777 global mile hound

The W Wall Street is already toast.It was not an inspiring property sadly

777 global mile hound

Yes after Sandy and their flood they never regained their footing.
They closed the large exceptional gym and crammed it into a small room and turned the former gym into meeting space
The original restaurant Wall & Water closed and the space rarely utilized.That gave way to cooking in the lobby on a hot plate and launching the cafe
Dina Rat which was inferior and disappointing by Hyatt's and NYC standards and what was once the solid Wall & Water
I would always trip on the uneven rug @ Dina.Its my gut feeling Hyatt Corporate had to be furious at the hotel owners for damaging the brand standard
However they needed each other especially the brand presence near Wall Street and especially as NYC hotel space typically
was almost always in demand especially weekdays
I will miss the hotel as I truly had some nice stays & met some great folks that worked there through the years.
Including the original GM who went on to open Andaz Amsterdam. Won't miss at all what it became a failing Andaz
especially with non existent heating and air conditioning on occasions during the year

MSPeconomist

True, but in some ways the W and Andaz brands are positioned to appeal to similar market segments, which one would think would mesh well with a lot of Wall Street area clientele (weekday business travelers in particular), who also tend to spend a lot. It should have been fairly easy for both of these properties to do well.

DELee

Apparently not.

David

Kacee

This property's failure was self-inflicted. Great example of how failing to invest in the product precipitates a death spiral of reduced demand and deep rate cuts.

777 global mile hound

I remember being at the opening of the very first W Hotel in NYC after Starwoods CEO failed to work a deal partnering with Ian Schrager.
It was an exciting night of VIPs trend setters and celebrities but the hotel was crap when you get down to the rooms.
All you needed was cool attractive modern lobby with a good restaurant & bar and they will come
The secret sauce was taking nothing small munchkin size rooms making them hip and trendy and charging a premium for it.
Thankfully some great Ws evolved and of course Hyatt launched some great Andaz properties with a more premium
hard product and vastly superior food and beverage.But the bean counters swooped in trying to nickel and dime cost cutting till there wasn't much left

Owners of Andaz Wall Street killed the Golden Goose shutting the gym and Wall & Water and post Sandy never recovered as uptown properties did overall
When space/room inventory was at a premium folks would pay just about anything.
Most everyone did well especially the boutique lifestyle hotels
But folks are accustomed to a better hard product and service experience and now we have 9-11 on steroids combined with a recession.
My heart breaks for the industry and those front lines
/team members.Its a long hard road back to whatever we want to call normalcy.I came so close to investing in hospitality.
I am so thankful I stuck to residential real estate investmentand didn't get greedy or over my head looking back.

At the end of the day there was W NYC Lexington,W Wall Street (better) and then W Scottsdale which is/was magnificent.
Just branding alone isn't enough unless occupancy is through the roof in a given market
It's got to be something folks want to return too because they want/feel they have to repeat because there is to much choice in the market place
And now OMG Just OMG its a bloodbath no way to sugar coat whats going on out there
All tried and proven or formula is out the window starting from scratch all over again

MSPeconomist

I disagree with your rating of Ws. I've stayed in all three and IMO none of them compare to Andaz properties. IMO the best of the Ws would surely include Hong Kong (Asia, so not fare to compare to USA hotels) and Minneapolis in the historic Foshay Tower.

777 global mile hound

Not sure who you are disagreeing with
There are some great Ws certainly especially the new builds that they did in select cities
but I do believe in my own opinion Hyatt still does a better job with food and beverage with the exception being Andaz Wall Street once Wall and Water closed
and when Andaz does hit its mark Andaz Tokyo etc I would say they are better than most Ws in quality with regards to hard product

MSPeconomist

You. You said "At the end of the day, there was W NYC Lex, W Wall Street (better), and W Scottsdale (magnificent)." IMO all three of these Ws are bad, although Union Square was a bit better for NYC.

777 global mile hound

Thank you to better clarify the W Wall Street was poor/ average imo however it was significantly better than W Lexington the original
as that had the smallest guest rooms in history I can remember
I remember going into the bathroom sideways and felt claustrophobic even as a Platinum member of SPG in 1999
Most.Andaz properties were significantly better than most US Ws especially the early ones
The W Scottsdale suite was excellent however for entertaining and I had a very nicely appointed suite and had a great breakfast the next morning
with the independent brand that ran it.I would likely go back

steveholt

Andaz Wall Street announced today that they're closed until 8/31 and cancelled all reservations up to that date.

MarkOK

Doing needed renovations?? Or just dealing with an expected lackluster summer travel season?? (Or from the above info regarding the owners divesting, just saving money firing everyone and hoping for a sale?)

DELee

Does really it matter why they're closing down?

David

MarkOK

Well, if it is for renovations, then yes, it would signal that the demise of this hotel is overstated. If it is just a gamble to save money for a sale, then this would seem to help seal the deal that the hotel is dead. Canceling through the summer (but not through the fall) makes it a guessing game.

I am simply wondering if there was any information that the poster knew about, or if anyone else knew about.

jayer

I'm hoping for refurbishment. Quirky but I liked the place, and a good price point if you need an Andaz stay. But my sense is unless hotel travel comes roaring back this summer like nobody expects it to . . . .