Hotel Hugo — Hotel in New York

I recently stayed at Hotel Hugo and was extremely disappointed by how rudely my family was treated. The room was aesthetically beautiful, but had an I-pod docking station alarm, a cordless phone but handset didnt work, a non-smart tv that couldn’t stream. Incredible view with amazing rooftop lounge. There are no amenities such as fitness center, swimming pool, hot tub, or vending machines.

When we checked in, we were told about complimentary cafe bevs (ie tea, coffee, cold brew and iced coffee). (That was the extent, no further instruction provided.) The Cafe is also open to the public.

The 1st night was pleasant. Next morning we wake up and call down to the front desk to ask about coffee, they transfer us to the cafe who immediately places us on hold… our call routes back to the front desk. They answer and we explain that we are still waiting to order coffee, she then rudely says well they’re probably helping other people you just need to wait! She transfers us back to the cafe. Now remember we didn’t hang up our call was transferred.! We explain to the cafe what we are looking for when a young lady interrupts us and says well what do you want 😳 She then says it’s going to take like 5-10 min, we respond no worries.

Young lady comes to the door with 4 coffees and a $40 bill…. I say I’m sorry, I was told that coffee is complimentary, she says that is only if you come to the Cafe. Understandable misunderstanding, clearly that part wasn’t explained at check in, but no big deal. We’ll go 2 the cafe.

We arrive, explained, and that same young lady says while I’m mid sentence, what do you want? 😳now I’m triggered! We give our order, she gives us 4 open cups of iced coffee that is vanilla syrup, ice, coffee and hands us a half gallon of milk and points to the sugar/lids/straws, super rude! Meanwhile we left a comment card for mgmt to read at the front desk. The girl from the front desk comes into the cafe, whispers to the barista and starts giggling; clearly they are talking about us. We were over it, and the coffee was subpar 🤣 So we leave to go shop.

Several hrs later we return & speak 2 mgmt. The manager was very understanding/ helpful! She knew we were needing to leave for the airport soon but she graciously offered us a drink on the rooftop and handed us some drink vouchers. Even wrote on them and they said good for a beverage of your choice, had an expiration date on them and were signed by her.

We go 2 the rooftop, w/vouchers in hand, bartender makes our drinks, we hand him the vouchers only for him to say you can’t use these for cocktails… 😳 we explain, he says nope, we say that the hotel manager just sent us up to make up for a bad experience, he doesn’t even offer to call her for clarity, just shuts us down saying they are only valid for beer or wine. We return 2 front desk, the mgr is not available but another lady asks us to rehash the entire story which we aren’t willing to do! She suggests another misunderstanding. We explain that they are to be expected, but RUDENESS is not! Especially when one is paying $500/night. They made excuses, then wanted to walk us back up to “get those drinks!” My niece asked to speak with the mgr & was told we could wait to speak with her. Shortly after she arrives, acknowledges us, but spends about 30 min walking to and fro b4 speaking with us. We weren’t a priority. So my niece explains and ultimately was told all they could offer was a $50 refund on a facility fee (only after vehemently denying additional drink vouchers) This stay meant a lot to my niece. After 10 yrs there she wanted to spend her last night in the city in this hotel. I’m sad that her last experience will be marked by this negative interaction.

I want to emphasize the positive aspects.The rooftop is beautiful, and the cocktails were great! There were 2 concierge that were exceptional! In addition, I feel Anaya was trying to help us and validate our frustration , and who knows maybe her hands were tied, but my hope is that maybe people will read this and remember its costs...

