Originally Posted by
rmontelbon
Many of the disappointed reviews here center on the manager's personality, and as someone who doesn't typically interact with the manager is of no concern to me, and varying states of construction noise, the worst of which appears over.
Beyond that, it has an elevated ambience, the rooms are beautiful, upgrades usually generous, food very good to excellent, view from the pool spectacular, wonderful spa, and the neighborhood magnificent for walking. It's probably the best bang for the buck Waldorf property in the world.
WA has some strong points, but upgrades are not one of them, at least not anymore. I used to occasionally get upgrades from entry level to Astoria Suite, but now even if I book Corner Suite they won't upgrade +1 to Astoria Suite. Yes they upgrade to Deluxe Suites which is appreciated, but if I am fair those are junior suites at best and in contrast, I receive (standard) suite upgrades with near 100% success rate at Park Hyatt and St.Regis nearby, and sometimes, premium suites (like WA used to do). The deteriorating upgrades at WA are one of the reasons I have curtailed my stays there.
And the problems are not only the GM and noise. There are many reports of them shooting themselves in the foot with nickel & diming regarding F&B credits (Amex FHR, Diamond credit, exclusions, etc.) which does not give a luxury feeling if there is too much focus on accounting issues, and can be a turn off to some.
While WA can be in the same conversation as PH and StR, it should not be compared to Marquis or Millenium Hilton.