Originally Posted by Airborne Brat

TDLR
Pros:
-Aesop amenities
-Waldorf bed
-Fantastic food at Fountain Lounge
-Solid in room dining
-Beautiful property especially during Christmas

Cons:
-Frequent "no." attitude
-Suites can be VERY tiny
-Don't provide better suites for elites
-Bar is first come first serve and very crowded
-Swarms of tourists during Christmas time
-Will not answer the phone
-Service requests may be partially fulfilled and extremely delayed
-Check FHR credits at checkout (if the line isn't too long) as they don't always post

I had a stay during the Christmas period while they had their beautiful decorations up but this is more of a curse than a blessing. When I arrived at the hotel, it was next to impossible to get a bell hop due to all of the tourists cramming the entrance to get their Christmas photos. I eventually got ahold of one and was able to slowly make my way to the front desk to check in.

I booked a 1 King Bed 1 Bedroom Suite via AMEX FHR and was informed there were no upgrades left. I was checking in around 5PM. Unfortunately this also meant that I was stuck with what was likely the worst 1B Suite. Do not accept room 10515, it is a junior suite at best with a dividing wall. The half bath was the same size as the regular bathroom and I wish they would knock down the wall between the two and expand it because it was smaller than even some European hotel bathrooms. The photos for the 1B suite show a nice large living room space with several armchairs and a couch. My room could barely fit the couch and table.

I went down to the fountain lounge for dinner, which getting a reservation for was also very frustrating. I had reached out by chat several days prior asking for a reservation and was informed there was no availability and I was welcome to call down last minute when I was at the hotel. I then asked if the concierge could check and magically they were able to secure me a table. I understand if this isn't a front desk task but they should have forwarded the request to the appropriate person instead of just telling me no. Quite frankly, the attitude I experienced across the entire stay was "no." The Fountain Lounge was fantastic and there were plenty of empty reserved tables making it one of the few "peaceful" spots in the hotel with the mob of tourists in the main hall.

After walking into the bar, I realized it would be impossible to be served as the entire bar was filled and easily was 5-7 people deep for the bar standing space. I went to the front desk and asked if it would be possible to get a table at the bar and at first was presented with another "no." I asked if the F&B manager could make an exception and the front desk employee assured me he would check. I was later told no again to which I asked if they could at least set aside some space at the end of the bar and I was told they never do reservations at the bar. They did offer to make me another reservation at Fountain Lounge which had already closed and suggested I use the minibar in my room.

Now it was after 11PM so this was the only place to drink but impossible to use due to the crowd of people visiting to look at the Christmas decorations. I decided to give up at this point and asked for 4 additional pillows as the bed only had 2. 2 were delivered semi promptly but after requesting the other 2, they were delivered well past 1AM. Also good luck getting them to ever pick up the phone, I had zero success.

In late morning, the cafe was so overcrowded I did in room dining as I wasn't about to stand in line with 30 people to get breakfast. I spoke to the hotel manager about my concerns and he really came across as caring and promised to look into the service issues. He also told me that I had been provided an additional credit the night prior due to the issues... that was the first I heard of it. He additionally promised that my welcome amenity would be delivered to the room before I checked out, which did not happen. He also informed me that there are 20 different size suites in the 1B category as it is an older hotel.

The hotel is beautiful and I would definitely visit again if I wasn't staying there. I would also book a lower category room again and give them another chance but I cannot recommend paying for a suite here when you could end up in an extremely tiny room like I did, the gamble isn't worth it when they don't set aside their better suites for Diamond and FHR guests. I cannot recommend staying here during Christmas time if you want to make use of the hotel facilities because you will have to compete with tourists. The hotel really needs to do better to ensure these remain available to paying guests of the hotel.