dpb132

Deleted

Kacee

Sorry, but the reports of no upgrade and charging through even the smallest breakfast overage are legion in this thread.

Happened to me on my one and only stay here. That was two years ago and I've not been back. Staff attitude (arrogance) was the biggest negative for me.

Biggie Fries

I posted on this 6 mos. ago, but on the one occasion when I stayed there -- as a Globalist, on a cat. 1-7 award certificate -- we were upgraded to an enormous suite. We ordered a la carte and did not get charged for what I think was a minor excess relative to some standards listed here. The room was not immediately available when we checked in late afternoon, but was ready within about 15 minutes. Notwithstanding the short delay, they comped us delicious cocktails in the bar.

As I said when I posted about this the first time, either they had me confused with someone else or -- in the context of the current discussion -- there is a certain amount of chance or luck in the whole thing. If so, the phenomenon of regression to the mean implies that (a) if and when I go back, I'll probably have a worse experience than I did the first time; but that (b) if Kacee were to ever go back, chances are Kacee would have a better experience than on first go-round.

mann1mal

Just wanted to follow up on this as we just finished our trip to NYC. At the end of the day, I decided to do the PH for the first 4 nights and the Andaz for the last because we really wanted access to the pool as well as the proximity to Central Park. On a whim, I emailed the hotel concierge the day before we were leaving and asked if there was any chance they'd open up award availability on the last night so we didn't have to switch hotels. And they did! They also offered us 2 "2 free drink" coupons at check-in, as we were there for my wife's birthday.

So we ended up at the PH for the full 5 nights, all on points. The trip was great! They upgraded us to a studio suite which was very nice and not at all expected. We had breakfast in the restaurant or in the room all 5 mornings and our total bill was usually around $120 with gratuity. We checked out with a $0 bill.

All in all, a great stay and would absolutely come back and stay again (on points...).

Aventine

Lucky you. My breakfast bill was slightly under a $100 and they changed me for every penny.

RichardInSF

Was that your bill as one person staying in the room? Looks like the poster above you had two people in the room. If my assumptions are right, that could possibly explain it. Might be worth booking for 2 people and saying the other one would "be along later."

bworrell

Has anyone else had issues with the authorization not coming off when you have a zero balance? I had an award stay, was slightly over on the breakfast, but they nicely took it off for me. When this happens (zero bill), I often have to wait 5 days or so for it to come off instead of it disappearing when they make the final charge.

The authorization was $250 on a one-night stay. I waited 12 days and it still wasn't off.. Citibank seemed to indicate that it could take up to 30 days, so I decided to go ahead and ask the Park Hyatt to help me. The front desk spent 30 minutes on the phone with me and Citibank to have it removed... just a frustrating experience. I'm sure this is a glitch -- surely the hotel would have a way to remove it, but it seems like they didn't....

gengar

Merchants can't unilaterally remove an authorization after a certain time period (with most issuers, authorization reversals are only possible for 24hrs for CP transactions), so it's not the hotel's fault. Certainly, the FD agent would rather have reversed the transaction if possible than waste 30 minutes on the phone with Citicard.

Honestly, the best solution is to use a different card issuer. Citi is the worst with (pre)authorizations IME. SOP for them is exactly what you described: Get merchant on the phone with both consumer and Citicard customer service and then manually void the authorization. A huge pain and a huge waste of time for everyone involved.

Citi CS used to unilaterally void my authorizations after they stuck around for long enough (which shows that even Citicard agents know they are holding for unreasonably long time periods), but they changed their policy sometime last year to no longer allow that practice. After a $65k hold stuck around for something like 25 days, I escalated the issue to VP levels, which is how I got the above information. Meanwhile, AMEX and Chase never leave their holds up for more than 2-3 days, even with the same merchants and for similar authorization amounts. No resolution was achieved with the VP, so I moved all my Citi spend to AMEX/Chase.

bworrell

Thanks for the advice. I normally use Amex, so I will try to stick with them. You can have a merchant remove authorizations manually by having them call the merchant services line -- at least I don't have to be on the phone for that and they can just do it (although it sometimes takes some explaining).

Pickles

Stayed there a Saturday night a couple of weeks ago using 30K points, while the paid rate was close to $900. I've stayed at many hotels in NYC, but favor Hyatt for the obvious lock-in reasons of Lifetime Globulist. Considering the Andaz was asking for $500+ or 25K and even the ever-miserable GHNY was going for $400, I figured 30K would be a relative bargain. And besides, I had never stayed at the PHNY and was curious what the fuss is all about.

Overall, it was a decent stay, but nowhere near the caliber of other PH in Asia, Europe, or even the US (I much preferred the PH DC, for which I have a soft spot). And I would have been supremely torqued if I had actually paid for my room, it certainly wasn't worth $900 a night. Arrival was uneventful, the goon at the street level asked me for my name and it was relayed upstairs so that they knew who I was. They didn't even ask for ID, which I found refreshing and unusual. I was walked to a very nice corner suite, with a separate bedroom, a huge full bathroom with glass wall facing Carnegie Hall and 57th Street, and another half bathroom. There was a huge bowl of fruit, two large Voss water bottles, and a handwritten note from Peter Roth, the GM. So far so good.

