bcosinteno

The Ritz-Carlton Nomad is offering a Complimentary upgrade at the time of booking on all STARS bookings for all rooms to the next category up to the Liberty Suite, including Club room upgrades* for stays through December 31st. This includes the normal STARS benefits including daily breakfast for two, a $100 hotel credit and welcome amenity.

ElevatorEnthusiast

Some photos of the current state of the entrance last night - nice that they took down the scaffolding a bit.

vivrant

Does this property have a pool? If so, it would be the top choice for staycations.

xexs

It seems like opening this few days?

Booked a points stay in the cheapest available during October, looking forward to it. Will be wondering how much I am paying to go into the lounge, and any chances for Titanium suites upgrade.

josephstern

This is now open, right? I just reserved for September.

Has anyone been yet?

ElevatorEnthusiast

I walked by yesterday - it was definitely open as the doorman was letting people in and the restaurant on the ground seemed hopping.

jja34-1

I stayed last week. They have been open for a few weeks. The staff was enthusiastic about welcoming guests and introducing them to a new Ritz-Carlton format. Service is a bit more casual and I was addressed by my first name at all times except when ordering room service. The public areas are quite beautiful. I did not have time to try the restaurant or bar but they looked pretty good.

I was told I was the first person to occupy my room. View of downtown was stunning. The furnishings were pretty nice and the large bathroom with a soaking tub was appreciated.

Location was great for me on this trip and I enjoyed my stay. I will be interested to see whether they can sustain the high rates. Personally I would not pick this hotel if I were paying the full market rate and would probably look at some of the luxury hotels in midtown. There are several other options nearby (including a few new ones opening up) and the area can sometimes be a bit gritty.

AdeAhmed

what rate did you pay? did they have some kind of promotional special?

jja34-1

I was on a corporate rate.

josephstern

I stayed here recently for several nights and my overall takeaway is that I wouldn't bother coming back at any prices anywhere near what they're currently charging. I know NYC hotel availability is very tight, but I just wouldn't feel good about paying these prices for the "400" square foot room that feels a lot smaller than that. For the record, I stayed on points which was a MUCH better deal than paying cash (prices for my room for my dates moved around between $1200 and $1700 per night).

Here's the room I had:

https://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotel...dtn-Floorplans

If that's 400 sq ft, then too much of it is in the bathroom. In fact, the shower is huge, which makes no sense since the rainshower, hand-held shower, faucet, and shelf are all crowded into one dark end. And it's designed with the levers behind the rain shower - I never get how designers don't see the problem with that. Raising and lowering the hand-held scrapes your knuckles against the shelf. How do they not test that out? Anyway, the key to the huge shower, I suppose, is the steam shower aspect. I never got that to work well, and there's no bench in the shower so I'm not sure how I would have enjoyed it. The toilet area is equally huge and unnecessary. The sink area is fine - not enough shelf space for my taste, but still more than plenty of hotels. The doors to the shower and toilet feel like they both open the wrong way to me. The shower especially should open in, in my estimation.

Bed was very, very comfortable. No question there. Good pillows too.

There was one chair in the room. My wife and I had a Zoom meeting while staying there, so that was pretty awkward. I suppose we could have requested another chair temporarily. I was surprised there was no desk at all.

While the finishes in the room were very nice, it just felt lacking. There was no art on the walls at all. The curtains were manually operated (pretty surprising at this price level for new NYC construction, actually). The only real style in the room was the light fixture, which I did like.

Beyond the room, we never tried the restaurant or bar. We did use the gym - fine, typical, underground gym.

Our elite recognition was what you'd expect at a Ritz: high floor, begrudging late checkout, and 1,000 Marriott points for my Titanium status. So, almost nothing at all.

Location is a weird one for me. This was pretty convenient to where we needed to be and right at the R train and reasonably close to the 1, 6, and F trains. But nothing was really right there. That's fine - I'm not sure I could really do better without being in maybe the West Village or the Lower East Side, which are what they are, in part, because they lack chain hotels. That's life around 34th and Fifth - it's just not a cozy neighborhood. But the location overall was a net positive for this trip, I'd say, even if it wasn't right in the middle of anything special.

