Lotte New York Palace & The Towers

We stayed at Lotte New York Palace in The Towers on the 49th floor. I really wanted to love this hotel. The property itself is gorgeous, the location is fantastic, and our view was spectacular. Carolyn, who checked us in, was wonderful and gave us a great first impression. Unfortunately, that is where the five-star experience ended. We paid extra to upgrade to The Towers, so our expectations were understandably high. When we entered our room, one of the first things we noticed was a very large reddish-brown stain on the bench at the foot of the bed that appeared to be blood. Even worse, it was still wet. There were also stains on the carpet and nightstand. We immediately reported it. The front desk manager said someone would come up, then housekeeping called asking what was wrong. When we explained that the stain was also wet, the response from housekeeping was, “Well yeah, because we tried to clean it.” The tone was incredibly dismissive for what was already a pretty disturbing situation. We were told someone would take care of it. We had been traveling all day, so we went to dinner for a few hours expecting the problem to be resolved when we returned. Nothing had been done. We eventually had to go downstairs ourselves and ask again before the bench was finally replaced. Even the interaction with the housekeeper who replaced it was unpleasant. Unfortunately, the service issues continued. One of the benefits advertised for Towers guests is the complimentary house car. We reserved it for a specific time to take us to a Broadway show. When we came downstairs at our scheduled time, there was no car. Valet told us they had not seen the person managing the house cars all day. After calling him, they told us he was still 10 to 20 minutes away and suggested we take the subway instead. We missed our Broadway show. Then came checkout. We booked through Amex and asked about our 4 p.m. late checkout at check-in. We were told to confirm it on our final morning and were led to believe it should not be an issue. We followed those instructions and were then told our room had been reserved for another guest and the latest they could offer was 1 p.m. What made absolutely no sense was that another employee then told us we could remain in the same room if we paid for an entire additional night. If our specific room was already reserved for another arriving guest, I am not sure how paying for another night would suddenly make it available. That interaction really summed up the stay. There is a lot to love about Lotte New York Palace. The building is beautiful. The location is excellent. The Towers room itself was beautiful, and the view from the 49th floor was incredible. There were also a few genuinely pleasant employees, especially Carolyn. But a five-star hotel cannot rely on its building and location alone. At this level and price point, cleanliness, hospitality, reliability, professionalism, and how problems are handled are just as important. Finding what appeared to be a wet blood stain in our upgraded Towers room, having to repeatedly follow up to get it removed, encountering rude and dismissive staff, having a reserved house car fail to appear, missing our Broadway show, and then dealing with contradictory explanations at checkout is simply not a five-star experience. If your priority is a beautiful historic hotel, a great Midtown location, and an incredible view, there is plenty to like here. If you are paying Lotte New York Palace prices because you expect the service that should accompany a five-star hotel, I would look elsewhere. Beautiful property. Excellent location. Spectacular view. Service that fell far below the standard being advertised.

Our room attendant Sheinahdiah was amazing and went above and beyond!

The absolute best place to stay in New York City! Not only were the accommodations, top-notch, but the team at the Lotte New York Palace were exceptional. A special mention for Anna-Marie Reiber. She was the Towers guest service agent and was such a delight. She was kind and went above and beyond all of us, including our three boys before we headed to upstate New York. She made our stay so memorable and we promise to stay at the hotel again on our next visit up to the city soon! Thank you so much, Lotte New York Palace. -Frank

Clara provided excellent service during my stay. She was friendly, welcoming, and took the time to explain the amenities and services available to guests. Even though the lobby was busy, she remained professional and made sure all of my questions were answered. I really appreciated her kindness and helpfulness. Thank you, Clara!

First time staying at the Palace and I don’t think we’ll stay anywhere else now on our trips to NYC! Great location, walking distance to so many places, but the best was the service. Especially the concierge desk. Diego and Christian were excellent. Diego asked great questions about our dinner requests and then customized his recommendations based on our feedback. We communicated over the phone and text leading up to our trip. He was super responsive. We had 2 of the best dinners we’ve ever had in NYC thanks to his assistance. We’ll come back to the hotel and trust Diego with our plans again.