The Knickerbocker — Hotel in New York

THIS HOTEL IS A SCAM! STAY AWAY!!!

I rarely write reviews online but my experience has been so bad with this hotel that I find it necessary to share it with everyone looking at this place.

I made a reservation at the Knickerbocker's through one of the online travel services for one night and I got a great rate of $70 per night with breakfast included. Just an hour before checking in and as I was on my way someone from the hotel called and informed that they cannot honor the $70 price as it was mistakenly put online and is too low. He offered a price of nearly $200 per night or my reservation would be canceled, to which I agreed given I did not have anywhere else to go on the last minute. I was checked in with an African-American reception lady and I asked her if the higher price also included breakfast, to which she said yes and confirmed my rate includes breakfast.

An hour later the hotel charged me $443 for "security deposit and resort fee." When I complained over the phone to the reception, they reported that my hotel rate did not include taxes, resort fee and security deposit.

The next morning when we went for breakfast, I requested the server for an espresso and he coldly responded that they do not serve espresso based coffee and that I had to go to the cafe in the lobby on ground floor to get an espresso if I need one. Forgetting about espresso, I went to check what kind of breakfast they were offering and given I was told my breakfast is included, I and my girlfriend grabbed a glass of orange juice, a croissant and glass of milk since there wasn't much options anyway. (The breakfast included only croissants, scrambled eggs, two types of bread, milk, orange juice, yogurt, some fruit and veggies and potatoes and that's it. The funniest breakfast I have seen in any 5 star or so called 5 star hotels!) The breakfast service was so bad that my girlfriend joked about a chic-fil-a's service being better than this so called 5 star hotel. We were still joking about the breakfast when the waiter brought an even funnier $120 bill in which we were charged $45 per person for a glass of milk and orange juice. On top of that, the waiter had included an 18% gratuity twice, yes, you read it correct TWICE and a total of 36% gratuity to the bill. When we mentioned the breakfast was included the waiter very rudely responded that if it was included we would get a refund but WE HAVE TO PAY and sign the bill. Having left with no option I paid the bill and as I was exiting the restaurant, another waiter directly ran after me and asked me to pay for breakfast to which the waiter I had paid the bill to shouted from the other corner of restaurant that I am clear to go. Very funny scene!

I reported all this to the front desk and they promised that one of the managers would contact me. An hour later one of the managers called and asked me about the situations I have had with the hotel since the previous day. After I explained everything, the manager very cold and unapologetically said that everything has been conducted from their side as per the hotel's policy and that she can't help me. When I insisted on being overcharged she without saying anything further hang up the phone and did not answer my call after.

Upon checking out I was furious and tried to talk to someone who would probably care but the front desk couldn't find a manager after calling here and there for a long while. On top of that, when I complained to the African-American reception lady who checked me in the previous day that she gave me wrong information about breakfast being included, she straightforwardly lied to my face that she did not check me in! After the failed attempts of finding a manager, one of the front desk gentleman promised me that one of the hotel managers would call me eventually after my check out. Now it has been three days since my check out & I haven't been contacted by anyone from the hotel!

The amount of unprofessionalism and carelessness towards guests I saw in this so called 5 star hotel is unparalleled to any hotel I have...

Since no one responded to my email, I’ll leave a review here. I had at stay at your hotel December 20th-24th 2023 This was the most deceiving, an inconsiderate management staff, that I’ve seen in a while within the hotel industry. Upon arrival, I checked in, I reserved what was marketed as a PREMIER CITY VIEW/ TIME SQUARE VIEW, plus another room, for those rooms I paid a nice price. I go to my room which was on the 16th floor, I was greeted by almost running into the setup in front of the elevators, only to get to my room, an see a big building that blocked the little view of TIME SQUARE. You all failed to mention that part in marketing for some reason. The room was clearly a stale room, not rented much, last result room, because you all are trying to make as much money as possible, we were also the only ones on the hallway, which was a RED FLAG, it smelled an showed, that the room clearly hadn’t been used. The walls were ruin, where you guys patched up work, and didn’t even care enough to smooth it out, the floors were so slippery, and dusty like, I literally almost fell twice on what was supposed to be hardwood floors. The couch had disgusting spots, it could’ve been anything, this is a HOTEL. It did not smell FRESH, it smelled like it hadn’t been aired out in awhile, KEEP IN MIND THIS IS YOUR BEST ROOM RIGHT? I go downstairs to front desk to let them know, this has got to be a joke, Marriot/HILTON, wouldn’t even put a customer in a room like that AT ALL!!! So for this to SUPPOSEDLY be a LUXURY HOTEL, how am I in a room like such!!!! Tobias who was the manager who told me to show him the room etc, comes up with me, an as I’m explaining, he indirectly insinuates that if I didn’t like it, I could go somewhere else. I ask him, would you want somebody to talk to you an your family like that? I even asked him, “would he stay in this room for the amount we paid, when we could’ve got a different hotel, but better view for the same amount. He clearly was annoyed and didn’t care. He kept trying to make me believe my room was the best in the hotel, WHICH WAS A BOLD FACE LIE‼️‼️‼️ Floors 13-15 and maybe 16 depending on what side of the building, are your best rooms, the odd numbers to be exact, THE CELEBRITY FLOOR, THE L SHAPE ROOMS, that actually has that TIME SQUARE VIEW, the ones where you open the doors expand the room, those type of rooms, if you all don’t comprehend what I’m saying. He says well we can find you another room, an then my 2nd room was available, they gave me a king size bed, when I rsvp for 2 queen. So, I had to go back downstairs to let them know, I want the room, I brought!!! Not, what you guys are doing as a hotel industry benefit. She went back into the computer within seconds, I had my room, so my question is why didn’t your employee do that at first?????? Why did I have to come back downstairs to request a room that was documented already in the computer????

