m600

I'm off to New York in November and looking for recommendations on 4/5 star hotels. I stayed in the W in San Francisco recently. We were impressed and are contemplating checking out one of the New York W's. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

BahrainLad

A personal opinion, but I would rather pitch a tent on a lava flow than stay anywhere near Times Square, so that probably counts me out for the W in that location.

And I have no idea what the rooms are like, but I can ocassionally be found in the rooftop bar of the Gansevoort trying hard not to fall in the swimming pool...

NickW

If you liked the W San Francisco, then I suspect you'll like the NY Ws also. Also you must sleep like a log because even from the 12th floor, the noise from the fire engines all through the night was a bit much for me. I like the W Union Square.

Although, picking a random weekend night in November, I'm seeing cheapest flexible rates of $549 per night for the nice Mega rooms. I'd stump up the extra $150 per night and stay at the Mandarin Oriental instead!

PointsMeanPrizes

I started two threads on this topic for my stay in December here and more controversially here.
Please don't add to the second post as it was decided by the other board memebers that it wasn't suitable for that board.

Let us know what you go with.

Raffles

You'll see my comments in Trevor's thread, but to reiterate - if you like W's, and you've got the cash, then Soho House wins hands down. If its a bit pricey, the Gansevoort directly opposite (which is a normal hotel as opposed to private members club) still gives you access to the Meatpacking vibe.

I was in NYC last week and still think, for anyone under 35 going to NYC for a few drinks and good nights out, the Meatpacking District is still the best place to be.

If you want a quieter time, the Ritz Carlton Battery Park is new and 'modern but classy'.

PointsMeanPrizes

There were some great deals in early Jan at the RC Battery Park. $270 a night IIRC.

After so many recomendations I am going to take a look when I arrive in December and maybe change my January reservation if it is as good as it sounds.

Raffles

I had a drink on the top floor (well, top floor of the hotel, which is only 1/3rd of the way up the building) last week. $9 for a bottle of Sam Adams, but the view over the harbour on a very hot September night as the sun went down was fantastic.

They are starting to build a new residential skyscraper literally next door to the RC, so its more important than ever to go for a harbour view room.

The Skyscraper Museum is also now open, in the same building as the hotel but with the entrance tucked away round the back. Its not huge, but for $5 its worth it. Those of a certain persuasion may be interested to know that it has mirrored floors and mirrored ceilings which a) makes a small room room seem unbelievably high and b) poses real problems for women in skirts .

Brian_1

W Tuscany, Court and Union Square are all very nice (rear facing rooms are best for a good nights sleep). The suites are very spacious. The Times SQ one is a bit too big for my liking.

The rooms at Soho House are nice but way too small for me.

Forget the Royalton, Hudson and Paramount.

I highly recommend Hotel Giraffe...................lovely lovely lovely.

B

Dave_C

Any thoughts on the Hotel on Rivington. One of my friends reccomended it for a stay in late October; anyone been?

Londonflyer

Its worth checking out Soho/Tribeca Gran websites for special deals - we got a decent rate, plus wine, shopping vouchers and some gifts for a Bloomingdales weekend promotin they ran last year.

Rambuster

THE place to stay is the Mandarin Oriental @ Columbus Circle. It is however quite expensive.

Fraser

If you are looking for more of a category hotel as opposed to a specific hotel then check out www.biddingfortravel.com for prices and see if anything you like crops up on Priceline.

ojala

The trendy lobby and the bar are really the only reasons to "recommend" W Times Square.

The room wasn't worth the price, Aveda products in the bathroom a plus but the bathroom is otherwise pretty badly designed. The "heavenly shower" was a joke, "heavenly bed" is ok-ish. From european perspective, the room had very little "modern design" in it. A standard nordic hotel is more designed than they.

We had a long weekend first, extended the stay a few days (not at the reception but on the internet terminals, as the staff recommended it for better pricing) and as we couldn't get any decent price any longer, we moved to the new Westin a few blocks away -- which was much better value and nicer hotel as such.

Of the Ian Schrager properties, we have tried both Clift (SF) and Delano (Miami) and we will not stay at those places again. On the other hand both St Martin's Lane and Sanderson are our top choices in London -- there the style goes all the way to the rooms, not only to the lobby.

We will try W in some other city once more but.. we will see how it goes.

m600

A belated thanks to everyone who posted suggestions and recommendations. Apologies for the delay in posting.

m600

Yes, the fire station; we passed that on our way out of the hotel and I did wonder at the time whether it would affect us. Luckily we were pretty high up the building on the 21st floor.

We'll certainly check out the Mandarin Oriental.