And then I asked them for a 4 PM checkout, and it was as if I asked them if I could empty the minibar of $180 Krug bottles and not pay for it, and then take a dump on the sofa from the accumulated carbon dioxide. Nous sommes désolés monsieur was the reply, we are very full this weekend. First time in I don't know how many hundreds of stays where 4 PM checkout was denied, and one of the few times when I actually needed it. I gave the man a look that pretty much told him what I thought of him and his hotel. So I asked him if I changed rooms to a lesser room could I get 4 PM checkout, and he reluctantly agreed. So there I go, moving to a smaller room, also facing 57th Street, on a higher floor. Nice and quiet. Of course, I had the fruits and waters brought up, it was a nice spread, and the manager on duty offered to comp me a lunch for my troubles (which I didn't take him up on, as I had no time). In the end, not a major issue, but if you aren't going to honor a 4 PM checkout, be upfront about it and don't assume it's not needed. If I had been walked to the smaller room right away, I wouldn't have been the wiser.

Overall, my interactions with staff at the hotel were adequate, but I couldn't shake that feeling that there was something artificial about their way of interacting. It's something very New York at high-end hotels and restaurants. Can't put my finger on it, but it's a contradictory measure of politeness, eagerness to please, inflexibility, and condescension unique to New York. It doesn't have to be that way (even in New York) but it was. There was also just a certain lack of professionalism or attention to detail which should not be present in a hotel of this caliber and price point. For example, at the breakfast, the section with the marmalade jars had only one jar (luckily it was orange, what I wanted), when the other tables had two or three. Clearly, when the table turned, it wasn't re-set completely, overlooking the condiments. Not a big deal, but the kind of service drop endemic at this hotel.

The real clincher was the pool on the 25th floor. It was disgusting. It was overrun (at the two times I was there, on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon) with annoying children and their even more annoying parents, nannies, livery car drivers, masseuses, and who knows whom else in their entourages. Obviously the hotel can't really help the clientele, but the place was a mess. Every one of the lounge chairs and sofas in the pool area was covered in used towels, empty water bottles, and misaligned pillows, with nary a clean towel to be seen. Or a pool staffer, for that matter, except for the "lifeguard" who spent the whole time staring at her smartphone. The locker rooms were no better, looked like they had been used to dismember cattle carcasses and then rinsed down with a power spray hose. It was almost as bad as the 92nd Street Y pool locker rooms, and that's saying something. The only worse hotel pool I've seen (besides those at Florida roadside motels or at Israeli beach resorts) was at the Ritz Carlton Hong Kong, and at least that one has a view and a great outdoor deck for hanging out.

So all-in, a very illuminating experience. For 30K points where the alternative was 25K or $500 at the Andaz, it was a decent deal. On a paid rate, and compared to what this hotel could be (and should be, actually) this place is a frustrating ripoff.

MarkOK

Nice review! It really seems altogether from this thread that if one thing defines this place, it is perhaps inconsistency in treatment with an overall tough attitude to provide benefits with regards to late check outs and upgrades to globalist (i.e. usually just to slightly better rooms, it seems very rare that people here report getting into one of their many true suites). The breakfast thing is just bonkers-- half the people get charged for overages while others get everything waived. Whose to make sense of that. And now to pile on the side of those of use that think this hotel as rather stingy -- I didn't mention it in my review above, but when I checked out, they said I had minibar charges for two items -- I told them that was incorrect, I only should have a charge for a different item which would be about the same price anyways, they said they would 'investigate', and three days later I got charged for the one item I told them about and no refund for the 2 items that never left the minibar. I was so busy with work the month after, that I didn't write them back about it, but now in hindsight it makes me rather irritated that I got charged incorrectly $30 from the minibar. It seems uncouth to complain about it now (1 and half months later). How does one even form that complaint after the fact lest we take time stamped photos of the minibar upon checkout.

As I stated in my review above, the pool and locker rooms were absolutely in top-notch shape during my stay. Really, that was the key thing that makes me think this place is worth the extra 5,000 pt to the andaz's. I did get late check-out, but they made me ask for it during the morning of. Funnily enough, I had the same problem with jellies not being consistently stocked (though, when I reached to the empty table next to me one morning to investigate the jellies there because I only had 1 at my table, the waiter quickly came over and basically begged me to ask him to bring whatever jelly I wanted, I wanted the blood orange -- my favorite and not commonly seen -- and he brought three of them within a minute. I didn't know if bringing me so many was just over-eagerness in a nice way, or passive-aggressive way for catching me rummaging through jellies on another table like a brute).

"it's a contradictory measure of politeness, eagerness to please, inflexibility, and condescension" I would say the same about European fine hotels and dining.

joe_miami

There's still no "subject to availability" limitation on late checkout for Globalists at non-resorts, right?

I like PHNY but I feel like I'll always be underwhelmed there. That little ground-level "lobby" with the podium just doesn't feel like the grand entrance one expects at a $500+/night hotel. And it's a shame, because the property otherwise is beautiful.

MarkOK

That is the overall consensus of the FT board according to a recent thread.

krispykrme

CloudCoder

If these special services are not offered, ask for them. Otherwise, you won't get the full PHNY experience:

• Confirmed suite upgrade, downgraded at checkin.
• A room whose only view is a brick wall of the adjacent building.
• $250 per night hold on your credit card for "incidentals".
• A stern admonishment that water and coffee are free, and that if you even _touch_ anything else in the room, you will be charged. Then they leave a bowl of fruit, just to see if you were listening.
• Complete freedom to choose anything you want at breakfast, as long as it is the one single cheapest meal on the menu, with a stern admonishment that you will be promptly and fully charged for any overage.
• 4 pm checkout ... but your room key stops working at 12 noon. When you go to get the key reprogrammed, a stern warning that if you stay even one minute past 4 pm, you will be charged for a second night.

If you enjoy stern warnings from hotel desk clerks and waitstaff, then you'll have a great time at PHNY.