InterContinental New York Barclay

My stay at the Intercontinental Barclay was average. The hotel doesn’t give off a welcoming vibe. The front desk feels very cold and unhelpful, they weren’t able to assist in getting a better room or even acknowledge loyalty to the IHG membership with a simple thank you. The rooms are extremely noisy, as you can hear everything from the corridor. They are nicely furnished, but very small, leaving little space if you have a lot of packages or clothes. On the positive side, the gym is very good. However, breakfast was quite frustrating: while the food quality is decent, the service is almost nonexistent. The hostess at the entrance was unfriendly and unable to seat guests properly, which is disappointing. Overall, the atmosphere of the hotel feels cold. Another major drawback is that room service stops at 10:30 pm, meaning no food is available after that time. For a hotel of this level, this is really unacceptable. A real pity.

This was our second stay at The Barclay and we were delighted once again. The staff, from check-in to departure was excellent. We had a delicious meal at The Parlour and very much appreciated the late check out.

Another superb stay at my favourite hotel. The service as always, was impeccable- everyone is friendly, helpful and nothing is too much trouble. The room was very spacious, quiet and the bed is SO comfortable. I missed seeing Bowie, the hotel’s lovely dog, on this visit as I think he was on vacation! Next time! Thanks as always for a wonderful stay.

Mixed reviews. Hotel itself in a good location, food in restaurant good. Service was mixed. The bell hop , Eddie, was a real credit to the hotel, though thats where the positive staff interaction ends. No complimentary water in the room which is unacceptable in a hotel of this standard. We asked reception for some water and was abruptly told to buy some from the minibar in the room at 18US plus tax etc etc for a bottle of Evian, offence pricing, so we simply bought some down the road, at over $600 a night and we had two rooms, I think they could manage a bottle of water. Hidden amenity fee is a joke we were not allowed to use it for breakfast, which other IHG hotels do allow so we ended up basically paying a service tax of $45 a night per room for no reason. As for Kevin on reception, well thats a guy who needs to choose a career outside of hospitality. He was serving some other guests, they left so I approached reception, he rudely told me he was not ready to serve me yet, then proceeded to leave me standing there at reception whilst he cleaned the entire reception desk, including every key on his key board, then started doing his emails or something on his computer, all the time ignoring me. In the end I simply walked away after of 5 minutes of his pathetic theatre and went to another reception desk when they were free. Would never return specifically because of our experience with Kevin on reception.

This is a great option for those visiting Manhattan. The location is very central with great restaurant options a short walk away and from the North end of the island (we needed to go to Columbia University / Morningside Park several times all the way down to lower Manhattan it's reasonable Uber / taxi rides. Furthermore the rooms and beds are very comfortable and updated and the staff is very accommodating. The bartenders are very professional and friendly and the Club InterContinental access allows for a breakfast and snacks throughout the day.