The William Vale

Very disappointed — not family-friendly We had high hopes for The William Vale, but unfortunately, our experience was disappointing. One major issue: kids are only allowed in the pool until 12 PM. For a family visiting New York on vacation, this was a huge letdown. Limiting children’s access to the pool during peak daytime hours makes it clear this hotel isn’t truly family-friendly. We’ve stayed at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge on previous trips and will continue to return there. Not only are the views phenomenal, but the pool hours for families extend until 6:30 PM, making it a far better experience for those traveling with children. Regretfully, The William Vale missed the mark for us.

We stayed on a Monday night in July in a deluxe corner suite with a wrap around balcony for a celebratory “staycation.” We had an okay time, however I don’t think the experience lived up to the price point. Let’s start with the good: The room was clean and the accommodations were nice; The balcony was lovely with a view of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building; The Le Labo products are a nice touch; The bathtub was spectacular and the highlight of the stay. What could be improved upon: The couch was hollow with no cushion; It wasn’t really a suite as much as one large room with a bathroom in the center, which didn’t allow for much privacy; While the bed itself was comfortable, the bedding was kind of cheap (why are hotels skimping on top sheets nowadays??) and didn’t allow for temperature regulation- we kept having to adjust the room temp to deal; It rained and when it stopped, we called down to ask for dry cushions to sit on the balcony we were told that wasn’t possible; The check in process could have been more accommodating- they told us we would have to go to a number of different floors to make reservations for their facilities (why couldn’t the concierge do it there as we were checking in? Every hotel I’ve been to does it this way…) This felt overly complicated and we didn’t end up making reservations at the pool or the rooftop bar and we likely would have had it been more straightforward; The most egregious thing, though, was they had music playing all night long in the atrium directly below us and we didn’t sleep well - obviously it’s a city and noises happen but this was caused by the hotel itself, was unrelenting, and is utterly unacceptable. It was overall fine, nothing horrible (except the music maybe), but for the price point I do expect things to be more luxe. I probably wouldn’t go back or recommend to anyone.

Awful service. Not well maintained. Management doesn’t care. Avoid this hotel at all costs. Absurd prices for the way that they treat you. Apparently the property was bought by new management last year, so most of the good reviews giving it a high rating are from the past.

Terrible service. I've been trying to call the front desk/operator repeatedly for two days; I've left voicemails; and no one ever responds. One time I did finally get to talk to a human, and she asked for my name to look up my reservation. She went silent for a few seconds and then the call disconnected. No call back. It's absolutely insane that a full service, expensive hotel cannot even answer the phone. I am cancelling my reservation.

Terrible experience. I just stayed there with 3 suites to get ready for my wedding at a nearby venue. At the price of these suites, I expected luxury in both the hotel experience and the rooms themselves. First, the elevators were not only extremely slow (they only use 2 of 4 which is odd), but they were buggy and buttons in lobby didnt work half the time, then once in it the key card was finnicky. That aside, one of the glass panels in the balcony was shattered, which is extremely dangerous on a high floor. Then most of the light switches in the room did not function. The shower knob in one room required two hands to heave ho to turn on and in another room kept switching cold and hot. The third room didnt get coffee service refreshed. The bedroom tv didnt work just the living room. Just would have expected things tip top shape for the cost of stay and the star rating of the hotel.