The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park

We just returned from our stay here. I am not sure why all the negative reviews we had a lovely stay. I have stayed at the Waldorf (back before closing) The Plaza & St Regis and we commented on how the service here was much better than the St. Regis. We enjoyed our spacious room and bathroom. The hotel was decorated lovely for Christmas as well. We will be back! Thank you so much!

When you read this review you have to understand we have, in the past year stayed at serval hotels under the Ritz brand. Our last stay before this was at the Arts Hotel in Barcelona. On both stays sadly we were not given the service we expected, especially from what we thought was once a high end brand that we could guarantee equally high service of. As a result of our recent stay at the Rite Central Park we feel the rating of terrible is justified. Our arrival on November 1st was excellent. Luggage quickly taken from the transport f we were guided to reception. A friendly greeting, with our room 1910 allocated immediately. Aaron, the Assistant Front Office Manager greeted us and offered us a complementary drink in the lounge/bar. We both said, this is what the Ritz is known for, its service. Sadly that was the last we saw, in any way, any more of the Ritz service. Our room, 1910 was clean, spacious with amazing views over Central Park. On the table were two large bottles of 'posh' water and a bowl of fruit, along with a welcome card. Again, Ritz service. We decided, as we had just flown in from the UK, we would dine in the hotel. Alice greeted us and took us to a table in the restaurant. The food was what you would call 'hotel food' nothing fancy, not cheap but the thing we felt most was the service. It was sloppy. No flair, nothing personal about it. Over the course of the next 6 nights staying at the hotel we found the service again sloppy. It was if the staff were not trained in simple things. When we sat in the lounge and asked for a pot of two for two, with lemon and milk that is what should arrive. Not two cups, which are then filled from a tea pot, no milk or lemon, leaving me, the guest to have to walk across the lounge to ask. Not a biscuit in sight. Other times we order drinks from the bar and they arrived, with the nuts, crips etc., but no warmth of service. I asked one evening if I could reserve a table in the lounge as we had friends joining us for pre dinner drinks, to be firmly told no. Tables are on a first come first serviced basis. You can imagine my dismay when a few days later we sat down and opposite us was a table with a reserved sign on it. (see picture) Yes, these are little things, but when the service is not good and you feel you are not getting what you paid for, you take note of such things. The turn down service and general room service was good, but erratic. When we arrived there was no bath mat, so on going out we asked for fresh towels and a mat. When we returned there were the fresh towels, as well as 2 bath mats. Next day no bath mat, and only one dressing gown in the bathroom! We felt we were constantly chasing things. Not something you should have to do when paying nearly a $1000 a night. For me personally the final straw was the complete, and I hate to say it, but 'screw up' when it came to organising a surprise birthday cake for my partner. Several weeks prior to our arrival, after sending several emails to the hotel, finally Adrien Norton the Operations Manager took charge. We agreed a cake along with a bottle of champagne would be delivered to our room at 4pm on November 5th. Well, 4pm, 5pm 6pm came and went, finally at 7.25 there was a knock on the door, I thought it was the turn down service, only to find a cake along with a bottle of Prosecco!! When I ordered Champagne. When I mentioned this was 3.5 hour late I was met with a black stare. The hotel did try some service recovery, but to be honest a bottle of red wine and some cheese on a plate, with a letter of apology, when we got back to the room that night did not in my books come up to scratch. The next day the hotel again did reach out and ask that if I was in the hotel around 3pm I could discuss matters with Aaron. To be honest I was out for the day and in no mind to get back to go over old ground, as well as to be honest, past caring. On the day of checkout, November 7th, our car was due to collect us as 3.30pm to take us to JFK. We called the concierge at 2.45pm to arrange collection of the luggage. At 3.15pm we decided to take it down ourselves. Check out was ok, I was asked if I enjoyed my stay, to which I said have you got 24 hours. This fell on deaf ears. So we left, feeling very dejected by the who experience. Then, to cap it all on November 11th my American Express card was debited, without my authorisation, and with no prior communication, with a $62.71 charge. When I challenged this directly with the hotel, I was told it was for water from the mini-bar. As I explained I am not in the habit of checking out of hotels and not declaring anything I may have used from the mini-bar or a hotel in general, a credit was refunded. Would I recommend this hotel, no. Not for the prices, the service and the general sloppy feel. Would I stay at a Ritz property, well sadly we have a booking in May 2023 at the Phoenician in Phoenix, lets see if they are any better

Who gives rights to these hotels to charge 1500 dollars a night with no good rooms and bathrooms. They just have the name is ritz it is fake hotel. Being next to central Park makes them what. Complete rip off. Please don’t stay here we went for our anniversary and I was truly disappointed.