HK827
Couples · October 20252/10
DON’T GO! Sadly the Intercontinental Hotel in NYC (w 44th), which is included in The Edit offering from Chase Sapphire Reserve, is just a horribly overpriced hotel that lacks in customer service, amen...DON’T GO! Sadly the Intercontinental Hotel in NYC (w 44th), which is included in The Edit offering from Chase Sapphire Reserve, is just a horribly overpriced hotel that lacks in customer service, amenities and any semblance of value for the price you will pay. As part of the The Edit offering, you are entitled to an early check in (yes if a room is available). We tried checking in at 1:30 thinking there would be a room ready within our ‘room type’ (and an upgrade is also a perk). Nope. No room. And the front desk agent said we already had an upgrade so there was nothing he could do. Ok, we’ll wait in the restaurant/ lounge and get a cup of tea or coffee. Nope! Coffee and tea service is discontinued after breakfast. No self serve coffee or water service for that matter is offered. You can use your coffee maker in your room (but we couldn’t check in yet) or room service can get you a cup. Figure that out. Of course you could order an espresso martini from the bar, which is made with coffee…..why would a ‘luxury hotel’ be so limited in offering a day long service for their guests. So now it’s 3pm. Check in time. No our room is not ready, but a different front desk agent stepped in an found a room…an upgrade on our upgrade. We’ll the corner room was nice, but still not worth the $600 per night being charged.
We decided to leave the hotel and find a cup of coffee. Of course, this was during the Nor Easter, so it was pouring. The hotel was offering umbrellas to their guests. Well they only had a few, so there were no umbrellas to be had.
We had theater tickets so before heading out we decided to have a drink at the bar, using the $100 property credit from Chase. 3 drinks later and all but $20 was used. Average drink price without tip $26.
The next morning, after we checked out, we were hoping to get a couple of cups of tea for the road. The breakfast set up was elaborate and looked good. But no, you couldn’t pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee. You guessed it. Use your room coffee maker or order room service. We had checked out.
Throughout this stay, what was astounding was the number of staff that were in the lobby….doing very little. 3 people were checking/distributing luggage. 4 or 5 were outside hailing cabs, checking in baggage. There were 2 front desk agents at the time of our arrival, not overly busy, but only one turned out to be helpful (Q why could one front desk agent give us an upgrade and find us a room, but the other could not).
My wife and I travel to NYC twice a month. We travel abroad 4 times a year, so we have experienced a number of properties, some great, some horrendous. The Intercontinental, which we thought was a solid brand and would be a great place to stay, is so far from a ‘luxury’ experience that I’m not sure what they should fix first. Maybe start by recognizing your hotel guests needs and do everything you can to accommodate their interests.Show More
