The Royalton: Unique Hotel in Midtown Manhattan
Written: Jun 01 '08 (Updated Jun 01 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice lobby, good service, good location.
Cons: Expensive, lighting in rooms a bit dim.
The Bottom Line: This unique hotel is a good place to stay in New York.
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| cbaker8887's Full Review: Royalton |
Location
The following is a review of The Royalton Hotel located at 44 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan. I stayed here for one night a little over a week ago. The location is great and is in easy walking distance of many places you might want to go, including theaters. The funny thing about this hotel is that is has no awning and it’s hard to read the name of the hotel on the façade of the hotel. I walked right past it twice wondering where the heck the hotel was, until I finally looked up and said “oh, no wonder I couldn't find it.”
Ambiance
I can only assume the motif for this hotel is that it is supposed to look like a turn of the century cruise ship. Everything, especially the hallways and rooms, have a cruise ship décor about them. It’s a very unique and interesting design and not your run of the mill Manhattan hotel. Even the boutique hotels in this area come across as chic caricatures compared to this hotel. For the most part I found the décor soothing except the hallways and rooms were a little bit on the dim side for my tastes.
Lobby
What to say about the lobby? It’s a huge, modern lobby but set within the general theme of the hotel. The lobby is mostly one huge hang out spot and bar. It has large, comfortable, oversized couches and chairs set in a sunken floor to lounge in and have drinks served by attractive servers. The lobby runs the length of the first floor of the hotel with a restaurant in the back. It also has a very small bar with a few bar stools but most people, of course, sit in the well apportioned seating areas throughout the lobby. It even has a nice gas fireplace. The lobby bar seemed to be a real hangout spot and was open very late. It’s a great place to meet friends for a drink and conversation.
The only drawback to this long bar area is it did take a little bit of time to get service and drinks as the servers sometimes had quite a few people to deal with and often had to walk pretty far to the bar to fetch drinks.
Check-In/Hotel Service
The check-in counter was a recessed area off the small bar down the foyer of the hotel. While the staff was competent and friendly, the lobby area was starting to get crowded with people hanging out at the bar and frankly it was a little annoying standing there with my bags, tired from travel, waiting to check in with people walking around and behind me who were there for the lobby lounge. Overall, it wasn’t a bad experience just a little on the odd side.
The doormen were excellent. When I wanted to smoke and it was raining the fellows positioned me under a slight overhang just off the main stairway into the hotel and were friendly and accommodating about it. They were quick to want to help with bags when I arrived (I demurred) and were very good and hailing cabs when you needed one.
Overall the service at the hotel was excellent.
Rooms
This may be the most unique hotel I have stayed in. As noted above the rooms look like you are in the cabin of a turn of the century cruise ship, with the exception, of course, of the fine plasma television and computer wiring at the table. The room was larger than almost any midtown Manhattan hotel I have been in and was very comfortable and inviting. The only thing I didn’t like about the room, including the bathroom, was the lighting was a bit dim for my tastes.
The bed itself was very, very comfortable, with fluffy pillows and a firm yet soft and inviting mattress (of course I was so tired I could have slept on a concrete slab and been happy). It had a down comforter and pillows which were awesome after a long day.
There is wireless Internet service in the room but I am not sure how well it worked or how much it cost because my laptop was on the fritz and I couldn’t use it.
The plasma television was great even though I didn’t watch much of it and there was a CD player and an alarm clock next to the bed.
The bathroom also was very clean, had a cool décor similar to the rest of the hotel, and it was very roomy, especially for a Manhattan hotel. They also provided what I hear are high end amenities (shampoo, mouthwash, soap, et cetera) by Agua. The shower was large and the hot water strong and plentiful.
One of the oddest things in the room was that they had candles in holders and what appeared to be a working fireplace. In fact, there was a slight smell of burned wood in the room and what appeared to be debris from a recent little fire in the fireplace. I was shocked a little by both the candle and the fireplace because I would assume they would be considered a fire hazard.
Overall, I thought the room was fabulous. So many times in Manhattan the hotel is nice but the rooms are tiny, the beds small and uncomfortable, and the bathroom not much more than a walk-in closet. This room was very comfortable and well apportioned.
Amenities
This hotel does have a workout room which appeared to have a lot of new equipment for those interested in working out. I rushed out of there quickly for a smoke after peeking in.
The business center has three computers and I actually went there to do some work since my laptop was not working. Once I saw that it cost $6.95 for 15 minutes just to use the computer I quickly thought better of it. Can you imagine paying almost $30 an hour just to use a computer? That’s not just to use the Internet but to do anything on the computer at all. The only thing free was a link to airlines to print boarding passes.
Finally, the hotel boasts a restaurant called Brasserie 44 located in the back of the lobby. It looked nice and expensive. I almost ate there but ended up eating at a Greek restaurant down the street.
The bar, called Bar 44, I assume is the bar area in the lobby which was very busy and seemed to be the place to be.
The hotel does not have a gift shop, to my knowledge. If it does, it was well hidden and there isn’t one listed in their hotel services guide.
Price
My room rate was nearly $400 per night, which is probably pretty typical for hotels of this caliber in Manhattan.
Bottom Line
Overall this was very nice, comfortable hotel with good service and spacious rooms. I like it better than most other hotels of this quality in the Manhattan area and would definitely consider it again.
Recommended:
Yes
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