JW Marriott Essex House New York — Hotel in New York

I am sad to leave such a negative review. AVOID this hotel at all costs. I have been waiting a few weeks before leaving this review to give myself a chance to calm down and not fire off a review out of anger and frustration. And after a few weeks I still feel that if I could leave ZERO stars , I would. My husband and I arrived at the JW Marriott Essex house on Tue Aug 19th for a one night stay. This was a date night for us, as we were in town to see a broadway show. It had been several years since we had stayed at the JW Essex. In the past we stayed at this location many times and absolutely loved it. It has been several years since our last stay and we anticipated the same wonderful service and accommodations that we had experienced before. When we arrived to the valet, we were greeted by the same valet that was there years ago! He has been there forever. We remembered him and he remembered us! It was genuine and he was kind. Unfortunately, that's where the service and experience ends. As we entered the lobby we marveled at the GORGEOUS and I mean drop dead gorgeous renovations since our last stay. The lobby wow- the transformation. A new restaurant that was never there before. WOW. Onward to the check in. We were happy and smiling and excited to be here. As we approached the check in desk there were plenty of staff on hand to help. We were the only people at the check in , so it was not busy. Unfortunately we encountered Lenissa at the check in. Lenissa basically refused to tolerate our happiness and good spirits as absurd as that sounds! She had a curt demeanor and was not welcoming. We were gushing over the new renovations explaining openly to anyone standing there that we are customers from long ago and excited for our stay. Lenissa was clearly annoyed- like lets get this over with annoyed. She asked our name, we gave our info and I made the big mistake of asking if there are any upgrades available, to which she immediately said the hotel is SOLD OUT tonight, that wouldn't be possible, plus your room is ready now. Then, a coworker leaned over to her and I am not sure but i think he pointed out a possible upgrade. He then started helping a customer who arrived. Lenissa then informed us that she could do an upgrade on the 5th floor facing central park, but the room wasn't ready and it may take a bit. I conferred with my husband who was standing right next to me. We were thinking.... room ready now or wait for a view? still all the while we are smiling and happy. Lenissa rudely says what's your choice? I said we will go with the room that is ready now rather than wait but thanks for the offer! My husband says very quickly says, aww maybe central park view. Lenissa literally huffs in annoyance, a vibe , an attitude. clearly annoyed even more by us. She then looks at me sharply and says- You said your mind was made up and now it seems like its not. You need to be sure. I said --- oh so sorry! We will take the view please , and she literally says- I already checked you into that room and then undid it and put you in the regular room because that's what you wanted! ) GRUFF) . So I said, no worries!! Leave it be! we are good with the first room. No view needed. Sorry for the confusion! To which she said nothing. No smile , no gesture, nothing. Handed us the keys and abruptly directed us to the elevators. | Now...... on to the room. Our room was hot when we walked in and the thermostat was set at 72.. We lowered it to 70 and came down to the new lobby bar for a drink and some snacks , then out for a walk in central park. Upon returning , the room read 70 but felt even hotter and more humid, you could feel it from the coolness of the hallway. We lowered it to 68 thinking that would do the trick. We then went back out to do some shopping/ sight seeing. came back and the room read 68 , but was sweltering. It was nearing 4 o'clock late august sunny- that time of day where its hot. the room was not cooling down, just getting hotter. We agreed to just go down to the front desk together to let them know about this problem. We get down to the front desk and the other agent is busy with a customer and the only person available was Lenissa. We discussed amongst ourselves that she was rude and abrasive and there was no way we were going to encounter her or complain to her. No one wants confrontation on a trip, so we did not dare approach her. We looked at the time and figured we could tough it out and get dressed in the hot room and head out for our dinner and our show. We went back to the room and got ourselves ready, left our belongings there , and on our way out to dinner we stopped by the front desk again and got lucky! Lenissa was gone and there was a new person. We explained the situation about the AC not working and our attempts to continuously lower it and monitor itl This employee was nice and reasonable - just normal- what you would expect. He offered to send a repair man, we suggested just putting us in a different room ( if available) as we would be returning late and if the air wasn't working - we would not be able to sleep. He agreed and said he would switch the room- and yes good availability so no worries ( although she said the hotel was completely SOLD OUT - ha. phooey) When we returned a few hours later we were given the keys to a new room and grabbed our belongings and took them to the new room. The air in the new room was much better, breathable for sure. Overall the decor in both rooms was very tired and a little stained, dusty, etc. The window shades in both rooms were dirty with grime build up from touching them, the lamp shade stained, the wallpaper peeling in spots. We did not dine in the restaurant because we were so put off with our check in experience really bothered us and ruined our stay., Just off putting to say the least. Less than 24 hrs in a place we once loved and never wanted to leave. Now , we couldn't wait to leave and would certainly never go back. There are so many other properties to stay. If you need this location particularly , try some of the neighboring hotels around central...

