Omni Berkshire Place — Hotel in New York

I don't try to be overly negative with reviews but my experience here was very poor. My girlfriend and I tried to check in early at 2:30, we were tired from going around the city and we had a meet up with a friend at 4 that we needed to attend. The front desk associate told us that they would text us when the room was available. This was totally understandable and fair. Check in isn't until 3. 3 came around and they still didn't have anything. We had to visit the desk two more times to get updates, finally getting our keys at around 3:40. We had to cancel with our friend. Patricia the front desk staff told us that we would receive a complimentary bottle of wine and fruit when we arrived back later at 11:30 pm.

The room itself was very nice. Had a poor view overall but the bed was soft and luxurious, the room clean, and the shower hot. It was a small king deluxe room which seems to be the generic king room for the hotel, but it satisfied us.

We came back from our journey at around 11 pm and were waiting to receive our amenity. When 11:30 rolled around I called the front desk and asked about the status of the amenity. She told me that she was checking with the manager and would send it right up. After around 15 more minutes of waiting I called and asked to speak to the manager. She said that he would call me back in 5 minutes. 8 minutes later I called again and finally was able to speak to the manager named Patrick. I explained the situation to him and he said that the note on our room was not put in and that he had to rush them preparing the wine and fruit. I told him that I appreciate his transparency, but my issue with the hotel now is not because the physical features of the hotel are wrong or bad, my issue is that the staff doesn't seem like they can keep a promise. I told him that we were ready for bed, but he said that it should be up to our room shortly. He also stated that he would try to alleviate this error by comping us breakfast the next morning. A little after 12 I called again to speak to the manager and received his voice mail. I clarified that we were still waiting and wanted the wine and fruit. We waited till 1 am before sleeping.

The next morning we woke up and went down for breakfast. I told the associate at the front desk that we had never received our amenity. He apologized and handed us two more drink tickets to the bar. The associate also assured us that we could order whatever we wanted for breakfast and that it would be covered by the breakfast ticket. Unfortunately I am not sure if the front desk associate knew what he was talking about regarding breakfast because the tickets would only cover cost up to a certain meal on the menu ($28). After explaining the situation to the restaurant manager. He understood that we received the wrong information from the hotel but was happy to let me receive my meal anyways.

At checkout a front desk asked me how my stay was. I told him that I was really disappointed and had a negative experience because of all the confusion and broken promises I received from the hotel. The associate that was checking us out told me that someone from Omni would be in touch to try and take down my concerns, and I hope they do.

I didn't need free drinks, I didn't need a bottle of wine, and I don't need free breakfast. Those are awesome, great benefits to staying, and it did help brighten my mood. All I wanted was to be treated like a person, like a real customer. I understand that humans are imperfect, and I understand that organizing a large staff on individuals in a hotel can be challenging at times, but the Omni failed for my stay. I didn't feel respected, I didn't feel like my time was valued, I didn't feel like my concerns were listened to, and I didn't feel like they were actually going to change the way they were doing things. And that is the problem with all of this. Because if it has happened to me, it can happen to...

I have mixed reviews about this hotel. As an Omni hotel I was expecting more. While a majority of the staff was very kind and helpful, there was one front desk employee who appeared to come off as judgemental/looked down on others if they didn't look or dress a certain way, but it could have just been his personality. The hotel is beautiful, but dated, the older elevators are nice and the location is great, but does not have a lot of food options right there, maybe two or three. Here is where they lost stars from me: 1. They tried to upsell me to check in earlier by charging me more for a "better room." I never have had this experience in NY, Boston, or any other big city, and personally I do not like it. I am not buying a car, I chose what I chose for a reason. It makes me feel like they are required to upsell for quotas or commissions and I don't like that for the enployees if so. Pay them a livable wage and don't make it into a sales position if this is the case. As stated, people choose what they choose for a reason. 2. The toilet was clogged the first time we tried to use it not even ten minutes after we arrived and got the room. They did send someone up to fix it, but if the toilet is properly being cleaned it would be flushed and this should have been found during cleaning. 3. The room was covered in dust. Mostly on the radiators and shelving. See a couple examples below. 4. There were black stains all over bed sheets and towels. There also was no flat sheet, just a flimsy comforter with a thin white cover on it that I am not sure is regularly cleaned. 5. And my biggest qualm is they charge a daily destination fee (over $40 a day) that only includes two bottles of water a day, " 'free' premium wifi," and use of the gym. We only got our two bottles of water once during our four night stay after having to ask, and never saw anymore again. The " 'free' premium wifi" was shotty at best, and the gym was pretty basic. I did bring all of this to the attention of the front desk staff with only an, "I'm sorry, I hope you eill stay with us again." If you are going to charge a daily destination fee all the services for that fee should be provided with no issues, fixed, or the destination fee for each day should be refunded (this wasn't offered at all). Plenty of other hotels in New York had cheaper fees with better offers, or the same fees that offered more, like breakfast credits, ebike rentals, etc.

Take this how you may, maybe I unfortunately had a fluke experience (even though the internet issue seemed to be common as I overheard staff), but I do not think the value is there in what they charge, which is an exorbent amount for such miniscule amenities (and also expecting tips, which my previous hotel in Boston did NOT expect and even told us not to tip as the staff was paid well above a livable wage, also offered more amenities, and friendlier staff, etc.)

Overall. I probably would not go back to the Omni in NY. With the dusty and dated rooms, unwillingness to resolve issues and just offer an emotionless apology, I do think money talks here more than customer service. I prefer to spend my money where customer service is at a premium with...

I was a little hesitant to stay here due to some of the reviews, but I'm glad I didn't listen to them. This hotel is beautiful and the location is fantastic! This was my first time in NYC, and though I have traveled extensively outside the US, I was excited to finally visit NYC and had high expectations. NYC did not disappoint and neither did the Omni. The Omni is in a great location in Manhattan. It is a 5-minute walk from Saks 5th Avenue and Saint Patrick's Cathedral, 8 minutes to Rockefeller Center/Tree and FAO Schwartz, 10 minutes to Radio City Music Hall, and not much further (for us 13 mintues) to our Broadway show theater. It is also a short walk to Central Park with lots of wonderful shop windows to look at on your walk to the park. The hotel itself has such wonderful and friendly staff. It is beautifully decorated for the holiday season and the rooms are spacious (I was happily surpsied about this) and clean. Not only that but the area the hotel is in in safe and clean, and there is always staff present no matter what time or day you arrive. As our flight arrived early, we had to check our bags - which was super easy to do, and unlike some hotels I saw in NYC, they do NOT charge you to check your bags before and/or after you check-in/check-out. A feature I really liked is that to use the elevator you have to have a working room key and the sidewalk in front of the hotel has an overhang that has heating in it. That may seem like a weird detail to add, but it was COLD in mid-December in NYC, and even raining one day, and having that heating element there while waiting for a taxi was such a nice and welcome feature. We paid to have a higher room floor, and were placed on the 9th floor. Though I hated that we had to pay, I'm glad we did because we were high enough that the noise from the street did not bother us. I can see how on lower floors it may be harder to sleep due to normal busy NYC traffic and noise, so that may be something to think about when booking. Though the price was high, it wasn't much higher than other hotels in the area that were not nearly as impressive as the Omni, and did not have as great of a location. NYC in december is expensive, no doubt about it, but I feel that the Omni was worth the expense. We will definilty be back to this hotel next time...