W New York – Union Square — Hotel in New York

I hate writing negative reviews for SPG properties, and it pains me even more that I feel compelled to write one for the property that introduced me to the W brand. I first started staying at the W New York Union Square when it opened in 2004. At the time, it was the it hotel to stay in or be seen at when in NYC. I even checked in next to Steve Harwell, the singer of Smash Mouth, on one occasion (this was still a cool thing to have happen in the early/mid-2000s). After a break of several years, I was looking forward to returning to the property. Unfortunately, much like Smash Mouth, the W New York Union Square has seen better days.

My partner and I arrived at the hotel at around 11:30pm due to a flight delay, and we were really just looking forward to a hot shower and a good night's sleep in a proper bed after having been in the air for 16 hours. The lady at the check-in counter (Maria) asked if we were checking in, and for our IDs. I don't expect friendly small talk at close to midnight, but most front desk staff I have encountered at least say hello and acknowledge that my SPG number has been registered in the system. It being late and our brains being in a different time zone, we thanked Maria for the keys and took the elevator up.

When we got to the room, it looked suspiciously small. I typically check my SPG app a few days before a check-in date to see whether or not I have been given an upgrade, and I remember seeing that I had been upgraded from a Wonderful Room to a Spectacular Room. I double checked the app, and it indeed showed that I was booked in a Spectacular Room, yet it looked like we were standing in a Wonderful Room.

My suspicions were confirmed the following day by the photo gallery that plays on the elevator TV, and by the duty manager (whose name I did not get). I am not going to rant and rave over the apparent loss of an upgrade, other than to say that I had no idea it could be happen, and that it is a shame that it happened because it was a disappointment that I did not expect from a SPG property. The duty manager very kindly upgraded us to a Fantastic Suite for the remainder of our 7 night stay. While this did not assuage my disappointment, it was a generous gesture.

Unfortunately, the Fantastic Suite we were upgraded to had issues with the air-conditioning system, and the water pressure in the shower was very low. The air coming out of the air-conditioning vent was always very humid, leaving the vent ringed with condensation, and the air feeling very damp. Another quirk was that thermostat would reach the set temperature in cool mode, and then automatically switch to heat mode until it got hot enough to trigger the cool mode again.

Besides the room hiccups, would I stay here again in the near future? Unlikely.

NYC wouldn’t be the NYC we know and love without the constant blare of sirens and the sounds of construction work. However, both are still pretty annoying when you are trying to sleep off jet-lag. The W New York Union Square is an old building and, despite a recent renovation in 2013, the windows can still be opened 1-2 inches (for some of that fresh, dusty NYC air), which means that both wind and ambient noise easily get through the unsealed windows. The most glaring sound during this stay was the construction work going on at Tammany Hall, the building adjacent to the W New York Union Square, which is undergoing a full renovation where jackhammers are involved. The jackhammering starts at around 7:00am every morning. While obviously beyond the control of hotel management, this is worth taking into consideration if you value your sleep.

One thing that was within the control of hotel management, however, was the fire alarm that went off at 8:45am one morning, and continued for around 10-15 minutes, complete with an in-room loudspeaker through which a staff member announced to whoever was within earshot to “ignore all fire alarms” every few minutes. I think the construction workers at Tammany Hall heard him given the loudspeaker volume. I have no idea if the alarm was an intentional test, or whether it was triggered inadvertently; either way, it would have been nice if someone (aside from Mr. Loudspeaker) had apologized for the alarm going off, or at least explained the situation.

2 employees who deserve special mention were Jose (the bellman) and Paco (the room service attendant) who were both friendly, happy, and actually made you feel like a hotel guest as opposed to an inconvenient interaction.

One additional thing worth mentioning is that breakfast is only available via room service since the restaurant space is under separate management.

There are 20 or so other SPG properties in NYC (south of Central Park) besides the W New York Union Square. I will be going to one of them on...