Hotel Hugo: A Boutique Hotel That Almost Gets It Right||The lobby is charming, and the little café offering free coffee to guests every day is a nice touch. Upon arrival, the bellman was friendly and helpful—easily the most welcoming part of the experience. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there.||Check-In & The “Great” View||At the front desk, I mentioned how excited we were and asked if there was a high-floor room with a view. The receptionist assured me our deluxe room had a great one. Excited, we headed up to the 7th floor (out of 18), only to find ourselves looking directly at the UPS driver garages. Not exactly the cityscape I had in mind.||Room Woes: Dust, Dinged-Up Furniture & The Water Bottle Debacle||The room clearly hadn’t been used in a while—dust on surfaces, worn-out furniture, and only one complimentary water bottle when two were supposed to be provided. My daughter went down to ask for the second one, and the receptionist told her, “We only provide two per day when the room is cleaned.” My daughter explained that we had only received one upon arrival, but instead of addressing it, the receptionist just kept her head down and avoided eye contact. No explanation, no apology—just silent dismissal. A housekeeper overheard and discreetly gave my daughter a bottle, which was kind but also made it clear that even small requests weren’t exactly welcomed.||Housekeeping: You Have to Ask (Repeatedly)||Stayed for five days. Had to request housekeeping three times because they don’t automatically service the room daily. And when they did, all they did was swap towels and make the bed—no dusting, no wiping. I only ever saw one housekeeper, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were short-staffed.||The Little Things That Added Up| • Slow elevator: Likely because of the popular rooftop bar, but waiting for an elevator felt like an event in itself.| • Shower design fail: The faucet is placed all the way in the back, so you have to step inside and get hit with cold water just to turn it on. Every morning became a game of “jump in, turn on, jump out, wait.”| • The noisiest sheets ever: Every time I turned over, they crinkled. No idea why, but they were loud.| • Beds & pillows: The mattress was firm, the pillows were fine, but nothing memorable.| • Closet shelves: Placed so high they were practically unusable.| • Old docking station: If you still own an iPod from the early 2000s, you’re in luck. Otherwise, useless.||A Moment That Made Me Sleep With a Chair Against the Door||One night, I accidentally walked up to the wrong room. My mistake—but what stopped me in my tracks was the door itself. The wood was cracked at the bolt, like someone had tried to force it open with a crowbar. After that, I pushed furniture against my own door before going to bed.||Rooftop Bar: Beautiful Views, But No Access||The rooftop bar offers stunning views, but every night, all the tables were reserved. The frustrating part? Many of them sat empty the entire time. So unless you had a reservation, you just had to hover awkwardly around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the view.||Hospitality? Only at 3 AM and from the Door Guys||Every single time I walked in and out of the hotel, the front desk staff didn’t acknowledge me—not a hello, not a nod, nothing. Meanwhile, the door guys? Consistently polite. The only other person who showed any hospitality was the guy working the desk at 3 AM check-out, who was actually kinder to me at that hour than anyone at the front desk had been my entire stay.||Final Straw: Murky Faucet Water||Turned on the sink, and the water came out cloudy. At that point, I was done.||Would I stay here again? No. The hotel wants to be boutique, but the worn-down rooms, indifferent service, and general lack of hospitality make it miss the mark. There are better options at this...

ZERO STARS — If I Could Rate This Hotel a 0, I Would.

Staying at Hotel Hugo in New York was one of the worst, most infuriating experiences I’ve ever had at any hotel — and I’ve traveled a lot.

After coming back from dinner, our keycard suddenly stopped working. We went to the front desk to get a new one — still didn’t work. A concierge came up with us, tried again, and finally realized the battery in the door lock had died. Instead of fixing it right away, he asked us (three women) to go sit in the lobby while he called maintenance.

We waited. And while we were there, we asked for some water. He brought ONE bottle for the THREE of us. When we asked for two more, he snatched the bottle out of my friend’s hand and said: “Water is $5 a pop,” and then walked away. Seriously?! We were shocked. Who treats guests like this?

He came back shortly after and told us, “Maintenance isn’t here.” No apology. No solution. So we asked the obvious: Can we be moved to a new room? His response? We’d have to sleep in the lobby until 7 AM. Yes — really. When we tried to talk to him further, he just completely stopped responding. Didn’t say a single word. Just stood there ignoring us like we didn’t exist.

So there we were, stuck in freezing lobby air at 3:00 AM, in our night-out clothes, calling hotels all over the area. Everything was booked. We were exhausted, freezing, angry, and stressed out, all because this hotel couldn’t be bothered to keep a door lock battery working or have someone on hand to fix it.

Eventually, we found somewhere to stay — at our own cost, including the Uber to get there. The next day when we finally got back into the room, I spoke to the manager. She initially offered us two free nights — a small gesture, but at least something. Then hours later, she went back on her word and changed it to one free night and a waived resort fee. A joke, honestly.

UPDATE She told us five times that we’d be comped for two nights. We were reassured at checkout that they would waive all the resort fees, and we were honestly relieved and grateful. We even took a close look at the invoice and everything seemed perfect—no resort fees.

Then we get home, and to our complete shock, I see two separate charges: one for the room and another for FOUR NIGHTS of resort fees. This is beyond ridiculous! After being told everything was comped, they still have the audacity to charge us for four nights, including the one where we couldn’t even stay in our room.

This is a complete scam. Expedia eats the cost for the one night we had to leave, and Hugo gets away with nothing. Absolutely infuriating!

Not to mention, during our stay, our room phone didn’t even work, so we couldn’t call the front desk for help. When we asked for something as simple as a blanket or a towel after everything we’d been through, we were told there were no extras available, which was a complete lie — we had been given one the day before, only for it to mysteriously disappear after housekeeping came. Then, even after asking, nothing was ever brought up. This hotel failed on every basic level of hospitality.

We lost a full night’s rest, missed an entire day of sightseeing, and had to pay out of pocket for another hotel and transportation — all because of their incompetence. They refused to take responsibility, offered a pathetic excuse for compensation, and treated us like an inconvenience...