardly seems worth the additional $100 - $200 they charge.

Based on my N=1, agree regarding upgrade, disagree regarding management, agree regarding noise although there are relatively few rooms on each floor thus hallway traffic and noise are not excessive. On the 25th floor I could hear the usual big city street noises (and clearly see into the buildings across the street).