Not quite the boutique hotel experience I was expecting
Written: May 02 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent location. High ceilings. Pretty Beaux art public spaces.
Cons: Terrible food, poor temperature management, lack of advertised amenities.
The Bottom Line: There won't be a repeat stay for me here unless the building is under new management.
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| uraniumorchids's Full Review: Dylan Hotel |
After my string of good luck in picking boutique hotels (including 60 Thompson and Bel Ami) last year, I admit to being quite excited about my stay at The Dylan last December, and quite sure of my excellent screening capabilities. I was taking off to NYC for a quick holiday shopping trip before starting a new job. The Dylan had been on my "to stay at" list based on several articles and hip hotel book inclusions its Alchemy Suite had garnered. Miraculously, although most of the hotels in NYC were not available through Quikbook on a week's notice, not even for a weekday stay (which this was), The Dylan was available. The first night's rate was $275; the second night's rate was $325. Both seemed high, but since the only other available hotels were major chains near the convention center for close to the same price, I booked. After all, I needed a restful break before starting my new job.
Oh, silly me.
Check-in
I arrived at the hotel around 7:30 a.m., after a red eye flight from San Francisco. As an architecture buff, a key selling point was that The Dylan formerly housed the Chemists Club, and much of the original details from the 1903 Beaux Arts structure were preserved, including the 11-foot ceilings in the guest rooms. The lobby, with its chocolate and ecru spare, elegant seating, and minimalist floral displays, and the ornate doors to the restaurant with its gorgeous fireplace looked promising enough, but, I was about to learn, that was the only boutique aspect of the hotel.
They said they were fully booked, and expected check-in to be available around 3:00. I left my bags and my cell phone number with them, took their card so I could call to check-in on my room's availability, and then went out exploring the CIty in all her holiday decoration finery. When I called at 1:30 to inquire about timing for room availability, a rather exasperated desk clerk informed me my room was ready and had been ready since 11:30. I made my way back to the hotel, tired after braving a good 5-6 hours of cold, icy morning, and windy, chilly temperatures.
Once back at the hotel, I quickly checked in, and asked to retrieve my luggage. Only my wheeled bag was brought out by the dismissive desk clerk. When I reminded her that I had two pieces of luggage, including a bag that had my laptop in it and that she'd said she would have locked up, she forced me to wait 5 minutes before a specific person was able to come down and open an unlocked door next to the stairs and retrieve my bag. I was not happy about the wait, or about the lack of security for my bag, but was happy to be inside with heat, and was anxious to sit down and thaw out, so I went up to my room.
The Room
No one offered to help me with my bags, which, in retrospect, I take as a sign of things to come. I let myself into my room and started exploring the amenities. The advertised robe and slippers were absent. The electrical outlets on the desk didn't work. The TV didn't get comedy central or MTV. AND the "heater" aggressively blew cold air. I searched every surface for 10 minutes trying to find the also advertised "individual climate control." After my fingers had entered their very very cold pre-blue stage, and I had wrapped myself in the comforter yet still had goosebumps, I phoned the front desk to inform them of this problem. They seemed irritated at me for bringing it up, but, half an hour or so later, an engineer arrived. He tinkered around with it, never apologizing for the inconvenience, or admitting there had been a problem with the heater. As he was out the door, he said "did you want it a little hot or a lot hot?" "I don't know. Somewhat hot. Not cold like it was before. 70 degrees." "OK." he said, and left.
It appears he set it on "sweltering". Despite the 11-foot ceilings, and heat-losing windows that should've helped keep the room at a liveable temperature, the room got so hot by bedtime that I slept with only a sheet on the bed, and still was hot and sweaty. It was basically the equivalent of sleeping inside a sauna. But, given the alternative of freezing both inside and outside for two days, I kept my mouth shut. Besides, after the first day, one phone stopped working completely, while the other would no longer call the front desk or any of the other pre-programmed numbers. The bed was reasonably comfortable, and had nice pillows. I had a view into the windows of the Library Hotel (and kept wishing I was staying there).
