ma91pmh

so here I am in bed at the andaz 5th avenue. this is my first andaz stay anywhere so my initial feedback is i really love the room. for new york it is very spacious and the bed very comfortable. the bathroom is beautiful, love the fact you have two head shower plus a bowl for your feet!!

took them a while to check me in and it seemed somewhat chaotic downstairs. they are clearly all still learning the system. but did have a very nice dinner and drinks with a friend and had a great waitress take care of us.

it is not fully open yet, they said only rooms in "north tower" are open which means taking an elevator to second floor then crossing over the building and taking another elevator. also from 5th avenue itself the place looks closed out... i actually walked past before i realized i'd missed it.

i took some pics i can post once i get back and am able to download.

ANDAZ 5TH AVENUE IS HERE!!!

LilZeppelin

writing this from the hotel to share first impressions. Our room is overlooking 42nd street on the corner of the 5th ave. The room is nice although it's not love from the first sight: the ceiling is very high, and the window is huge, the layout and design pretty well thought out with distinctive Asian influence, such as low working desk, very understated side tables with about the only drawers in the whole room, and uniquely - a soaking bowl for your feet in the bathroom. Unlike Wall St, the bathroom does not have a tub, but the shower is pretty nice and there is a double sink which actually works (unlike in downtown, thanks a million Tony CHi)!!! Toiletries from CO Bigelow: different shape bottles and smell than Andaz WS. Diamond amenity is points, food credit or 15$ credit a day to use their "roomlinx" TV system including unlimited movies (Starz selection - not that huge). Diamond breakfast this morning at the restaurant was fine, the menu is pretty varied. Althgouh there was barely anyone at the restaurant coffee service was slow, hopefully this will be straightened out in the future as people would not sit waiting for their morning coffee 5-10 mins! I am not sure if that is due to their coffee machines, because although they can make you coffee in the lobby, it took him a while to brew a cup. Basement has a gym, which is nicely thought out with lots of mirrors making it seem more spacious and open.

Our room also features two glass cabinets by the door- one serving as a wardrobe and one for the in-built fridge and safe and a couple of shelves. And yes, there are two robes and slippers in the room! The lighting is pretty high tech, even though lights do not seem to dim, and the window shade is automated. The automated lighting seem to work, even though bright lights in the room came on by themselves a couple of times last night.

peteropny

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt...iscussion.html was the thread (now locked) for pre-opening discussion.

Kalboz

Great to see you all happy with this new addition. Today, Hotel Chatter has a video of a room and photos in addition to their own reviews, check it out: http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/20...daz_5th_Avenue

Will be booking soon.

chanp

The shower looks pretty huge. Does the mini bar have lots of water and soft drinks?

Kalboz

With a built-in seat like the one at the HR Monterey: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalboz/...7624403918282/

l etoile

The mini-bar has about eight non-alcoholic beverages including Fred water that comes in a flask-shaped bottle (hadn't seen this before); Voss sparkling water; Coke, Sprite and Diet Coke in 8.5 oz metal bottles; two flavors of Fizzy Lizzy, an organic black cold tea; and an apple juice.

They are supposed to replenish daily, but my chocolate bar wasn't restocked and my opened bag of potato chips was just neatly placed back at the mini bar area.

Only about 30 rooms are open right now. They expect to have the rest of the hotel opened next month.

So far I've found the staff very pleasant and accommodating.

There are the usual issues that come with a soft opening though - telephone not working properly (but staff very eager to tend to the matter), staff not fully familiar with working some of the in-room systems, and engineers around working on parts of the hotel at times. Noise from that is minimal. Yesterday an ironing board and iron (with the cord unwound as though it had been used) appeared without me ever asking for one. The elevator bell on my floor seems to ding constantly though there are only a few rooms on the floor so clearly people can't be calling it that often. I can hear it even though I'm in the room furthest from the elevator.

Yesterday I tried to get in the elevator to the lobby, but there appeared to be reporters on a property tour blocking them. When the elevator arrived it was filled with engineers. By the time they got out and I could make my way through the tour group, the elevator was gone.

There seems to be employee interviews going on in the meeting rooms and various training sessions.

These are not complaints, just examples of some of what to expect as the hotel continues to prepare for its full opening.

Breakfast has been quite good and room service prices are reasonable. There is no delivery charge on room service, but a reasonable (actually seemed low to me) gratuity is added.

This is the third Andaz I've stayed at and so far it is my favorite. The staff is kind and eager to please (can't say enough nice things about them at this point), the rooms are attractive and functional, bed comfortable, bath amenities are good. One small issue is that all the hangers have clips on them. This doesn't work so well for dresses and T-shirts.

As for the seat in the shower, it's not built-in, but movable (though heavy).

When fully opened there will about 180 rooms and 30some suites.

pclee

nice review!
may i ask,
the breakfast policy for diamond?
and did you get any upgrade?

zapyiu

nope. i was told none of the suites is ready yet. how i miss the XL king corner room at Andaz WS.

breakfast hours at the restaurant is 8am-10am. i had to leave at 8 so i had room service. the bill was a little over $50 i think and was taken care of at check-out without asking.

holocker

I have a reward stay booked here for next Friday- looking forward to it.

luxury

Those are pretty short breakfast hours, not to mention a pretty late start... are those "opening period" hours which will later be expanded to 6:30am/7:00am to 10:00am? That being said this hotel looks great and I am looking forward to trying it soon.

zapyiu

I'm pretty sure they will extend breakfast hours when it's fully open. It is a great hotel and I'm looking forward to going back sometime!!! Breakfast was yummy btw!

Kalboz

A review of the shop on Hotel Chatter

http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/20...e_at_the_shop_

Smart Shopper

Thank you for this piece of information!

In general at Andaz hotels we are not allowed to opt for 1K GP points as complimentary welcome amenity: A Food and Beverage amenity will be provided (T&C, Point 7).

GM at Andaz 5th Avenue

Thank you everyone for your comments and feedback about Andaz 5th Avenue. I sincerely appreciate your genuine interest in our hotel and hope that I will have the opportunity of personally meeting you very soon. Please keep the feedback coming!