crimson12

I have to book a large block of rooms for a longish period of time for work. My directive was to book "the nicest hotel" in the downtown area. Obviously I'd love to do this in a way that generates some points for me, if possible. Any thoughts?

My initial thought was the Ritz Battery Park. I would love to use this to bump my Hyatt status from Platinum to Diamond, but does the Andaz Wall Street crack a top-5 list of nicest hotels?

Others? There's no St. Regis down there. No Four Seasons.

Any advice? Thanks!

marklyon

Andaz Wall Street is a nice property. I don't know if they're open right now, though, or if they were closed after the Hurricane.

Here's an overview: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemil...reet-new-york/

And another: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/dealsw...street-in-nyc/

A bit of criticism: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...z-wall-street/

FlyinHawaiian

The Conrad may be an option; it's across the West Side Highway from One World Trade Center.

crimson12

Cool, thanks.

I think it's between the Ritz and the Andaz. I didn't really find any other hotels, even "unaffiliated" hotels. Surprising.

themicah

Andaz is probably the highest end in the financial district itself (although it is indeed closed until further notice while they dry it out and decontaminate it). Ritz and Conrad are nearby (Ritz is closed too, but opening again in a few days--not sure about Conrad). The Milenium Hilton isn't a bad hotel, but it's not in the same league as the Ritz or Conrad. Gild Hall is supposed to be okay. And there's a Marriott and a W in the Financial District. Many of these are probably closed right now.

Trump Soho is "downtown" but not as far downtown.

Most other "nice" downtown hotels tend to be more boutiquey/trendy and less luxury (and not way down in the Financial District): Tribeca Grand, Soho Grand, 60 Thompson, the Mercer, the Standard, etc.

sbm12

There is also a W downtown if you're into the SPG thing.

crimson12

Are all of these hotels comparable? I've only been to the Ritz, so I don't know which would be the "nicest". Would you consider all of these to be high end luxury hotels?

mktozd

Ritz on Battery Park is currently the nicest downtown property. Trump Soho is very nice, just a bit away from downtown. Depends on what location you want. Frankly, I like Trump Soho better than the Ritz. Ritz is kindof an island

Blumie

The Ritz clearly is the nicest hotel, albeit not the best location. If I were told to book the nicest hotel downtown, I wouldn't book anything other than the Ritz without specific authorization!

mktozd

Agreed, it is the safest pick, though I think not as nice of a place as it used to be.

themicah

No. As others have said, Ritz and Trump and maybe Conrad are the only ones in the group that would likely pass muster with the "Luxury Hotels" forum here on FT. Andaz, Marriott, W and Millenium Hilton merit mention only because the OP appears to be looking for points. And the Grands, Thompsons, Standards, Mercer, etc. are a very different category of hotel that are only worth looking at if the person making the request for "nice" has particular taste.

Without knowing more about what the requesting party's definitions of "nice" and "downtown," it's hard to know which is the best choice.

Landing Gear

I was at the Andaz tonight. They say it's open and the restaurants and bar will reopen on Wednesday.

RichardInSF

Yeah, but have they decontaminated the exceptionally unhelpful management at the Andaz Wall St? Lots of us on the Hyatt forum, including me, have not had great experiences there.

Landing Gear

I wouldn't know. I went in to see if the bar was open. They were very nice to me but the bar and the restaurant were closed.

tcook052

Lots of others, including me, had great experiences there and would definately recommend this hotel to the OP. Apparently YMMV.