The bathroom had pretty marble everywhere, and a pedestal sink that sloshed water everywhere. The supplied toiletries were a shampoo/conditioner combo and a body wash. No q-tips, cotton balls, body lotion or other typical boutique hotel amenities.
The Amenities
The advertised amenities did not stack up to what I actually received. See parenthesis for my experience:
* Business Services
* 1 Hotel Restaurant (with the worst and most expensive breakfast buffet I've ever had)
* Fitness Center (when I asked about this, I was told they had a treadmill and a stairmaster in the basement, next to the public bathrooms)
* Daily Newspaper Delivery (delivered to the hotel but not to your room -- you have to get up early and grab one from the lobby before they disappear, which I was never able to do)
* 2 + Phones (neither of which worked correctly if at all)
* Data Port (which did not work)
* Minibar/Honor Bar
* High Speed Internet in all rooms (that would have been great -- I didn't see any details on Internet access anywhere in the hotel, and certainly not in my room)
* Desk/Workspace
* Pay Movies
* Radio/Clock Radio (which I couldn't get to work -- I set the alarm on my cell phone instead)
* Cable TV
* Safe in Room
* Hair Dryer
* Handicapped Rooms
* Individual Climate Control
* Cots/Rollaways
* Iron & Ironing Board
* Voice Mail (since my phone didn't work I couldn't retrieve my voicemail and instead had to incur roaming charges on my cell phone for calls)
* Cribs Available
* Babysitting Service
* Laundry/Valet/ShoeShine
* Turndown Service (must have been on request since I never recieved it)
* Concierge
* Room Service (I never saw a room service menu)
* Valet Parking
The Food
Before heading back to the airport on my last morning there, I wandered into the restaurant. Suddenly, I remembered where I'd originally heard about the hotel: it was attached to the short-lived Britney Spears-backed restaurant "Nyla". Apparently, the restaurant went under (though the receipt you receive for your meal still says Nyla on it). The buffet featured some cereals, juice, bagels, french toast, sausage, and yogurt. They served coffee, but the waiter was inattentive at best. It appeared the same folks waiting on the half dozen dining room patrons were packaging up and perhaps even delivering food to be sent upstairs in response to the breakfast door hanger (perhaps that was what was meant by room service?) I'd gone out to purchase a NY Times at the local Starbucks, so at least I had something to read as I waited 20+ minutes for a refill to my tiny cup of coffee. The sausage and the french toast were coler than room temperature. The toaster for the bagels was brought out after I finished eating (around 9:30), as was the cream cheese. I'm not sure if they ever brought out any syrup for the french toast. I picked out and ate some strawberries from the mixed fruit bowl, and ate a buttered non-toasted bagel, and had two cups of coffee, and paid over $30 with tip. I should have gone to the Starbucks in Grand Central and bought something to eat in their market instead! Truly a horrible experience.
Location and Wrap-up
A major reason I wanted to stay here was the hotel's proximity to Grand Central Station (on 41st Street between Madison and Park Avenue,), which would thus make getting from one end of the City (SoHo) to the other (The Met) efficient and easy. I had not counted on all the ice on the streets that never melted thanks to the shadows of the skyscrapers. Walking around in the neighborhood before 10:00 .am. was actually fairly dangerous -- the ice sent me sliding several times.
Overall, this hotel was on a par with the really horrible hotel I stayed at in Florence -- one in which my travel companion and I were given the room right behind the espresso bar and were kept awake all night by the drunken guests, then awakened from our slumber on the squished together rock hard twin beds at the crack of dawn by the caffeine addicted. The only saving grace with the Dylan was they charged me the lower 1st night rate for both nights. Had this been any other time of the year, with hotel rooms more readily available, I would have checked out the 1st night, after the issue with the heat.
When you are staying someplace in the over $200-a-night range that is marketing itself as a hip boutique hotel, you expect a much higher caliber level of service and amenities than the Dylan delivered on my visit. Next time, I'll stay at 60 Thompson.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
uraniumorchids
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Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 15 members
About Me:
An urban gourmet on the loose in SF, currently buried in an editing project
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