The Chatwal, New York

From start to finish, it was a truly wonderful experience. Beautiful property. Wonderfully located. Even though it's close to Time Square and the Theater District, we heard little outside noise. Excellent, attentive staff. Exceptional rooms. The Chatwal deserves is well-deserving of its 5-star rating.

Second stay here and we will keep coming back. It is a small boutique hotel right in the theater district, and the suites are big for New York, with spacious bathrooms too. Staff is very attentive, the way only a small hotel can be. One warning: car pickups and Ubers are slow because everything has to cross Times Square, which adds ten minutes or more to any ride. The upside is that the theaters and a lot of great restaurants are all walking distance.

Stay away from this hotel until renovations are completed. A total waste of money with no bar, lobby or restaurants. Should be a shamed for charging their current rates.

Surprisingly quiet, with an extraordinary bathroom. The complimentary breakfast was perfect, and it was the first hotel in the U.S. where I could order a salad in the morning.

Compare these experiences. My daughter left a personal item in her room at Walt Disney World. She didn't even know until WDW contacted her, said they found the item, and was sending it to her. I left my sport coat in a closet at the Chatwell. I called the desk the next day and was told "You need to go to ileftmystuff.com because if we found it, we would notify them." No interest in checking with housekeeping. Also, when I booked a 3-bderoom suite for a special occasion, I was transferred to the Hyat call center. I asked if I had a balcony and the operator looked at the room descriptions and said that the suite came with a balcony. My son called the hotel directly, earlier in the week and asked if we had a balcony and could smoke a cigar outside, and was told by the hotel "Yes." But, although we could see the balconies on the floor below, ours had none. The housekeeper was amazingly friendly and helpful when we ran into her, as were the doormen. Front desk ... meh. The rooms have incredible finishes, great bathrooms (although at least one washlet did not work) and quite spacious.