The Benjamin Royal Sonesta New York

I stayed at this hotel from June 21st-22nd thinking I was going to have a pleasant experience but I was proven wrong right away. I am a Sonesta employee myself and had come in from Chicago on a very early flight around 10am. I work at the front desk at my property, so I am aware of how to go about providing quality service to my guests. This, was not professional at all. Upon arriving, I did not expect to be treated with any special adjustments, but just wanted to store my luggage while I waited for a room to be available. The guest service agent who was assisting me, I believe her name was Bella, informed me that she would put me in a queue and would call me when my room was available. I was appreciative of the help and had went out to do some exploring in the city. Hours go by, I had not received a call, so I called the hotel around 2pm just to follow up on the room. They informed me it was still not available due to them being sold out the night prior. That is understandable, therefore, I went back to the hotel due to being tired, so I could just wait in the lobby until my room was available. I was sitting in that lobby until 4pm, the front desk saw me sitting there, and so did the bell boy, but nobody let me know if my room was available at all. After hours, I then went up to the front desk myself to check in. I can understand the room being unavailable, but there is not a single possibility that 1 room in the entire 25 floor hotel, became available at exactly at 4pm. I am a platinum member, and one of the benefits is a possible early check-in, but regardless of my status I can see that there was no consideration or acknowledgement. For being one of the highest tier Sonesta hotels, this is an unfortunate representation of the brand. The room was nice, but solely due to the customer service I do not recommend staying here, and will not visit again in the future. Please reference my title, if you would like a fantastic stay in the city, I recommend the Shelburne Sonesta, they will provide exceptional service and room.

We stayed at the Benjamin Royale Sonesta for 6 nights at the end of May to celebrate our Anniversary. The hotel itself is ideally situated for a short walk to Times Square, The Empire State Building and The Rockefeller Centre. The Hotel staff were very friendly and the room was spacious for a large city hotel and kept very clean (see photos) The one thing I think it misses out on is a bar/restaurant but I knew this wasn’t an option before traveling. There are restaurants and bars close by including budget ones like McDonalds and Panda Express as well as more expensive options. A little more about the room. Bed was comfortable. Bathroom was well lit and a nice shower it had blinds on the windows which stopped you seeing what view you had but on looking out the windows were dirty so that stopped the view anyway. They also had black out blinds on the windows which to be honest were a pain one in particular was already broken when we arrived late evening I had to fiddle around to get it to work, i reported it the next day it was semi fixed but we struggled with it for the rest of our stay. There were 3 lifts that serve the floors in the hotel so you could experience a small wait time. We were on the 14th floor and they say New York is a city that never sleeps and you could hear that. Not sure why the windows allowed so much noise though but you could audibly here car horns (multiple) and emergency service sirens (multiple) I guess if you’re local it’s background noise and you soon get use to it. Finally would I stay here again….the answer is yes which should be good enough review in itself.

Amazing Service and the room was fantastic. Room are spacious and bed are comfortable, also the pillow program is a great way to give you a great night sleep. If you are traveling with kids get the Owl program for them, they will love it. Great stay and highly recommend the hotel. Good location as well.

Stayed here last week for 7 nights in a balcony suite, 2 friends, so we could make use of the sleeper-sofa and effectively have a bedroom each. The suite was spacious and very clean. The balcony was very small with only one chair so we didn't really use it. With air bnbs no longer allowed in New York, this is a good alternative in order to have a bit more space, especially having a small kitchenette, however there is no hob, just a microwave, coffee maker and fridge freezer. A toaster at least would be a great addition. There is only one mirror in the suite (apart from the bathroom) and doesn't have electric sockets next to it, fortunately I always take an extension lead...🤣 As other reviews have mentioned, the AC (particularly in living area) is very noisy and intermittently turned off during the night in the bedroom. Overall, this is an excellent hotel for a week's stay. The staff are amazing - couldn't be more helpful or polite and I would 100pc recommend this hotel for a midtown stay and wouldn't hesitate in rebooking for next trip to NY.

We had a lovely stay last week. The hotel is lovely in an ideal location. The air conditioning is very loud though. The restaurant was being refurbished while we were staying and there is no room service available. Kitchenette is room is ideal. It took us a few nights to get used to the noisy streets below but the air conditioning does drown this out. Would definitely stay again.