Lotte New York Palace

I love this hotel! A great view of St.Patrick Cathedral, a very nice room. A great cafe downstairs. The restaurant is not so great: even with reservations for bret we left after 10 minutes waiting. Maybe food is good, but I didn’t have a chance to try. Went to the small cafe inside the hotel and got a good breakfast. I love their gym and Spa. Nice service. Read less

Wow - what a disappointment. This property is living off its name, a reputation from days gone by, and some quite attractive public areas that do a great job of masking the completely marginal rooms and generally chilly service we received during our stay. We were booked in a suite in the "main" portion of the hotel that was shockingly dirty and unappealing, when we made it in for late check-in our first evening. At about $900 a night, this was a rip-off and a travesty. Do stained carpets - ripped curtains - heavily soiled chairs - and dirty floors with clumps of hair in the corners - sound 5-star to you? It didn't to us - but when I went to the front desk to see what other rooms might be available, I was told there was nothing available that night - unless I wanted to "invest" $500 additional for a suite in the "towers" section of the hotel. No flipping way, I said. Since we were booked for 3 nights, and had reserved through an AMEX luxury hotel service, the hotel said they could do nothing for our situation (huh?) - and we had to have AMEX call the hotel to speak on our behalf. So silly. We moved rooms to the "towers" section for the next 2 nights. The room was definitely cleaner and felt closer to 2015 vintage than the horribly dated rooms on the other side of the hotel. But the service was completely lacking. We received NONE of the additional services the hotel was so proud to shout about. No turndown service - no car service (which would have been so helpful since my wife recently had surgery) - no additional bottles of water after the first couple left near the bed - no hint or suggestion regarding the heavily advertised butler service. What a joke. The concierge standing at a desk in the towers reception area generally had their heads buried in their computer screen - never a hello - let alone a smile. A couple of times when I had some basic questions (i.e. - why does it take over an hour to get a bucket of ice delivered to the room?), I always felt as if I was disrupting their day. The hotel is in a terrific location - and breakfasts were quite tasty - as long as we took a breath and reminded ourselves that a $45 continental breakfast isn't supposed to be a good value. The doormen as well were always friendly, intuitively helpful and fun to chat with. Their expertise needs to rub off the rest of the hotel and staff. Read less

I have never experienced an attentive and well accommodated concierge like what LOTTE New York Palace offers. I have had the pleasure to to be spoiled by the top notch service of Kat, Kal, and Christian securing the most hard to get reservations. The level of top notch service did not stop there, they have followed up on which restaurants I would like to go to for the rest of my trip. Honestly they have made me feel extra special and I appreciate that. Thank you Kat, Kal, and Christian! Read less

Not sure where those who have given 5* have stayed before but if you are used to the luxuries of hotels such as the Waldorf Astoria or Anantara..or Mandarin Oriental, you will NOT get a true 5* experience here. BEWARE!!!!!!!!- this is a 4* hotel at most!!!!! This review is for those of you who are used to staying in hotels such as Waldorf Astoria and Anantara etc, just to give you an understanding of what to expect from a 5* hotel and to compare levels of service, decor and amenities against. - Unfriendly Staff: The staff, excluding the bell boys, were consistently unfriendly and unhelpful. - Inadequate Water Supply: We were provided with only two small bottles (2x 330ml) of water for our entire stay. Upon requesting more, the hotel informed us that they do not replenish the room water. We have never had encountered this! - Basic Room Service Menu: The room service menu was extremely limited and lacked variety. Beware for basic, overpriced room service food. Severely lacking vegetarian and vegan options. - Missing Room Amenities: The room lacked essential items such as scissors, a sewing kit, a kettle, tea, cups, and cutlery. These are staples in a supposedly 5* hotel, which we then had to go out and use when needed. - Outdated Bathroom: The bathroom was seriously outdated, seemingly from the 1980s, with an old shower curtain. The toilet was uncomfortably small- about 1ft tall, appearing suitable for a toddler rather than an adult. The bath was tiny, and although the shower head was updated, it offered very low water pressure. We asked if they had different rooms with different shower fittings, which they dont. Extremely disappointing for a '5*' hotel- not sure how they got this awarding. - Standard Bathroom Facilities: When we requested a room change, we were told that all rooms had the same substandard bathroom facilities. - Insufficient Shower Gel: We were provided with a minuscule amount of shower gel, insufficient for a couple for the duration of our stay. - Lack of Bath Mat: There was no bath mat provided. The hotel are just happy for you to slip and slide over their cold floor. - Outdated TV Facilities: The TV did not support screen-mirroring or offer other expected functionalities. You spend your spare moments surfing the news channels or heavy drug-ad infomercials - Positive Aspects: The only positive aspects were the large bedroom size and the hotel’s convenient location. The bar was also nice. In summary, the hotel seems to be riding on the Gossip Girl coattails 10yrs on, but some major renovations are required. We look forward to returning to NYC however we endeavour to stay at a proper 5* hotel such as the Mandarin Oriental or the newly renovated Waldorf Astoria. Had we known this hotel would have this many drawbacks we would happily have paid more for the 5* experience, but at almost $1000/night you would expect this. Read less