jittery_eric
Couples · October 20258/10
Some of us aren’t customarily able to rub elbows with billionaires, but you can visit the life of the 0.001% at the Park Hyatt New York. Guest rooms occupy 16 floors of One57, a 75-story architectural...Some of us aren’t customarily able to rub elbows with billionaires, but you can visit the life of the 0.001% at the Park Hyatt New York. Guest rooms occupy 16 floors of One57, a 75-story architectural statement whose upper floors are home to people with properties and staff in multiple continents
Much to my surprise, especially since I am not a Hyatt Globalist, I was upgraded to a one-bedroom suite that measured more than an astounding 1,000 square feet. This came as a particular shock because a Guest Experience Manager sent a pre-stay email admonishing not to expect upgrades: “[W]e encourage you to contact us in advance to discuss pricing and availability. We cannot guarantee complimentary upgrades at this time.” I’m not sure how purchasing an upgrade differs from simply reserving the room category you want, but no matter. To put the upgrade in perspective, there is currently a 1,021 ft2 one-bedroom apartment available for sale in the building for a cool $3.85M. My suite felt roughly the size of a cozy home with high ceilings, enormous windows, and finishes so refined they might reduce a minimalist to tears. Everything hums, slides or glows with quiet automation.
Then there’s the bathroom, spacious and sybaritic with beautiful marble galore, an enormous multi-headed shower and separate soaking tub. Rarely does a toilet rise to the level of conscious thought let alone mention, but this magnificent automated contraption boasts high tech bells and whistles I have only seen rivaled in the loos of the Four Seasons Lana’I in Hawaii and the Tokyo American Club in Japan. Even the lid of this porcelain throne demonstrates respect by opening automatically and standing at attention when one enters the WC. Finally, there is the lovely touch of heated bathroom floors that will sure to be even more welcome as seasonal temperatures drop.
The centrality of the location is a double-edged sword in one critical respect; it is at once convenient and cacophonous. It’s the trade-off for being in the middle of Manhattan’s most coveted corridor a block away from Central Park. Because the Park Hyatt occupies the lower floors of One57, your proximity to 57th Street traffic is not theoretical; it’s up front and personal. And emergency sirens in New York aren’t merely loud; they’re practically militarized, routinely clocking in at 120 decibels, roughly the same as a jet engine spooling at full takeoff power. That’s 10 decibels louder than the most soaring chorus at a Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter concert at Madison Square Garden down the street. NYC sirens are so loud Councilwomen Carlina Rivera and Gale Brewer introduced a bill to the New York City Council to lower the sirens to a maximum of 90 decibels and modify their shrill tone. Somehow, I don’t see this happening. Add to the sirens trucks equipped with train horns, taxis venting their gridlock frustrations through spirited blasts and Yamaha FZR 1000cc motorcycles with modified exhaust, it’s enough to make one yearn for the relative aural modesty of a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. At this is level of clamor, even triple-paned glass and earplugs are powerless.
My experience with the level of noise may not be representative of customary conditions. My stay coincided with the 80th United Nations General Assembly, an annual event that creates notoriously grim traffic in Manhattan. During my stay, the President of France found his motorcade at a dead stop due to the operations of a competing motorcade transporting the President of the United States. The gridlock was so severe that Mr. Macron hopped out and simply walked to his next meeting. The UNGA also entailed what the Park Hyatt euphemistically termed “enhanced security protocols” at the hotel. One morning I alighted to the ground floor lobby only to find a dozen Secret Service Police, half a dozen Secret Service Special Agents, a phalanx of NYPD and other assorted earpiece wearing security personnel along with a walk-through metal detector and TSA-style luggage screener. Not the most relaxing environment to say the least. Thankfully, heading up to the pool/spa/gym on the 25th proved to be a world apart with only a delightful lifeguard (families take note: complimentary pool games and toys available) looking after a beautiful 65’ pool in a commanding three story atrium along with soothing in-pool sound design especially curated from recordings made at Carnegie Hall across the street. How’s that for a “only in New York” experience?
If your idea of serenity runs more toward the monastic, you might prefer the Mandarin Oriental (previously reviewed) a couple of blocks away where the rooms are at least 280’ in the sky, occupying floors 35 to 54 of the Time Warner Center. The only thing you’re likely to hear there are the gentle flapping of the wings of the angels on high. Still, I found the Park Hyatt to be more inviting and magnanimous and the MO more formal in style. The other main difference between the two properties is the Park Hyatt restaurant The Living Room overlooks 57th Street and The Russian Tea Room and Carnegie Hall across the street while the MO Lounge is an aerie with commanding views of Central Park.
As impressive as the Park Hyatt NYC hard product is with tasteful design, luxury appointments and some of New York’s most singularly spacious rooms, the hard-working people who shine most brightly. Despite the building’s neighborhood and clientele, the staff here are disarmingly amiable. Even though everyone else in the lobby might be wearing couture ranging from the sublime to ridiculous, carrying an obligatory lapdog and awaiting bellmen to assist with their Louis Vuitton travel trunks, somehow the staff maintain a bonhomie free of pretense. Every interaction from my initial encounter with the bellman felt like it came from actual human warmth, not a training manual. Their ability to navigate the vagaries of diplomatic luminaries and accompanying entourages, managing DEFCON-level security concerns, satisfying the expectations of discerning world travelers and accommodating odd pikers such as me with equal aplomb is beyond impressive.
Special thanks to housekeeping for keeping the suite in immaculate condition throughout my stay and to Mamadou and his front desk colleagues for their gracious welcome (and the upgrade!) and infectious enthusiasm for all this Hyatt flagship outpost has to offer from cold martinis to heated floors and everything in between. I would count myself lucky to return, but perhaps when the UN is not in general session.Show More