Being more of a Hyatt person, I'd go back to the Andaz Fifth or 50 Bowery next time probably. Frankly, the locations of those two are a little less convenient for me, but for less than half the price of this place, I'd be happy at either.

Finally, we spent one night at the Langham over on Fifth and it made me realize how much of a premium there is to hotels in chains. That was less expensive, and a much larger, nicer room (if aged). I'm really trying to see a time where I stop with the hotel points and elite status that really turns out to be underwhelming and disappointing and find more good small hotels and AirBNBs and things and just stay, enjoy, and leave without any perks or points or qualifying nights or any of that.

Kacee

Looks like about 250 sq ft to me.

Yes, it's an awkward location. That's the biggest downside to the Langham (just ahead of the mediocre breakfast). I've gotten the Empire Suite at Langham for between $900-1200 per night on FHR rate - it's a gorgeous room and sounds like a much better deal than RC Nomad.

christianj

Just had a quick one night stay at the RC Nomad and I’ve left with very mixed feelings.

First off the good, the hotel is gorgeous once you walk inside. Rooms are not large but I really liked the decor. There’s some odd placement of the furnishings and the tv that I think could be improved but overall no issues here. The tv is virtually impossible to watch due to the wall it’s in. If you tilt it out, it completely blocks that side of the bed. Bathroom is in my opinion the nicest part of the room and very spacious. I got upgraded as a LT Titanium to a Manhattan room which likely is just a higher floor with a view.

Staff all personable and trying their best to please or at the very least to apologize for issues.

Now to the not so good, the location is not optimal and a bit gritty in my opinion. 28th street certainly cannot be viewed as high end and the people walking around the area were sometimes a bit suspect. Cabs are impossible to get in the street so you will likely need to walk to the next major cross street to flag one down there yourself. I heard sirens throughout the night even though my room was on the 28th floor so sound insulation leaves a lot to be desired.

Food options are a joke. I do not normally eat in hotel restaurants but last night I was tired after attending an event so I figured I would grab a bite at the hotel. That was a bust. The restaurant is a complete zoo and I can’t even imagine what it would be like on a weekend if it was like that on a Thursday evening around 9 pm. There is no chance for someone staying in the hotel to even get one seat at the bar counter in the restaurant. The lobby bar menu is so lacking that this isn’t an alternative either so you will find yourself needing to venture out again to eat.

Breakfast was a mess. First of they don’t have enough staff which can be excused due to current employment situation in the US. Food finally showed up about 30 minutes after ordering but was cold. Replace my food took another 30 minutes only after I asked for a manager. Meal was comped but that still doesn’t excuse the poor execution. Warm food is kind of a basic for restaurants and if it gets screwed up (which of course can happen) then you shouldn’t make a patron wait another 30 minutes.

So I’m summation, I like the facility but would not return due to the location and the service issues. It’s certainly not worth the rates they are asking for the rooms ($1500 for the room I had) and I honestly think there are better and less expensive options for awards (90k-106k depending on when you booked) unless you really need to be near this location.

josephstern

Interesting - that room does actually look a bit bigger and nicer than the one I had there last month. I had no tub (but probably a larger shower). I also had no corner couch - I just had a single club chair.

I'm still amazed that for what I assume to be a business hotel, there is no desk in these rooms.

rucksack

I hear ya. Especially with the devaluations.

It's one thing if you're traveling for work on an expense account. You just need a reasonably clean and quiet place to rest your head and want to get points for leisure travel.

These days if I'm traveling on my own dime, I just pick whichever option is the best value for me in the moment and that's often not Marriott.

MStrople

Stayed for the weekend recently. Nothing but good things to say. Great properly. Great location. Friendly and helpful staff. Good food and beverage. Only downside was that Bazaar not yet open - but I knew that.