PHD Rooftop Lounge at Dream Downtown — Restaurant in New York

I had planned a lovely evening for myself and my family, eight of us in total, at this establishment and was looking forward to having a wonderful time there. I had family members, five of the eight total, that came to America for the first time ever that week and I wanted them to experience a piece of that famous New York nightlife.

I made a reservation for a table a week prior however, on the day of the reservation, a blizzard swept through the tri-state. As excited as we all were to still attend, it was nearly impossible to drive due to the rapidly falling snow, which only started to taper off in the early hours of the next morning. It was far too risky to travel so we sadly decided to cancel our reservation.

This review is based on my experience in trying and ultimately failing to get a refund due to circumstances that were beyond my control. After speaking to a few people, I was put in contact with Meshail, who was very gracious and understanding of my situation, but could not offer a solution to the issue. He then referred me to Michael St. Pierre, Vice President of Guest Development.

After exchanging a few emails with Mr. St. Pierre, in which I went into great detail about my situation and how I felt I should not be responsible for the charge as my family and I did not get to enjoy their services, he told me there were no refunds but offered me another date of my choosing to make up for the missed reservation. This would have been a great solution but for the fact that the five members of my family left the country a few days after the initial reservation date so there was no time to reschedule another date for the eight of us to be together, which was the whole point of the evening.

I explained that again to Mr. St. Pierre via email and he asked if I could give him a call to discuss further. When I placed a call to him, his demeanor was extremely rude, condescending and at times, combative. I explained the situation to him again and the fact that most of my party had left the country a few days later so it made no sense to reschedule a table that was already paid for eight people to a table for only three.

I told him I understood there is no refund policy in place but, if he could, in good faith, grant my request of a refund as it really was extenuating circumstances that ultimately prevented us from enjoying our evening at the establishment. Namely the blizzard and being unable to reschedule due to my family's travel plans. He responded, and I quote, "You're the cost of doing business."

I was taken aback by his sheer arrogance. At the beginning of the phone call he said, "I just wanted to talk to you on the phone to let you know that the refund won't be happening." He made no attempt at least meet me halfway or try to understand my perspective as a consumer. I am extremely disappointed for Mr. St. Pierre and also the management of this establishment. You do not treat clients that way or with the awful attitude he has shown me.

"I am the cost of doing business." Those words are still with me and for that reason alone, I will never attend any restaurants/bars/lounges belonging to Tao Group Hospitality.

That is not hospitality....

The hotel itself was great, but I was extremely disappointed by the New Year’s Eve event at PHD. We purchased "all access" tickets for the event and flew up from Miami specifically for it. After getting ready and heading to the rooftop, we discovered that the elevator to the rooftop had been shut down. We asked the front desk for guidance and were directed outside to wait in the rain in a sloped alleyway. There was no signage or any staff giving clear directions, and many people were standing outside, holding their phones with QR codes, completely confused about where to go. To make matters worse, there were three security guards outside, and instead of being professional, they were making inappropriate comments and catcalling the women. One of the guards even asked me, “Hey man, how did you get that chick?” referring to my fiancée, which was utterly disrespectful.

After waiting for some time in a disorganized line, we finally reached the door where the tickets were being scanned. To our surprise, the doorman told us we didn’t have "all access" and directed us to another area called the Gallery/Electric Room. I was also informed that we would need to purchase a $5,000 table to access the PHD rooftop. We were completely confused and ended up walking into a ballroom that looked more like a high school prom, decorated with metallic tinsel streamers. The crowd was overwhelmingly young (most likely under 21), and the music was blaring distorted house beats at an unbearable volume. At this point, we were so frustrated that we went to the lobby bar to get cocktails, even though the ticket included access to an open bar.

I then spoke with the front desk, and was told that the hotel had no control over the PHD rooftop, as it was managed by The Tao Group. This was incredibly frustrating, especially since we had planned our entire trip around the NYE event. I ended up having to purchase two additional $400 tickets online just to get up to the rooftop. Once we arrived, there was only one bartender, and we couldn’t even get a drink. The drink options were limited to well brands like New Amsterdam Vodka and Casamigos tequila, and the promised passed hors d'oeuvres were non-existent—except for one tray of shrimp, where we each got only a single shrimp.

The room was overcrowded, the bathroom lines were ridiculous, and as soon as the clock struck midnight, we decided to leave. All in all, the night cost us over $1,400 for two house liquor cocktails and two individual shrimp, not including our hotel stay and flights. This was by far the worst New Year’s Eve experience we’ve ever had. The Tao Group is a complete disappointment, and their customer service is abysmal. The Dream Hotel should seriously reconsider its partnership with Tao or at the very least provide guests with a dedicated concierge for handling PHD events. It was a terrible experience that negatively affected both the hotel...

Never in my life have I been treated with such condescension, disgust and discrimination at any establishment in New York city. It was downright embarrassing, uncalled for and really really ruined what was supposed to be a great night for my cousin who was visiting from out of town.

I made a reservation at this establishment on May 19th for Saturday May 29th and was very excited to attend as my friends and I have frequented it's sister location uptown. My friend, who arrived first was greeted with coldness by the security guard and told to wait outside in the cold. When my cousin and I arrived the security guard tried to dismiss us immediately which I thought was very strange. He looked at my email and said that I did not in fact have a reservation and that this happens all the time and we should just leave because we won't get in. I immediately asked to see the manager. I told him that the establishment at least needs to know that their system has glitches. When we went inside and tried to explain the situation instead of an immediate apology he kept cutting me off instead began to instruct us on how reservations are made. We were three adult females and this guy is explaining to us how to make a reservation in very child like terms and even went as far as acting out how to confirm with our own friend group. He told us that they should have called but they were short staffed. Then said we should have called (we did) but they have noone to answer the phone but he kept making everything our fault. All while other guests noticeably of a lighter complexion were never even stopped to be questioned about their reservation neither by the security guard nor the manager.

I asked the manager if there is anything that he could do and he immediately, while giving a slight smirk said, "We have no tables for you. Our tables start at $1500 tonight." This is when my friend said that he was racially profiling us. I didn't think it was possible but he became even more aggressive than he initially was telling my friend that he was old enough to be her father which he was not. It was clear we were already prejudged as too young and too far below the standard of this establishment to be let inside. Or at the very least, not good enough to be offered some kind of make good for our future business. He screamed at us and threatened to call the police on us for calling out his racial profiling.

I too am a restaurant professional and I have never spoken to any guest the way that we were spoken to. I will NEVER give this restaurant group my money again. This is such a shame as I have had good experiences with the...