I think I got a little over-excited at some of the reports in this thread and other Globalist member sites on how well elites were treated. I booked a one night stay last (Friday) night for 25K points; not too bad as the cash rates were in the $500+ range. It's slow season here in NYC, although it is NYU move-in weekend (which we've learned to circle on our calendars as the traffic in the neighborhood can be a bit messed up). I tried reaching out to the hotel via email and social media before my stay but didn't get any responses. I noted prior to the day of my stay that they were showing availability in most of their room catagories, including suites. I was really hoping for a king corner and was disapointed to be put into a Deluxe King on the 15th floor. Granted, the award books into a Queen Standard, but the Delxue King is just one level above the Standard King. Also, my room's door was directly outside of the elevators (as are most rooms on the eastern side). That being said, not facing Cooper Square/Third Avenue is a plus as facing east is much more quiet and there's very few high rise buildings in the East Village, Alphabet City, and the Lower East Side, so the views were pretty nice (I would have been very happy watching this year's 4th of July Fireworks here).

Here's my thoughts on this property vs. the Hyatt Union Square:

Locartion (Location Transportation) - The Union Square gets my vote due to the proximity of the Union Square subway complex but the Standard isn't far behind with the Astor Place and 8th Street/NYU stations within a five minute walk (note - these are the stations with the closest proximity to each other in the entire NYC subway system). There's also two major uptonw/downtown bus routes that start/end a few blocks up along with several other routes.

Location (Neighborhood) - The East Village is a more interestling location than Union Square with all of the excellent cafes and restaurants east of Third Avenue in walking distance. The Union Square area has some fast casual places on 4th Avenue and sit down places on University and the west side of Union Square. Union Square's farmers market and seasonal Christmas market is a nice diversion.

Hotel Staff - East Village by a pretty wide margin.

Elite Recogition - I've gotten better treatment at Union Square with room upgrades, but the East Village is a sample size of one.

Hotel Room - About the same. The EV room I had showed had a pretty badly waterstained bedside table but was overall in pretty decent working order and it was quiet so I guess I will go with the EV. I did find some used kleenexes on the bathroom floor under the sink and other signs that housekeeping isn't on their game here. Not important to me, but there wasn't a coffee maker in my room but there was a fully-stocked mini-bar with room in the mini-fridge to store waters/soft drinks.

Breakfast - EV by a decent margin.

Overall - EV is better but I was hoping for more seperation from Union Square. I wasn't "wowwed" by my stay; it was just an average exeperience. Again, I went in really wanting to like the EV so I could put friend and family there when they visit, but it isn't a slam dunk.