The St. Regis New York

I am beyond disappointed with my stay at the St. Regis New York. From the moment we arrived, it was one disaster after another. First, the staff was rude and unhelpful, making us feel like we were an inconvenience rather than valued guests. Things only got worse when we found out there were major renovations happening—something no one had bothered to mention when we booked. Our so-called “luxury experience” was ruined. To make matters worse, the staff member Sue was particularly rude throughout our stay. She belittled and dismissed us at every opportunity, as if our concerns were irrelevant. Her behavior was absolutely unacceptable, and it felt like she went out of her way to make our stay as uncomfortable as possible. We were also supposed to have a butler as part of the “luxury service,” but no one was ever introduced to us or offered to help. We had to fend for ourselves for the entire stay, which completely defeats the purpose of booking at a hotel like this. The issues didn’t stop there. All of the restaurants were closed, and room service was only available until 9 PM—far too early for a hotel that markets itself as a top-tier destination. Not being able to dine late at night, especially in a city like New York, was unacceptable and downright inconvenient. To top it all off, they completely botched our payments, charging us incorrectly and then taking days to fix the mess. No apology, no urgency to correct their mistake—it was a nightmare. Despite all of these problems, we received no apology or compensation of any kind. For a place that claims to offer a luxury experience, the St. Regis New York is anything but. Save yourself the trouble, and stay somewhere that actually values its guests—because this hotel certainly doesn’t.

My husband and I stayed at the St Regis for three nights and it was a disappointment overall. I’m surprised they have kept the hotel open during construction - there are very few amenities open to guests. No lobby, no restaurant, no bar. Upon arrival, we were rushed down a set of stairs and through a nondescript hallway, and then we waited for an elevator to arrive to take us to the makeshift lobby. There are only two out of four elevator banks working so be prepared to wait. The day we arrived, the doors of the elevators would not reopen even if you waved an arm in front of the doors. Be very, very careful if you’re trying to get on the elevator once guests have departed. Surely this is a safety hazard. You are not allowed to take the stairs due to construction. We arrived quite early in the morning and were not allowed to check in until 4 pm (the standard check in time). The front desk staff member checking us in was not particularly welcoming. Despite the long wait, our bags were not in the room when we finally checked in. The room itself was spacious and comfortable. We had a room that was close to the elevator so we could hear guests coming and going at times. Our toilet would not stop running and then stopped working. I sleepwalked down to the front desk at 3:30 am and asked them to send someone to fix it at a reasonable hour. They said they have an engineer working 24 hours a day and offered to send them up immediately, which was kind of them. But the maintenance worker arrived and immediately asked if we had complained to our butler about the toilet. I said no and that I had complained to the front desk instead. Given that one of the towels was wet due to the toilet issue, the maintenance worker asked if we would like housekeeping to come and clean and we said yes. The housekeeper then arrived ill prepared with no cleaning materials and asked if maintenance had been in the room. I said yes, and that they were the team that called housekeeping. I offered her a plastic bag to pick up the dirty towel. It felt like everyone was pointing the finger at another department and all I wanted was a clean, working bathroom so I could go back to sleep. The location is perfect. All of the shops and sites are within walking distance. Almost all of the staff were very friendly. I’m sure this hotel will be great once the remodeling is finished, but what a disappointment to stay during its refurbishment phase.

Terrible mess. The hotel should not be trying to operate in its current state. Total maze to get from entrance to room. No food service except for room service. Check in is on 2nd floor. You have to enter at street level and go down a floor. Then up. The elevator there takes so long (10-+ minutes many times). There is no way to take the stairs. It is crazy. Then once you make it to the check in level, there is a different set of elevators to go up to the rooms. When we were there, 2 of the 4 were not working because they were re-tiling them. The wait for the elevator was 30+ minutes when we finally gave up and carried our bags on the very narrow and steep stairs. To exit, you have to wait very long for the elevators or beg them to let you exit from floor 2 down to the street, which they will only do if you are escorted by an employee and they wait until there is a group who wants to do this. At a minimum, I value being able to go up to my room and leave in an efficient manner. If there is a fire, it is going to be a disaster. It is shocking that they are trying to operate (particularly at the rates that they charge). I usually love St Regis hotels. This one was awful.