The Surrey

Each time we stay at The Surrey, we love this place even more... I am a Jazz aficionado, and find that Surrey's Friday Jazz Night in The Bar Pleiades makes for mellow, relaxing chitchatting over wine and cocktails with both old, and newly found friends, as we spin up prior to launching off for some serious "Night Steaming." As I said before, for me, my signature cocktail when in Manhattan is the "Manhattan"... with an extra Maraschino Cherry.

The staff is welcoming and friendly, and eager to help. The rooms are not big, but perfectly cozy (just enough space) and seem to be individually designed and accented. We have been a couple of times and the rooms have been very different. The restaurant downstairs is excellent, the bar makes a great sazerac, and the rooftop lounge is just great. We had a wonderful time here (twice!)

Reserved a 2 bed studio suite with a friend while we were in town for the US Open. From the plush and elegant decor, to the sumptuous in room dining, we indulged in almost every luxury the hotel had to offer, including the exclusive rooftop garden and view of Upper East Side Manhattan. We were greeted with warmth and enthusiasm by Jessica at the Front Desk, and Mr. Anthony Adamo made a special effort to introduce himself and offer his business card, a professional gesture long forgotten by large, corporate brands but utterly refreshing in an independent luxury boutique hotel. We were immediately impressed. Our studio suite was every bit the luxury retreat we daydreamed about for weeks in anticipation of our stay, and we enjoyed hours of conversation as we sank into the plush arm chairs next to the fireplace and sipped on the lovely champagne that was waiting for us upon arrival. I must call out Pablo from the bell desk who helped us with our luggage and provided a fantastic overview of our suite and amenities, greeting us both professionally and with the warmth of a host welcoming old friends. Pablo delivered on the promise we expected from NYC's top rated hotel. We have stayed at quite a few 5 star hotels in NYC, and across the US, and we were delighted by the exceptional service Pablo, Jessica, and the rest of the staff provided during our stay. Superlative, welcoming, and never pretentious.

We enjoyed the room and the roof top deck. I think more food options up there would be nice, but the view is fantastic. Hotel is beautiful and the bar looks like a fun place to hang out. There is a restaurant just outside the Lobby. Location is fantastic. Walking to stores and restaurants was easy. We would definitely return.

We stayed at The Surrey for 4 nights for our recent elopement wedding to NYC. On arrival we were greeted by the very lovely Rocky and Pablo who we cannot say enough good things about. Michael, on the Concierge team was also absolutely lovely and extremely helpful answering our questions and providing assistance before we arrived. The gentleman on reception was a little surly and initially stated that we had not paid for our stay - only for us to show our voucher (as provided by Virgin Holidays) confirming our stay was indeed paid for. This sorted, we provided our credit card details should we wish to book anything to the room and were then taken to our room by Rocky - all good so far. The rooftop bar which was one of the reasons we wanted to stay here, shuts when it is raining as there is no cover - this was a little disappointing as two of the four nights we spent here had inclement weather. On our second night (the eve of our wedding) we were surprised whilst our with our wedding party by my father who, despite being 73 and slightly disabled after suffering a stroke a few years ago, decided to travel out to be able to give me away (much to everyones surprise). When we took him back to his hotel (booked through Thomas Cook and what will be a whole other matter to deal with), my husband to be and I were appalled at the state of the hotel and needed to get him into another hotel ASAP. On returning The Surrey, i was extremely upset (on the eve of my wedding) and spoke to the surly gentleman on reception about the possibility of moving my father to The Surrey. He was dealing with a business man and was far more concerned about whether he could receive some form of communication on his laptop than he was with dealing with a bride to be in tears. Hardly once giving me eye contact, we were told it would be $800 per night as 'it was fashion week' then whilst we were discussing this, he announced that the rooms were no longer available. I asked if he could recommend anywhere else close by, to which he gave us one or two options and said we could always look on Expedia. I asked if it was possible for me to use a computer, to which he said no but would give me complimentary hi speed wifi for the night. At this point it was all I could do to stop myself from imploding or worse in reception. All we wanted was help and he really didn't give a damn. We eventually spoke to other members in our party and we got my father into the Times Square Crown Plaza, who not only honoured the best rates available on the internet but gave him vouchers to have a drink in their bar and as our guests had told them the story as to why we were there, they gave us vouchers for a free cocktail - we got complimentary water at The Surrey. On the day of our wedding, another couple in our party who were also staying at The Surrey, had an issue with their pre-paid Travelex card being declined. On phoning Travelex to find out what was wrong with the card, they were told that The Surrey had not only taken the payment for the cost of their room but had also taken an additional $650 off their card. They were forced to head back to the hotel to discuss this with them. the surly gentleman was on reception and declared that the charge was for 'incidentals' should anyone book drinks/treatments/meal to their room. On asking for the manager, he proceeded to tell them that this would not be refunded until 4-5 working days after check out, that they were told about this on check in and that this was a standard policy across the work. Well, were were not told about this at check in either and having travelled all over the word and stayed in establishments such as Mandarin Oriental, One & Only, Beachcomber, Montcalm's etc in both cities and places such as the Seychelles and Maldives, we have NEVER had money taken off our card upfront prior to anything actually being charged to our rooms - this appears to be a very nice little money earner for the hotel who will constantly have a float of money. The hotel was full when we stayed so $650 + per room, refunded after a week - work that out for yourself. We were appalled. So on the whole, the hotel is very nice and located near to Central Park giving it a lovely calm feel in the middle of the city that never sleeps, some of the staff are wonderful but others leave a bad taste and take the shine off your stay - consider whether if you may require assistance whilst you are here, if you get the wrong member of staff there will be no help forthcoming and make sure you have enough money to accommodate the 'incidental' change both whilst you are there and for the 4-5 days after check out.