EH619
Family · November 20256/10
After two nights at the Ritz-Carlton NoMad, I’m left with very mixed feelings. The hotel is stylish, offers a chic bar scene, and a great location but the service simply doesn’t live up to the Ritz-Ca...After two nights at the Ritz-Carlton NoMad, I’m left with very mixed feelings. The hotel is stylish, offers a chic bar scene, and a great location but the service simply doesn’t live up to the Ritz-Carlton name or the price point.
Employees have not been explicitly rude, but the tone is consistently flat, transactional, and lacking in warmth, initiative, or genuine hospitality. It’s far from the “ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen” standard that the brand is known for.
The bright spots have been Tarek, the house car driver who is a gem and embodies Ritz-Carlton service; Kevin and Derek, the bellmen; a third bellman (name beginning with A) who noticed I wasn’t feeling well and kindly brought me ginger ale upon arrival; and Paris, the Rooftop GM, who graciously allowed us up for a birthday photo, a wonderful gesture. The rooftop, by the way, is stunning and worth the hype.
Service Misses: Check-in was indifferent. There was no Titanium recognition, no property overview, and no mention of amenities like the rooftop, house car, or the Chandon toast despite interacting with two separate agents and sharing that it was our first stay at the property. Had Kevin not filled me in later, I would have known nothing about what the hotel offers.
When our room wasn’t ready, Kevin kindly offered that my daughter and her friend could freshen up in the spa. Unfortunately, the spa attendant made us feel distinctly unwelcome. The girls, polite 14-year-olds who had just flown a cross country red-eye from Seattle were in the spa briefly to change before heading out. An hour later, after I’d explained I was feeling car sick and was resting quietly in the lounge, the attendant woke me up (my eyes were closed she still felt compelled to address the girls with me…) to question where the girls were and to inform me they must remain in the same room as me. They had been gone for over an hour. Her tone was awkward and unnecessarily intrusive. There were no other spa guests, no disruption, and we were there at the invitation of hotel staff yet her demeanor made the experience uncomfortable and lacking basic empathy/customer service/common sense.
I booked the stay same-day, en route from JFK, using Marriott Bonvoy points (150K per night) for my daughter’s 14th birthday trip. My intent was to use Suite Night Upgrades to make it special, but I realized after booking that same-day reservations are ineligible. I politely asked about any available upgrades, but despite multiple upgraded rooms being available online and Titanium status I was told there were none available and nothing the hotel could offer. I understand hotel upgrades are not guaranteed but working for an NYC based Fortune 100 company known for over delivering on customer service, I of course hoped the Ritz could help me have a cool mom moment and blow the girls minds with some kind of upgrade.
After confirming I would not lose the 400K+ points, I asked the check in agent to adjust my reservation to one night to preserve the option of booking the next three nights separately, in hopes of using Suite Night Upgrades once the 24-hour window passed. Ultimately, after the lackluster first day, I decided to play it by ear and keep the flexibility to change hotels (we’ve had excellent service in past stays at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park and JW Essex House). However, since this is my daughter’s birthday trip despite property shortcomings she asked that we not lose sightseeing time by moving hotels. As the person shelling out half a million points I had to spend $$$ to earn for mediocre service- that is a bitter pill to swallow but its her birthday and I want it to be nice for her. I would consider giving the property another try but the substandard level of service and lack of housekeeping and basic services it is absolutely not worth the over 500K points these 4 nights will have cost me in the end. If it were up to me alone, I would leave today instead of wasting a luxury amount of points on what I now know is not a luxury experience.
Room & Housekeeping:
Our room (1511) was clean and well-appointed upon arrival, but the HVAC system emits constant noise and the water never gets hot, only lukewarm noticeable even to 14 year old girls. For a property charging $2,500 per night (or the equivalent in points), basic comfort, basic housekeeping services and hot water should not be an issue.
After our first day out sightseeing, we returned 12 hours later at 11:30 p.m. to find our room had not been serviced trashes not emptied, dishes untouched, no fresh towels or water bottles. I messaged to request housekeeping and was told it was unavailable, though towels could be sent up and the agent I was chatting with offered to me that a manager would reach out to me tomorrow (today) to address the significant fail of the room not being serviced when staff had 12 hours to do so. Two hours later, still no towels. The girls waited up as long as they could for towels so they could shower after 12 hours of walking NYC but eventually fell asleep. I waited up but eventually showered at 2:30am when I couldn’t stay up any longer and dried off with a hand towel. Towels were outside our door the next morning, but management never followed up as promised.
The following day (today), our room key was deactivated, despite confirming a 4 p.m. late checkout the day prior. Waiting in line to have it reactivated, I overheard another guest complaining that a female employee was “very rude.” The night before, I had also overheard guests in the lobby bar discussing how underwhelming the service was, reinforcing that our experience was not an anomaly.
Overall Service Culture: Across interactions, the theme has been “Sorry, nothing we can do,” when a true luxury property should embody a “Yes, we’ll find a way” mentality. As someone who works in customer service and sales for a brand (company) known for service excellence similar to the level of service expected at the Ritz, the lack of initiative and basic hospitality is glaring.
Room Notes:
• Room 1511: noisy HVAC and lukewarm water
• Comfortable beds and decent soundproofing despite city noise (in fact there was a toddler crying in the room next to ours as I entered my room and once the door was shut I could not hear the crying at all- good soundproofing).
Pros:
• Elegant design and prime location
• Stylish, lively bar and rooftop
• Excellent service from bell staff and Tarek (house car driver)
Cons:
• Indifferent, “no-based” service culture
• Poor communication and lack of warmth at front desk
• Un-serviced room with no follow-up
• Maintenance issues (HVAC and water temperature)
• Unpleasant spa interaction
• Red wine, cabernet is served freezing cold to the point 2 hours after paying for a $40 glass of cab it was still too cold to drink. I have been to many chic European resorts that serve chilled red wine and its expected in tropical locations Hawaii etc. it was absolutely mis-managed here. I even requested a non-freezing glass and asked if they had any other bottles that had not been iced (there was frost on the bottle) and was told sorry that’s all they had. A waste of $40.
Final Thoughts:
The Ritz-Carlton NoMad has all the right elements design, style, and location but the service falls far short of what guests expect at this tier. It’s disheartening to spend 150K points per night (equivalent to $2,500) to be treated like a second-tier guest because the stay was booked with points. I can’t say that is explicitly why the service is lacking however it seems to be a factor based on the tone of my interactions with staff and the unwillingness to make any extra effort.
The brand’s promise should guarantee a consistent level of hospitality, regardless of how the stay is paid for. With better leadership and a focus on genuine guest care, this property could be exceptional. For now, it has been seriously underwhelming from a service standpoint.
At the time of this review its 3:30pm I have yet to hear from anyone about the room not being serviced nor has housekeeping serviced the room today (it has not been serviced since we checked in Friday morning, its Sunday afternoon).Show More