Context: Business traveler, extremely Marriott-loyal (Ambassador Elite), pretty much only stays at Ws these days||I've stayed at this hotel 3 times in the last year, all for about a week each. I had never considered this property previously because I heard it was dark and in desperate need of a renovation. Well, W heard us loud and clear and they gave us that! The place is now gorgeous - the rooms, common areas, gym (one of the biggest and best). Much has been written on this, I don't need to reiterate it. ||RATING|I score hotels based on how they deliver vs. expectation. I have low expectations somewhere like a Renaissance or a Courtyard. I have high expectations for anything in the luxury horizontal: W, Edition, St Regis, etc. ||Here is where this W goes from 5 to 4: So, Marriott decided this would be the flagship W for not just North America, but GLOBALLY. This means this needs to be the most amazing W - not just from a physical standpoint - but also from a service standpoint. I cannot in good conscience give this 5 stars, when I have had better service at almost every other W I have stayed at in the last two years (London, SF, Punta Mita, Algarve, Barcelona.. maybe not Seattle, that one is kinda meh). On top of that, there is no buzz or energy at all - you walk into the lobby and it feels like a Renaissance. For the global flagship, I expected...excitement? Nice scents? Or at least a doorman? (they always seem to be missing??) ||DECEMBER: (2.5/5)|Had to fight for my life for a barely-there upgrade despite what looked like availability on the app (biggest peeve given immense loyalty), and there was no breakfast benefit because there was no restaurant, unless you count mediocre pastries and coffee downstairs. Service was also really unimpressive.||MAY: (3/5)|Someone had coordinated an upgrade on my behalf which was then given to someone else before I checked in, I was given a room with concrete covering the window and then a super noisy room on a low floor, again had really unimpressive service (people talking poorly about their other coworkers, service fragmented across Welcome Desk and Insider, toiletries missing in rooms, no one responding to my email for several days despite reaching out first). On the bright side, they partnered with Devocion for free coffee and a pastry for the Elite breakfast benefit, so that feedback was taken into account, and I loved this perk. ||AUGUST (this month): (4/5)|I spoke with both the GM (Christina) and Director of Ops (Alex). They helped me with my corporate rate and gave me the best upgrade on the highest floor - it was stunning and perfect and greatly appreciated. There were some new faces (Darina, Jessica) working who were so much friendlier and more professional than who I had encountered prior, who even found butterfly bandages for a broken nail I had (THANK YOU), and were very on top of it. And the restaurant was open for guests! But... the restaurant still had kinks to work out. Calling down to pre-order breakfast was a total disaster across reception and restaurant and I ended up being late to work, and with an incorrect order. Second day only a little better. Menu for elite breakfast is also really unimpressive compared to the other Ws listed above. ||BOTTOM LINE|If you do not care about service, you will love this place because it's gorgeous. But my other Ambassador friends/coworkers who have stayed here feel the same and prefer The Edition a couple blocks away. I remain optimistic given how each stay has been better than the last and my love for the W. ||Today, this feels like a luxury boutique instead of a full-service W - and definitely not a flagship one at that. Even little things, like really dirty mirrors in the elevator, or missing doormen at all hours when myself or others are struggling with bags, make the experience feel incomplete. I also think whoever was in charge of the reno didn't do any favors putting the bar (which I don't think is open) on another floor - the lobby Living Room bar normally adds life. ||This is a W! Maybe we don't need club music anymore, but a heartbeat...

I stayed at the W the night before my wedding and the night of my wedding. The experience was beyond horrible.

A couple of weeks before checking in, we called and spoke to a manager about having a bottle of sparkling wine placed in our room on our wedding night and then having juice brought from room service the next morning. The day we were supposed to check in, we received a voicemail from a hotel employee telling us we needed to call back to clarify our asks. When we did, we were passed among three different people, all saying with some level of rudeness or attitude that they didn't know what we were talking about. We finally spoke to a manager, who assured us that our requests would be taken care of.

When I arrived at the hotel with two bags and my wedding dress, there was no one to assist me, not even one doorman to open the two heavy front doors going into the hotel. I had to wait for another guest to exit and ask for help with the doors so I didn't damage my dress.

At the front desk, I was told my reservation could not be found. I said this was impossible because we had just spoken to a manager thirty minutes prior about our reservation. The manager overheard this and checked me in himself. He apologized for the confusion and said he was going to have a fridge with the juice we wanted brought to our room before we returned from our wedding, so that we didn't have to be disturbed the next morning. This was the fourth time we had discussed this request. Of course, no juice ever appeared at any point.

But worst of all, by far, was the treatment when we returned to the hotel after our wedding. Our keys had stopped working, so we went to the front desk to get them reactivated. While we were there asking for help, a woman behind the desk shot us a very dirty look. I asked her why she was glaring at us, and she responded by rolling her eyes and then verbally attacking us—raising her voice and trying to start an argument. I could not believe someone was treating us this way at the end of our wedding night. I was shaking and practically in tears.

We went to our room after asking her name (Tamara), and the other person from the front desk delivered two glasses of Champagne to us to apologize for Tamara's behavior. Unfortunately, they were brought to us on a dinner plate rather than a tray, and one fell and shattered glass all over our hotel room floor.

I usually stay at W Hotels about five times a year. After this experience—having someone be so incredibly rude to me on my wedding night—it will be very hard for me ever to consider the W as an option in the future.

A final note: Anyone considering staying here should bring earplugs. Even on the 17th floor, I could hear a lot of street noise. And I live in New York City, not far...