PUBLIC New York

I had a wonderful stay at Public. It was a sad occasion for me as I was attending a funeral. But the reservations manager and staff could not have been kinder and more accommodating. The hotel itself is beautiful, quiet, the rooms very comfortable. I will definitely stay at Public on future visits to NYC.

The hotel is fine - well positioned, service is below average. On top of the room charge and taxes, they also charge a USD 40 “access fee”. We stayed for 2 weeks but when we wanted to “access” the rooftop bar, we were told we had to spend USD100 per person despite being hotel guests. All a bit disappointing. Also the maid was incredibly keen to get into my room when I was trying to pack to check out ??????

I love the design of this hotel! Everything looks so nice and the public spaces are super beautiful! The rooms are well designed too but quite compact, so might be an issue depending on what you are used to. The location of this hotel is amazing, walking distance to soho, nolita etc.. and right by the subway to go uptown.

We splurged for a larger room in SoHo, hoping for a more comfortable NYC experience, but unfortunately the stay did not live up to expectations. Noise Warning: I read about the club noise in other reviews, so when we were assigned a 3rd floor suite, I asked to be moved higher up. I was told by the check-in clerk (during self check-in) that there were no other suites available in the entire hotel. On Wednesday night, we could hear low-level music even though we had been assured it wouldn't be noisy until Thursday. On Wednesday -- through ear plugs -- the bass was still noticeable, but on Thursday night, it was unbearable. It felt like the club was INSIDE our room. I could clearly hear the lyrics to entire songs, and the volume increased as the night went on. The club doesn’t close until 3am, so be warned: unless you’re staying here for the club, avoid Thursday through Saturday nights. The soundproofing is completely non-existant. Suite Layout & Bathrooms: The suite layout was odd and poorly thought-out. One of the bathrooms is essentially a translucent glass box without a door. There’s hardware in the floor for what appears to have once been a sliding door, but it’s just…gone. Even if there was a door, the see-through wall makes it feel inappropriate for more than one guest. The second bathroom has a translucent swinging door with a large open gap facing the room—offering zero sound or privacy control. Neither bathroom had a ventilation fan either, which made things even more uncomfortable. Room Tech & Comfort: The suite has a wall control panel for drapes, lights, and climate. The lighting presets were a nice touch, but the drape function barely worked in either room. Even worse, the climate control in one of the rooms didn’t work at all. We set the thermostat to 68, but it never got below 75 so it was hot and stuffy for the entire stay. Roof: The rooftop is a joke. Most of it is indoors, and the only outdoor access during our visit was a narrow 3-foot strip about 10 feet long that could hold about 10 people. The majority of the roof was blocked off with a sign saying “getting ready for summer”. I'm also unclear why they advertise sunset so heavily. The rooftop faces north, so their “sunset views” claim doesn’t make much sense. Small Positives: There were a few basic amenities we appreciated, like toiletries, a hair dryer in the room and filtered water/ice stations on each floor. But for a suite in this price range, that’s the bare minimum. Overall: This was not the relaxing or elevated NYC stay we hoped for. Between the design flaws, lack of functionality, and overwhelming club noise, I can’t recommend staying here unless you're coming specifically to party. I can't speak to the higher floors, maybe they are better. On the 3rd floor though, it’s just not worth it.

Hotel Review Lower your expectations. I should have read the reviews here more carefully as most of them are about the bar, rooftop restaurant and club. If you’re looking at this as a hotel to stay for several days : Positives Great location near SOHO, little Italy, China Town, easy access to several subway lines orange blue and brown. So you can get to Penn Station (EWR&NJ) or JFK via air train. Shopping and food is great in walking distance. Negatives Tiny room, contactless service = you check yourself in on a laptop and make your own keys, no bell service there’s lockers that you can self check your luggage. There’s a hotel guest lounge with coffee only from 6am to 8am. The breakfast brunch restaurant appears to only open Friday-Sunday. Our automated room had broken curtains that were stuck and the black out shade was not operable, the safe was broken, half the receptacles were stretched open so putting a power brick meant they would fall out. There’s very little storage for clothes, luggage. The toggle for the light switch under the sink mirror kept falling out. The first 2 floors appear totally open to the public, there’s no security checking and they rely on room keys to secure the upper floors. The second floor was filled with people with open laptops that probably were not hotel guests but just wanted a cool open space. Constantly throughout the day, and night people were shooting videos of someone going up and down the escalators. After seeing this a few times you’ll understand.