jeffandnicole

Honestly, you're calling downstairs to request a late checkout when they're probably busy dealing with a bunch of stuff going on. It's NYC. There's such a thing as a New York Minute, which is the complete opposite of, say, Island time. You asked for the late checkout. It was granted. That should've been the end of the story.

You're now wasting your time...wasting the time of the person you're speaking with on the phone, and wasting the manager's time because, oh...my...goodness...you could not say 'Thank you' on the phone.

Yeah, the cleanliness issues are uncalled for. But so was your attitude.

smmrfld

IMO yet another example of an OP that hasn't done sufficient research and arrives at a property with unrealistic expectations.

DrRodneyMcKay

I'll be staying at the WA New York for the first time next month, and I'm excited, though reading the reviews on here has tempered my expectations a bit.

As far as I can tell, breakfast is not included in the stay, even for Diamond Members (unless you purchase the room + breakfast + wifi rate, which is about $50 more than the general rate). Is there a way to tack on breakfast to your awards rate, or to pay for the breakfast and have access to their breakfast buffet? Or do you have to pay for it a la carte? (I may have to rebook my regular rate to the room + breakfast rate if there's no way to pay for breakfast).

It also sounds like Diamond upgrades are pretty decent at this hotel as well.

Anything else I should know from anyone who has stayed there recently

Richmond_Surrey

Breakfast at Bull and Bear will set you back by $60 (mandatory service charge already included). And it's not worth $60.

You may consider changing to Best of Waldorf rate which gives $50 credit per night. Sometimes it's only a few dollars more than HHonors discount rate.

coutura

I was there last weekend for just a night. I did online check-in and somehow managed to chose a room in the Waldorf Towers even though I had only booked the regular Waldorf (room 33R2). The room was nice enough, but lacked a marble bathroom which every other room I looked on the website claimed to have. It was clean, but definitely dated.

Being in the towers does entitle you to a free complimentary continental breakfast on the 26th floor lounge, but I didn't check it out.

As a Diamond they gave me two drink coupons good for "one complimentary beverage up to the value of $25 per cocktail" at any of the onsite bars or restaurants (says it includes taxes & gratuity as well). The cocktails at Sir Harry's were around $20-24. They also allowed me to take up to two bottles of water from the mini-fridge. I had selected my MyWay benefit at WA to also be a discount at a property facility. They said that was good for 25% off of breakfast at Bull & Bear.

Beware they do supposedly have a dress code for the restaurants. Jeans, Shorts and/or Sneakers will severely limit your choices (no Bull & Bear, no La Chine, no Peacock Alley). I didn't really test this (all I traveled with were jeans and sneakers, and I didn't feel like pushing anything), but in general everybody is dressed pretty nicely, so it seemed plausible they would enforce it.

Valet is $80/night, so beware of that.

Also, they're closing Feb 28 for their remodel/conversion. The stores right off the lobby all are doing clearance/going out of business sales.

DrRodneyMcKay

Thank you, this was super helpful! I'm a Diamond, so hopefully they upgrade me me to a nicer room/suite. Granted, I'm staying on Valentine's day, but that also happens to be a tuesday two weeks before the hotel closes, so I don't imagine they have too much demand. (actually, I checked and the rates seem to have skyrocketed between yesterday and today....interesting how that works).

I tweeted them regarding breakfast; the continental breakfast is apparently $30, but with the 25% discount I guess $22.50 isn't too bad for breakfast at the Waldorf Astoria. I don't eat breakfast myself, but my companion does, so it probably makes more sense to just pay for one breakfast up front rather than booking the wifi + breakfast rate.

I do wonder how their service will be impacted by the fact that the hotel is closing in two weeks to become condos. After all, crappy service and the ensuing bad reviews aren't going to matter to that property too much if they're no longer going to be a hotel (and even once they reopen, they can claim the bad reviews were old/outdated).

Good to know about the restaurant dress code! I'm a business casual at all times type person, but my companion isn't. I guess we'll have to dress up for breakfast, heh.

Geoggy

My wife and I are staying at the hotel 21st to 26th Feb.

i had no idea that the place closes 2 days later!

We are staying on a combination of Be My Guest certs alongside a couple of paid nights.

We are both Diamond - I take it we need to try and leverage a move to the Towers?

I guess we could also bail on the WA and use the paid nights elsewhere

submonte

It is said that a major part of it will be condos and another part a WA flagged luxury hotel.

DrRodneyMcKay

Yeah, I had read something to that effect...but it'll still likely be in no less than two years, so I don't see the hotel being particularly motivated to provide good service.

Richmond_Surrey

I was told that there's a lot of demand before closing date so getting upgrade may not be easy.

I wore jeans to breakfast and I don't think anyone cared. Nicer clothes are required from 18.00 onwards.

DrRodneyMcKay

Really? Curious about who might have told you so/how reliable that info is.

Richmond_Surrey

Lady at Diamond desk, when I enquired how busy it is and do they expect a lot of reservations in last few months. She said that January is usually quiet time but they have a lot of reservations.

Regarding dress code after 18.00, I think it's specified on the website.

adpucci

if I were you I would (bail out, I mean). they barely say thanks for being a customer at check-in, and there is no upgrade to the Towers for Diamonds - in fact no difference in benefits to Diamonds and Gold. Meh.

Geoggy

Ok thanks - paid nights have been moved!

So we will get nothing as diamonds for those 3 nights? One of them is my birthday, will dropping that in at check in do nothing?!

smmrfld

Oy. Maybe the FD staff will sing to you.