The Renwick Hotel — Hotel in New York

Hey, if you’re planning a trip to New York City and you’re not sure where to stay, I highly recommend the Renwick on East 40th! I chose this particular hotel on the United Chase travel website and I immediately was attracted to the fact that the Renwick is an Art Deco boutique hotel decorated with a theme based on the writers and artists whose studios were located in this building in the roaring 1920’s… guys like Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald. Suffice to say, this place is colorful, interesting, and refreshing! This is not your standard (boring)chain hotel with impersonal front desk personnel!

Let me tell you about our first impression of the Renwick… we got out of the Uber, and saw the entrance to the hotel, which was impeccably clean, including the glass doors of the lobby. There are steps to get down to the lobby for anyone who may be mobility impaired, fyi. We were immediately greeted with such joy and positivity by Peter and Julie at the front desk. We had been traveling since quite early in the morning and they actually checked us in early into a fantastic room. You know, many of the hotel rooms in New York feel so tiny; however, I never felt like I was in a tiny hotel in New York. The room felt spacious and light-filled. There was art everywhere, in the lobby, in the rooms. In fact, the shade over the spacious window had a painting of a New York skyline. Very creative!

Let’s talk about the bed. That can make or break a trip. We had a king size bed in room 1111. We slept like rocks! Seriously, the bed was great, and so were the pillows. We did not watch television. We had plenty of space to hang items in a small closet, and there were drawers to store other clothing. I will say it would be great to have more than 3 clothes hangers and I’m sure they would’ve provided those had we asked. If you are coming with clothing that needs to be hung, you might want to let them know right away that you need more hangers.

We came and went easily from many places in every direction and the Renwick’s location was excellent! The Grand Central Station is literally just down the block and to the right, and locations such as the Empire State building, and the New York City public library are just a few blocks away. We Ubered many places, including Central Park, and down to the 911 Memorial.

The whole area in general is very clean, feels unrushed, and not at all like the sidewalks and activity around Times Square or just south of Central Park. This area is a beautiful gem in New York City, and it’s definitely where I’ll be staying in the future when I visit.

We got to know other staff while we stayed there for three days. I want to give shout out to Ronaldo and Myra, who were equally as warm and friendly as Peter and Julie at the desk.

As a Midwesterner visiting New York City, and one who has traveled the world, I have to say that I felt the warmth and friendliness of this hotel to be very Midwestern. I mean that in the most positive of ways. When you travel, you want to feel connected to people that you’re meeting … at least I do….I did feel connected to them, so positively that hands-down, I will return to the Renwick next time I visit.

Thank you for an lovely experience during this quick trip to New York City. I hope to see you again...

I really wanted to be able to write a glowing review because there were so many great things about The Renwick: The location (it's close to Grand Central and some popular food spots) and the rooms (clean and quite large for NYC, especially the bathroom) were so great!||But the hotel bar is a problem: the music is VERY loud. We stayed in room 203--street-facing, just above the bar entrance and we felt every. single. beat. until 1am each of our 2 nights. In fact, if you look up reviews of the bar itself you'll notice people love its "rave" atmosphere. It's not typical NYC street noise which we were totally prepared for. ||The kicker to the whole experience is that our queries to the front desk staff were not taken seriously and we didn't feel like respected customers. When trying to establish an understanding of what to expect regarding noise, we were never given the same answer twice. ||The first night we called around 10pm asking if this noise level was typical and what time to expect it to stop: we were told to wait til midnight. At 1, we called again asking if there was a different room farther from the noise and told no. ||The next day we asked if we should be prepared for the same situation: we were told last night was an anomaly because the bar had been rented for a party. Ok, cool. ||The front desk attendant said they knocked on our door last night to offer us a new room--a knock we couldn't hear because of the music (we didn't receive a phone call) and the pillows over our heads. They assured us it wouldn't be the same that evening. ||But that evening it was just as bad. We called the front desk and were told it would end at 11:45. It didn't end until 1am. The next morning we asked what the deal was and the person said this noise level occurs nightly--it's always this way. ||So, we were told it was for a party, that it wouldn't be happening again, that it would end at 11:45, and that it is like this every night. We were just looking for a clear explanation of what to expect so we could be mentally prepared. In the end, they deducted one night of the service fee ($40)--the bare minimum discount. ||We weren't trying to make a fuss, but the runaround and overall feeling of not being heard made this a tough experience. ||If you're in a room farther up than floor 2, you might be ok. I wanted to be able recommend this because I liked a lot. But I will not be...

I really wanted to be able to write a glowing review because there were so many great things about The Renwick: The location (it's close to Grand Central and some popular food spots) and the rooms (clean and quite large for NYC, especially the bathroom) were so great!

But the hotel bar is a problem: the music is VERY loud. We stayed in room 203--street-facing, just above the bar entrance and we felt every. single. beat. until 1am each of our 2 nights. In fact, if you look up reviews of the bar itself you'll notice people love its "rave" atmosphere. It's not typical NYC street noise which we were totally prepared for.

The kicker to the whole experience is that our queries to the front desk staff were not taken seriously and we didn't feel like respected customers. When trying to establish an understanding of what to expect regarding noise, we were never given the same answer twice.

The first night we called around 10pm asking if this noise level was typical and what time to expect it to stop: we were told to wait til midnight. At 1, we called again asking if there was a different room farther from the noise and told no.

The next day we asked if we should be prepared for the same situation: we were told last night was an anomaly because the bar had been rented for a party. Ok, cool.

The front desk attendant said they knocked on our door last night to offer us a new room--a knock we couldn't hear because of the music (we didn't receive a phone call) and the pillows over our heads. They assured us it wouldn't be the same that evening.

But that evening it was just as bad. We called the front desk and were told it would end at 11:45. It didn't end until 1am. The next morning we asked what the deal was and the person said this noise level occurs nightly--it's always this way.

So, we were told it was for a party, that it wouldn't be happening again, that it would end at 11:45, and that it is like this every night. We were just looking for a clear explanation of what to expect so we could be mentally prepared. In the end, they deducted one night of the service fee ($40)--the bare minimum discount.

We weren't trying to make a fuss, but the runaround and overall feeling of not being heard made this a tough experience.

If you're in a room farther up than floor 2, you might be ok. I wanted to be able recommend this because I liked a lot. But I will not be...