I explained that I could pay, just give me a real view, you all had empty rooms, I know that for a fact, due to how quick my 2nd room, became available once I SPOKE UP. This most definitely felt like discrimination, I’m well aware African Americans do not usually stay at your type of hotel, unless they’re celebrities usually, and it definitely felt like we were treated LESS by your MANAGEMENT ‼️‼️‼️ I’m pretty knowledgeable of the hotel industry. I really do not appreciate how we were treated, I don’t appreciate having to downgrade, to receive a clean room apparently, or your manager giving us cheap hotel stuff to recover! AT THIS POINT, IM BEYOND WORDS, I spent my 1st day in NEW YORK, inside KNICKERBOCKER HOTEL LOBBY, when it was finished all we could do was grab something to eat, we had smaller kids, so not much late night activities for us. A whole day was gone. This was by far the worst experience at a hotel, I’ve ever had. The food here, I’ll give it 2 stars this place has gone DOWNHILL. I’ve stayed in all types of hotels all over, and this one will definitely leave memories and not GOOD ONES. This is what a $8000...

Just returned from staying here for 5 nights and was left with a great feeling of disappointment in the property as a whole. Some good elements - we had a junior suite and the room was large and had a partial view of Times Square which was cool! In room amenities from Diptyque are lovely and add a premium feel and the bed sheets / bed were super comfy and soft. This was about it in terms of feeling like a luxury hotel - this hotel is part of the Leading Hotels of the World consortium, and as I have stayed (and worked!) in many of their hotels before, this hotel really should not be part of it - it fails to meet basic LHotW standards and I feel the hotel would be far better leaving the group and positioning itself as a rather standard 4 star hotel. But since they have this badge written all over the hotel, your expectations are elevated to be similar to other leading properties such as The Hay Adams in DC or Browns Hotel in London. The service at the hotel was pretty abysmal - especially the front desk staff who were uninterested, bored and really showed no interest in talking to you / being hospitable. Basic questions at check in such as “how was your journey” or “have you stayed with us before” or “first time in NY” were missed, instead it was a very awkward and quiet check in with no care to show any interest in you as a guest. This would have been fine if I was checking into a standard Sheraton or some airport hotel, but I’ve honestly received better welcomes from The Garden Inn next door. They also have door staff that seem completely uninterested to open a door for you - which is fine, I am strong enough to open my own door, but then I feel like you should not have a doorman altogether if they will just stand their on their phone and not even say hello when you walk past them… this to me shows that managers are not training or empowering staff to feel like they want to be hospitable and love their jobs. Again if you would go to The Hay Adams in DC, you would see first hand what an amazing impression a positive, welcoming doorman can do when entering a hotel.

Housekeeping was another area for vast improvement - it seemed rushed and unfinished - dirty cups left in room, bed not made, bins were once left in the middle of the room which just seemed really odd. Again, maybe if I was staying at an Ibis this could be shrugged off as some mistake, but as a hotel which claims to be a Leading Hotel of the World, these things shouldn’t happen. We complained and did get some compensation as the manager came to look at our room and agreed it was not acceptable, but there service never really improved beyond that. The managers were friendly and welcoming, but I feel like they are lacking in giving the hotel staff the training they need.

The rooms don’t have tea or coffee facilities in them, even in a suite, which is biazzare. Again, the garden inn next door does…. So you have to call down to get these items. Each time we would call for tea bags to be replaced (they give you 2 at a time…) we would have to wait around 40 minutes for a tea bag to come to the room. A easy solution to this would be to just kit out each room with tea facilities at least and have it replenished at housekeeping, like a basic airport hotel would.

This hotel has a lot of potential but the complete lack of interest from front desk staff and the mediocre overall vibe that the hotel gives, means that I would not choose to stay here again. If you want real luxury, got to the Peninsula or The St Regis - they know what it means to be hospitable there.

Some stand out lovely staff members we did meet: Diana the concierge (she gets what it means to be hospitable, caring and genuinely interested in you as a person. Fautsa in housekeeping, who was really lovely and super friendly every time we met her in the corridors. Get more staff like them and you may be on your way to actually deserve to be part of The Leading Hotels of the World group. I think if LHW (LQA) would come with a mystery shopper now, you would...