Having researched extensively for months before our trip to NYC to celebrate our 30th anniversary, my husband & I ended up picking Essex House among the few reservations I made. In contention were The St. Regis, The Luxury Collection Manhattan and Langham, all within similar price ranges for our visit. We were literally tearing our heads apart one week before departure, not knowing which of these hotels to choose from. While the latter 3 offered rooms/suites which were not only larger but also more luxurious and modern than Essex House, what tipped our decision were a combination of a few factors. ||Firstly, the communication right from the beginning with the Essex House reservations team, to the very end of our stay was absolutely on point, quick, helpful and efficient. Ms. Olivia Ribbe made sure all our needs were taken care of, as far back as 6 months before our trip! Very often, communication between the central reservations team of a hotel or brand and the front desk check-in agents goes awry. We have experienced countless times when prior written requests were lost or ignored by check-in agents but not this time. She made sure we were upgraded to the best possible room, the Manhattan Suite, although we had only booked an entry room. When I saw from the Marriott app that we were upgraded to this suite, I proceeded to cancel the other three bookings. ||The other tipping point - the Executive Lounge here I read, is one of the best in the country. Coming from Asia, we are spoiled with the spread these lounges offer on this side of the world, so we prepared ourselves for a more parred down experience. However, the lounge in Essex House did not disappoint at all. Newly renovated, it delivered on all accounts. The breakfast spread every morning was wide and very substantial. We also dropped by in between hours to pick up a snack & drink and the ambience was very conducive to just spend some down time here. They also dished out a respectable evening offering with desserts to end the night!||I would say though that if we hadn't received the upgrade, we may not have chosen this hotel. Reading reviews of dated & dusty rooms, some with no views at all, no coffee machines in the room (not acceptable for a 5-star hotel nowadays), bathrooms which are tight, dirty windows, for the price range and calibre the JW name carries, being an older building, Essex House needs to upgrade if it wants to keep up. I would like to mention though that upon request, a coffee machine can be put in the room prior to arrival at no charge. So, one just has to ask. Still, why not furnish all rooms with one to keep up with the other 5-star competition?||The Suite was large and very comfortable, not exactly luxurious nor modern, housekeeping was efficient each time, and we had a city view mainly looking towards the south and a side view of Central Park. One weak point is the bathroom. For a suite this size, the main bathroom was small, with a single sink. And true to other reviews, the windows truly need a good thorough cleaning from the outside! Housekeeping always delivered, replenishing all supplies with much efficiency. ||The few times we interacted with front desk agents and concierge were pleasant, though slightly inconsistent. Some were more approachable & friendly than others, one struggled to make sense of the computer screen in front of them, and there is a slight disconnect between concierge and front desk agents with regards to items offered complimentary, also the ever mind-boggling destination fee credits.||Ultimately, one needs to review based on the price paid, and because we had secured a really decent rate for our Essex Room and subsequently received an upgrade several notches above this, we feel that our experience here was well worth it. Having said that, I am not sure if we will always return to Essex House, especially if the rates here tend to be on the higher side for dated rooms...

Very poor organisation. My wife and I booked four nights here in a 'central park view room'. We turned up a couple of hours before the 4pm check in time and were told a room was ready. Note that we did not ask for or insist on an early check-in. Unfortunaty the room we were given was, by the maid and receptionist's admission a 'partial park view'. To make matters worse it was next to the rather noisey lift shafts and had a connecting door meaning that we could hear everything from the room next door. Note that the general manager stated that they do not differentiate between partial and full park views - seems rather disingenuus - the Ritz a block or so east did when we stayed there so maybe consider them if you want to gaurentee a proper park view? They were good enough to offer a room change but not until the next day. We were told to pack our luggage and leave it in our room to be moved when the new room was ready. So we did this and came back later on in the afternoon expecting a new room. Despite three further in person visits and several fon offs, by 5.45pm the new room was still not ready (I suspect at this point nobody had bothered chasing it up). Only when my wife and I pretty much ended up shouting at staff did any action occur. Unfortunately the new key cards did not work so I had to return to reception to get new ones. Anyway, new room was good with excellent views. Unfortunaely the heavy sliding door on the bathroom did not close (and I don"t mean by an inch or two - thete was a gap of about a foot!). This was really rather degrading for someone in remission from bowel cancer. So, off down to reception again - I was assured by one of the male receptionisrs that he would phone the engineers so he went off to do this. Anyway he came back without saying anything leaving me standing around until I asked as to his progress. Only then did he say the engineers 'would be up in a few minutes' - why did he not communicate this to me instead of leaving me standing? Anyway, 30 min latter and no engineers I went down to reception again and spoke to one of the general managers who was actually quite good and spoke directly to the engineers after I had had to explain the urgency. Anyway by the time I got back up to the room the engineers were there and they were great - really apologetic and did an excellent job of a repair in a short time. In fairness the general manager crefitted our account by 150 dollars enabling us to buy drinks in the bar (seated by the restroom) whilst the door was being fixed. She also gave us free breakfasts and use of the executive lounge (althouhj we chose not to make use of these options as by this point, we didn"t have faith that we would't be charged for this. So these recompenses are something but, of a four night staycosting 3250 dollars we spent one day in a poor room and had the hassle of having to leave our luggage repackef for a day and the indignity of having to explain the urgency to fix the bathroom door before anything was done. So not great to be honest but redeemed partially by much better service by the engineers and general manager (the ladies on the "customer sevice' desk were also helpful. The problems seem to lie in a lack of willingness by some staff to chase up...