NYC Hotel St(r)ays
I had a delightful stay opposite central park this summer at the Pierre in NYC. Though the weather was less than desirable, as the northern hemisphere is experiencing a heat wave, the Pierre was a delightful break from the blistering heat.
The service was overall exquisite, the only drawback would be the inability to order food from outside to your room without having to go downstairs. And a notion that perhaps the brown staff members (oftentimes newly from India) provide better service to their white patrons over their fellow brown patrons may ring true to this hotel. There was an instance where I noticed a hotel staff member visibly ignore their brown patrons sitting in a dining area versus developing a relationship with the greater number of white patrons in the area. The bathrooms could also use a bit more space, but that isn’t uncommon in NYC particularly on the Upper East Side. Other than that, the hotel was up to snuff. When I requested a toothbrush to be brought up to my room (I always forget my toothbrush), I was delivered a beautifully packaged toothbrush alongside Marvis toothpaste (the green one!). I was also given recs for beautiful coffee shops and bakeries around the area from the friendly doorman (who surprisingly weren't just out to get a tip), these included Sant Ambroeus and Cafe Bilboquet.
However, since I had to delay my flight to London by a couple of days, there were only suites available at the Pierre, and due to budget constraints,, I had to stay for a couple of days at the Kixby hotel. Unfortunately, the Kixby, is not a luxury hotel despite its raving reviews online. It has come to my realisation that reviews are oftentimes based on the calibre of the populace that visits the said hotels, restaurants, spas, so on and so forth. On that note, if most of the people staying at a hotel are, what I would describe as European backpackers, I would understand why the reviews were quite good. Though a few sweet families and mother-daughter duo’s were likely staying here due to the summer surge in hotel prices in nyc.
But really this hotel falls short of a 4/5 star hotel experience. Most notably the bathrooms felt like I had had a brief stay at a hospital. The front desk staff are a little too invasive as there is not so much privacy (or space in the lobby) when coming in and going out. The hotel is connected to a rooftop bar and a notable burger and beer joint called the Black Tap, so there is a lot of drunk and disorderly people acting odd in the lobby and elevators. The cleaning services are quite subpar, albeit standard for a four star – but the hotel lacks very essential amenities such as a useable and functional/spacious gym, simple bedroom slippers, and of course, sunlight in the rooms. And just generally, four star hotels do have a distinct smell – this hotel smelled like a four star, or less (haha!).
Not to mention, for a non-tourist, having to go through the filth and crowds surrounding the Empire State Building, MSG and Penn Station, it feels almost nauseating especially in combination with the heat. It felt as though every day I was going to a concert or show or play, without the added benefits of actually attending.
The one saving grace of this hotel was the quick delivery of Goop Kitchen (not associated to the hotel, but rather by Doordash - the better of delivery service providers in my opinion), which provided a healthy, daily meal that was easily accessible. I opted twice for the falaphel wrap in casava flour with two coconut almond flour cookies. And as I oftentimes do, I ordered the teriyaki salmon summer rolls with a sea salt dark choc brownie. The food and its ingredients are of the highest quality, and I expect nothing less from Goop Founder, Gwenyth Paltrow. The food comes delivered in a stapled sealed bag, which gives me less anxiety thinking someone had tampered with my food after leaving the restaurant (which isn’t a far fetched thought being in this city).
Note - I would add pictures, but have only included pictures of my view from the Pierre so as to not ruin the aesthetic of the blog :)
