The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel

There are “hotel people” and Air BnB people. We are definitely hotel people, especially iconic hotels like the Carlyle, which is Rosewood branded. We have been fortunate to stay at top hotels around the world, like The Imperial Hotel in Vienna, the Peninsula in Paris and Bangkok, and Four Seasons around the globe, among many others. Our initial impression of the Carlyle was unfortunately not great, due to the lady at the front desk. She was not friendly, and failed to note any of our benefits, which I heard her later reciting to other guests (your room includes free breakfast, a $100 hotel credit, etc). She also could not apparently run my credit card, as they contacted me twice more to “please come to front desk at your earliest opportunity, we don’t have a credit card on file for you” bs. I notified their guest experience person in advance that we were celebrating a wedding anniversary during our stay. At other hotels around the world, they always do something special. At the Peninsula, it was a fabulous meal. At the Imperial, it was a nice bottle of champagne and strawberries. Like that. However, our day came and went at the Carlyle without a word, not even a note. When the guest experience desk contacted me later to inquire as to our stay, I was honest and informed them of our disappointment. Lea, to her credit, did everything possible to “turn this trip around”, as she said. Complimentary champagne, $100 room credit, chocolates, etc. She is certainly a credit to the hotel. So we actually did have an enjoyable experience. She also provided us with a free room service breakfast, though our room, (1108), is actually too small for room service. There is no place for the breakfast cart, so we sat on the bed. The delivery guy had a hard time navigating the cart through the room, it is very small. We did have a peek of Central Park through our window, though we would have loved a higher floor for a more sweeping view. This was my wife’s first visit ever to NYC, so I wanted to make it really special for her. Would we stay at the Carlyle again? Maybe. I do have Lea’s contact info, so if I arranged with her beforehand I’m sure it would be a smoother experience. I would say that overall the service, while friendly, is not up to the standards of other 5 star hotels. For example, at the Four Seasons, if you have a charging cord for your phone or whatever, they wrap it up in a little leather thing to eliminate a lot of trailing wires. Not a big deal, and not expensive for them, but what a nice touch. Also, and I admit we are totally spoiled, we love a bidet. Housekeeping failed to replenish our body lotion and we had to call down for that. There was not a room service menu in our room, and when I went to call the front desk, our phone didn’t work. That’s the kind of stuff that separates the best hotels, so the service here could definitely be improved upon.

I booked The Carlyle hoping for a bit of that old world New York charm I keep hearing about. The location puts you right where you want to be on the Upper East Side, and the lobby feels intimate rather than cavernous like some of the midtown giants. It really leans into that small boutique hotel energy which I tend to prefer over the massive chains. The biggest surprise for me was the room size. Anyone who spends time in Manhattan knows you usually have to step over your suitcase to get to the bathroom, but here I actually had floor space to spare. It felt spacious and properly upscale. The staff were solid too. They were friendly and quick to help when I needed extra towels, managing to be attentive without being annoying. I have to be honest about the value though. It is steep. You are definitely paying a premium for the history and the zip code. While the room was comfortable and the service was good, I found myself wondering if it was truly worth the high nightly rate. It is a very nice place to rest your head, but do not expect it to revolutionize your idea of luxury for that price. It gets the job done with style, just know you are paying for the reputation.

When we stayed here a year ago, it was perfection. So much so that we wanted to come back again this year to celebrate a birthday. Now, we paid a hefty price tag per night for this reservation (7k+). I booked our room months in advance through FHR. I booked the same room category we had before, the two bedroom premiere suite. However, upon check in this time, it was not even remotely close to the same suite as last year. Last year we had a beautiful view overlooking Central Park. This year, this suite overlooked an alley. The ceilings were extremely low. There was no dining table even though the online description boasts of all suites in this category having one. There was a small nook table that had chairs covered in stains and food. The bathrooms looked like motel bathrooms. Online it shows beautiful Calcutta marble bathrooms - ours were this old, green dingy tile. The sink was basically on top of the toilet. There was hair all over the bathtubs. This looked like an overflow room, or a hospitality suite. This was NOT what I had booked. When we had checked in, we had inquired about the FHR upgrade, but the front desk person told us “ we had the best room in the hotel.” Why lie? It was clear they had overbooked and put us in the overflow suite. After waiting a few hours, we finally connected with the hotel manager. She told us that all suites are individually privately owned and they all look different. The online photo representation of this suite category is NOT representative of each suite. That is blatant misrepresentation. How is that even legal to do that? She told us that they were fully committed for that evening, but could move us to a different suite the next day for a “complimentary upgrade.” It was also clear that the hotel was severely understaffed. To call a bellman the next day to move rooms took quite a long time. The next night in our new suite we ordered room service. There was a dining table immediately next to the front door. My daughter opened the door and asked him to put it on the table. I came over shortly after, and the delivery person was tapping his watch and said “we are very busy downstairs, I don’t have time for this.” Time for what? I’m so sorry I inconvenienced you by making a room service order? That night we noticed our new suite was chilly around 67 degrees and dropping. We kept trying to use the thermostats but nothing happened. The next day we called and I think around 4 engineers came to our room. The first three all said they didn’t know how the heating system worked in this hotel and offered to bring space heaters. It wasn’t until the last engineer came that we were told that the thermostats in the suites do not work for heating. The heating has to be done remotely from the basement in the hotel and it didn’t work. There are other reviews that notate this as well, going back a few months ago. I’m not sure how you charge these nightly rates and have a 5 star property but cannot get the furnace in your hotel’s basement fixed. How does that work? The day of check out, we had had the concierge arrange a car for us. I had requested a bellman be at our room at 2:20 to help with bags. The car was supposed to be there at 2:30. At 2:30, no bellman had arrived yet. At 2:35, we were waiting for an elevator so we could just go, when they finally arrived. We get downstairs and our car is still not there. It’s now 2:45 and where is our car? We ask the concierge and you could tell they’re totally over us. The feeling was mutual. Finally close to 3pm our car arrives. The traffic to the airport keeps going up and up. It took close to 2 hours to get to the airport. Because of the delay, we missed our flight. I did ask the hotel to reimburse us for the car service, but of course I never heard back. I do think this hotel is an amazing, historical property, but unfortunately due to lack of proper management and the deceit with the suites, I would never come back. It rubs me the wrong way all of the things that transpired during our stay.

Not really impressed by this hotel. We had to wait a long time for our room past the 3pm check in time and they were not honest or did not know when our room would be ready. There is no lobby to hang out in. There is a popular bar that is filled with non-hotel guests. The restaurants are the same and are filled with non-hotel guests. I would not call it a five star hotel. We did eat at the main restaurant for dinner and the food was of a good quality. What is missing is the ability to relax at the hotel as a guess in any public area.

Just back from a weekend stay at the Carlyle. My husband organized the stay and wanted me to in complete surprise mode. Upon our arrival we hit a snag with the arrival dates After lengthy phones and assistance by AJ at the front desk, all worked out. The room was upgraded to a king suite. The view was spectacular. We were treated to cocktails as we waited. The next day was in fact my birthday and I couldn’t have asked for a better day. The comfort of the bed the Frette bathrobes and DS Durga products started my day off right. The evening was spectacular as we had a seat near the piano at Bemelman’s and then Dowling’s for dinner. The staff were engaged and attentive. The food incredible and my recommendation for a great cocktail is the Bobby manhattan Thank you The Carlyle for an exceptional stay Best regards Sam Norman