Conrad New York Downtown

My wife and I decided to spend the weekend in the city to explore many places that we haven’t done so for a long time even though we are the New Yorkers for 35 years. We chose Conrad as it is situated in a perfect spot in downtown close to World Trade Center, Winter Garden, Oculus and Wall Street. The lobby is very spacious and the receptionist is friendly. Through Amex card we have $100 credit for food and beverage. Had lunch there in the hotel and it was a blast. We ordered chicken sandwich and grilled octopus, they were delicious and probably the best chicken sandwich I ever had. The hotel decor is very modern and eye catching. We were assigned to the 14th floor facing the Hudson River and the night city skyline certainly didn’t disappoint us. Due to the weekend blizzard we checked out a bit early right after the breakfast. Talking about the breakfast, the reason I gave 4 stars not 5 was due to the fact that I think the buffet charge ($48/person) is over priced which is evident that limited customers chose this option while I was in the restaurant. However, food in general is great and the chef there deserves some credits for that. After we checked out we simply walked crossed the street to Brookfield Place which is connecting to all subway stations underground and is super convenient. We love the experience here and will definitely come back in the future.

This was our second stay at the Conrad New York Downtown, and it was just as wonderful as our first. I love having a filtered water dispenser right in the room — such a great touch. While I’m not a huge fan of the breakfast menu, everything we’ve tried from the dinner menu has been fantastic. The staff are incredibly friendly, and the service is truly impeccable — far exceeding any other hotels we’ve stayed at in NYC. A special shout-out to Ken, whom we had the pleasure of seeing on both visits. He is thoughtful, thorough, and genuinely warm, making us feel right at home every time. If you’re staying in the area, I highly recommend this hotel. You won’t be disappointed!

Weekend in the big bad NY City. Early summer calls.. there’s so much to take in and enjoy and just have a refresher from the usual, humdrum work-life in today’s America. The stay was free, again, on our Hilton Honors points ~ so THAT’s a great benefit. The Conrad NY Downtown is located in the West Side Reclamation area, just NW of the World Trade Center ~ walk to everything, as there’s plenty of public and private transportation available in the immediate surrounds. The lobby is under a towering atrium that stretches to the top of the building, with skylights from which light pours down to the lobby floor.. and dramatic, LED lighting to complement that after sunset. Our room was very spacious, set up as a suite. The room layout is linear: one enters from the corridor into the Living Space fitted with a desk and infotainment system (large TV – what else these days ?), then passes into the service area which comprises of the bath to one side and the pantry to the other, and then finally into the Bedroom space, with another TV. There was no balcony, and the widow looks out to a building across the street, while providing some scant views of the Hudson river two blocks away to the west. (And as Gold Level members of Hilton Honors we had requested a room with a view !!) Because the first space one enters is the Living area, it is located towards the inside of the building and has no window, which makes it somewhat uninviting and dark. We actually did not spend any time watching TV or having any refreshments there. The fixtures, fittings and accessories are all first class… good quality and sleek. The room was spacious by today’s standards ~ and there was the ubiquitous Hilton touch of luxury ~ a bathrobe. Nice !! … plus a compact refrigerator, high-end coffee machine, Rocean water-filtration system, but no microwave - I guess to discourage food in the rooms. The rooms are equipped with plenty of counter space for luggage to be opened up for short stays, and closet space for the longer occupants to spread into. Hilton’s beds are always very comfortable and I usually get a good night’s rest in them. Baths are large, very clean, well designed and provide all the necessary amenities. As someone who designed many hotel rooms in my early work-life, I appreciate the little extras that have been built in here. The hotel has public spaces that are spacious, comfortable and very usable – mostly located on the lower floors, along with conference and meeting rooms. However for a 5-Star property that advertises rooms at over $425/night, the restaurants are somewhat under par ~ judging from reviews on Google. We didn’t try them, preferring to eat elsewhere while out for the day/evening, so this is a comment to be judged by the reader’s own experience …. And as said before the stay was freeeee.. so more power to these memberships.

I would strongly recommend staying elsewhere. As a frequent Hilton guest who has consistently received excellent service, this weekend stay was exceptionally disappointing. Multiple unresolved issues lead to an overpriced, frustrating experience. (I should note, reviews for the Conrad on Yelp from a few days ago and from two weeks ago had very similar experiences). Room Key Malfunction: Our room keys failed repeatedly throughout the entire stay. After working once at check in, the keys became unreliable. Each time we returned to our room, the keys would glitch in the elevator, then completely fail at our door. We made countless trips to the front desk for resets, yet the keys still wouldn't work. Staff never offered to send someone up to help despite the ongoing problem. Every single room entry involved this exhausting cycle (depending on the front desk line, it typically took about 30 minutes to get into our room each time). There is no point having a nice hotel room you cannot access. $355 Overcharge: At check in, I asked if it would be possible to upgrade from one king to two queen beds. I explicitly confirmed twice that this would be complementary given my status (only brining this up because I don’t want it to be misinterpreted that I thought I would receive a free upgrade for no reason), and the front desk agent confirmed it would be free. I was then charged $355. I contacted Hilton customer service, but the issue remains unresolved (though the customer service representatives were very helpful, so I am hoping this issue will be fixed). Room Service Unavailable: We called room service Sunday afternoon, and no one answered despite the phone ringing for over 20 minutes. I had a $100 food and beverage credit that went completely unused since we could not contact room service and we were too nervous about leaving the room and again having issues with getting back in and possibly missing our flights. Front Desk Service Failure: Since we were unable to reach room service, we ordered delivery. When our food arrived without silverware, we called the front desk asking if they bring some up (again, we avoided leaving the room given the key situation). After 30 minutes with no silverware, we called again. The receptionist explained it was room service's responsibility and offered to transfer us, despite us just explaining that room service wasn't answering. The phone rang another 15 minutes before we gave up and used container lids as utensils… Additional Service Issues: On Friday, we purchased toiletries and asked the front desk to deliver them to our room while they resolved our key issue, since we were already late for a dinner reservation. We got back from dinner and were let into our room, but our toiletries were nowhere to be found. The ongoing key problems made us late to multiple reservations or events. Most notably was a dinner at a Michelin restaurant that I had been saving up for for multiple months, and they were very strict about truncating the meal if guests were late. Outdated Amenities: Lastly, this isn’t a huge deal, but the TV lacks streaming services or screen casting capability, which seems outdated for a hotel of this caliber. While any single issue might be understandable, the combination created a thoroughly disappointing stay. I rarely write reviews, but the cumulative experience warranted sharing this feedback.

Absolutely not a 5 star hotel. Essentially an Embassy Suites or Holiday Inn, but priced well above those hotel chains. Check-in was an hour affair since the hotel assigned a single to person work the desk. The line ran all the way through the entire length of the lobby, but no other employee came over to relieve the person assisting a 30+ guest line. Breakfast in the morning was decidedly mediocre and required a 45 minute wait minimum. The room itself was spacious, but key amenities like the filtered water dispenser and rainfall shower head didn't really work. Ordering room service was not an option since the wait for any food item was over 2 hours. If this hotel were $100-$150 a night, it would be a reasonable value. However, it is definitely not up to the standard of the Conrad brand and certainly is not worth more than $200 a night. If you're staying in NYC and looking for a 4-5 star stay, definitely look elsewhere.