The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park

Let's start with the positives: the RC Central Park is impeccably located. Can't do much better than 59th St at 6th Ave. The staff are well trained and courteous, even opening the doors in unison. The hotel feels exclusive and intimate; this is not The Plaza with tourists running around. However, there are problems. I booked one night at a club level room. At check-in the agent claimed I had not booked a club room, thinking I was expecting lounge access due to my Marriott status (I am titanium elite). Having stayed at a few Ritz-Carltons, I know the drill about booking club rooms separately. He doubled down on this until I emailed my reservation proving I had booked club access. I understand mistakes happen, but for a property charging eye-watering room rates, you expect these details to be triple and quadruple checked. Furthermore, I was charged $30 for a suit press that was supposed to be provided complimentary with a club room. After calling the hotel, being put through to voicemail promising a 24 hour response and never receiving one, I finally got ahold of the manager who granted me a $100 credit for my stay. I'm fine with the resolution, but all of this ring and roll felt unnecessary and surprising for a supposedly world class hotel. On top of this, nothing about the common areas, room, or view tempted me to return. The park view for at least the first ten floors goes for little when you are just staring at pedestrians. I had a considerably better view six blocks over at the Sheraton. The room was fine, but lacking the modern control panel amenity at the St. Regis (for lights, alerting maid, privacy etc.) and it was oppressively dark. The bathtub, cramped into a corner between the shower and sink, has someone 6 feet and over folded in half. Bed was comfortable and I liked the straight on view of the television with seating area in-between, but ceilings are low and everything felt small. Great hotels in NY are a needle in a haystack, and this one does not earn the reputation it has.

So this was my first trip to NY in many years and I decided to splurge on a park view room at the ritz. Overall the experience was excellent. The club lounge came in handy. The room was very comfortable (although the light switches were a little confusing). Room service was very good. Overall service was excellent with a few minor issues that were manageable. I’ll stay here again soon.

I stayed at The Ritz Carlton Central Park over Mother’s Day weekend and was blown away by the staff, service, and property. Giselle at the Front desk was so kind upon arriving for check-in and had my room ready for me. The room was spacious and extremely clean, and most of all very quiet despite being located right in the heart of Manhattan. We were also personally greeted by Daniella from the guest relations team, as well as Miguel from Human Resources who both took time out of their day to welcome us and wish me a happy Mother’s Day and thank me for choosing to stay with the RC. The property itself is a perfect blend of classic New York City design and aesthetics with the Ritz Carlton flair and luxury and is amazingly located across the street from Central Park. The lobby bar is gorgeous and offers plenty of space and cozy atmosphere with a warm and friendly staff. The restaurant on the first floor also has a classic menu that we thoroughly enjoyed. I will be staying here again and again!

I am a very loyal Marriott member. I have spent 250+ nights a year in their hotels and this by far has been the worst stay all together. So much that I will never step into a Marriott again after this. I arrived on Monday for an appointment this week for my spouse in a relatively cost effective room. $5k for the week. Throughout my communications with front desk they said that it would be likely that I would be upgraded. So I sat and waited. When I checked in there were no options for upgrade. I get it. Checked into the room and it was stuffy and musty. I asked to change rooms and begrudgingly signed for a $1000 night increase that I did not budget for. When I got into the new room. There was food, trash and letters in this room. Keep in mind it’s almost 2am at this point. I check into my new room after the fact and it’s fine. Definitely not a $10k room. For the next several days I was contacted by ritz about my stay over and over and over again. They were kind enough to give me a food credit but $300 basically covers half a meal here. One day before checking out they are slipping letters under my door to pay them more money. I had no idea what I owed. I told them I was heading to an appointment and would settle after when I was able. They said I had to pay before 4pm or I would not be able to stay at this property anymore. I have done 250+ nights in the last year at Marriotts. Driven hours out of my way to stay at them, given them thousands and thousands of dollars monthly to be treated like this. The best part is the final room that I was moved into had other peoples mail, broken blinds etc. I paid a lot of money for a Ramada experience. I will be using my Hilton status going forward where they respect my loyalty

I don't normally write reviews for restaurants in hotels unless I am staying at the hotel, but making an exception here. Recently stopped into the Ritz Carlton NYC alone, while on a long walk, to get a lovely breakfast and experience the hotel. The hostess at the cafe was talking to another customer for a couple minutes and when the bellman saw this, he came up, asked how he could help, and then led me back to the restaurant and helped me to be seated at a lovely spot by the window. The staff then took excellent care of me - even after I made it clear from the beginning that I was not staying there at the hotel. I wanted to write this brief review because in my opinion the interactions I had that morning epitomize two of the things that Ritz Carlton made its name by (many decades ago) with Horst Schulze at the helm: first, that the team that works there are "ladies and gentlemen taking care of ladies and gentlemen" AND that every single member of the team there is empowered to make things right for every guest of the hotel. Happy to see this in action. Well done Ritz Carlton Central Park!