Zelucifer

Renovations have started. All (or virtually all) the rooms facing the park are currently being refurbished.

donjo

I have a stay here Jan 2nd. Will any newly renovated rooms be available by then?

christianj

It would be great if someone posts pics of what the renovated suites look like once we have a FT member stay in one.

sky303

Okay well this is wild but was staying here this past Saturday on a trip with my buddy. We were staying on a free night cert as a CC Diamond. Due to the marathon filling up the place we decided to defer picking a room and eventually got notified of a pre assignment. None other than the 2500 sq ft Penthouse Suite. Absolutely crazy, 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath on the 53rd and 54th floors. Attached are some photos. It was somewhat worn in places (desk, couch upholstery, some light fixtures, doors, etc) but for no money and on one of the busiest nights of the year? I guess it means we can't complain about not getting upgrades with HH for at least a little while. Breakfast was good and we did a la carte downstairs with the 30 pp voucher, but the service in the dining room was painfully slow. That's really the only complaint I can muster. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience for me. I even got to see the marathon winners in their home stretch from the windows.

Zelucifer

That's a beautiful view from the room! My guess is they don't have many people staying there top end rooms, since there are Much nicer hotels in the area, with significantly better service. Hopefully that will change after the refurbishment and retraining!

sky303

Yeah, it's crazy to think a free night cert of all would end up there, but no complaints here. Service was a little blah from my interactions with the front desk staff, but I think we were mostly so enthralled with the room that it didn't matter. Plus, it was a one night stay. Naturally, I invited over a bunch of my NYC friends for drinks after dinner who I hadn't even told I was in town since we were just there for one night of work so we could make the most of the place.

Zelucifer

I'm glad you got to enjoy it!

Bicoastal Local

Have any FT'ers visited since the renovations started? Would be great to see some pictures of the updates.

David5785

I am staying here tomorrow night. I am a Diamond, and I am very curious to see how the stay is. I have read mixed reviews... I let them know my wife and I are celebrating a special occasion, they said they will note the account. Went to see what rooms were available on the check-in, there are absolutely no North facing rooms available and most of the rooms are floors 20 and under.

I have had a bit of an issue with service and upgrades at the last few Hilton properties we stayed at and HOPEFULLY this isn't a repeat. If so, seriously considering status matching with another brand...but I am putting the cart before the horse.

I'll report back once I have a better idea tomorrow.

christianj

If I were you I would NOT expect too much the weekend before Christmas. If the hotel does come thru with something nicer than what you booked then it will be great but I personally just would not get my hopes up too much in NYC during this time of year.

OhDoctor

Stayed here last week as Diamond. Only a few dozen rooms in the hotel are being used at the moment with renovations underway, and most of them are below 30. Didn't get upgraded and our room was the standard (non-refurb'd). Service was good though.

Zelucifer

How was it?

TravelLawyer

JetSet05

Just completed a 3 night paid stay here. I did not receive an upgrade, but it seems that the majority of the rooms are unavailable due to the remodel. The room i stayed in had not be remodeled, and almost everything in the room looked very tired. I was staying on the 17th floor, and I know they were working on the 18th floor during my visit. During the day, I could hear a lot of work being done in the bathroom above me, which is def needed. Renovations are taking place everyday from 9-5, so it wasn't too much of a disturbance. They actually asked me at check in if i wanted a lower floor, due to the renovations, but I declined.

They do not have the Conrad amenities yet, but the current available ones were very nice. No stuffed toys yet, those will come in the summer, I was told.

The diamond breakfast was a $30 credit per person/per night, max $60. It was just me staying, and I was pleasantly surprised when upon check out, they took off the full cost of each of my breakfast meals (between 35-40 each). I did not experience slow service in the dining area, and found all of the food very good.

Overall, I would stay here again. I am curious what the renovations will look like. I would also stay on a higher floor, to try and avoid the NYC street noise.

Bicoastal Local

We have two upcoming bookings at the London NYC, one of them is in a new room type: One bedroom suite with 2 Queens. We're paying cash, but it looks like the 2 Queen Suites are also priced as a Standard Award redemption, which is an option we appreciate.

I wasn't sure how they would fit two queens in their standard suites, but from the updated photos, it looks like they're swapping the living/bedroom spaces. Now it looks like the beds are in the rooms with the bay windows and the living room is in the rectangular room. I'd be curious to see how they're going to rearrange the entrance and bathroom layouts.