[Hotel Review] Park Hyatt New York – ‘Twas the Night Before New Years

I’ve stayed at Park Hyatt New York three times, each time using a soon-to-expire free night category 1-7 World of Hyatt certificate. (Most Hyatt certificates are good for a free night at a category 1-4 hotel – the coveted 1-7 certificate is issued after a member completes 60 nights within one year).

So here I was with a 1-7 free night certificate about to turn into a pumpkin on December 31st, so of course I opted for a one night staycation at the Park Hyatt New York on December 30th.

My last stay here was in March 2020, right on the precipice of the pandemic. (see Our Last Pre-Covid Hurrah in NYC – a Night at the Park Hyatt New York).

The hotel lobby was winter festive. Some good “S” adjectives to describe the hotel design and ambiance are: Sophisticated, Stylish, Subdued and Serene.

My iPhone app indicated that I’d been upgraded. However, at the front desk, I was informed that the upgrade was only to another King room. With a few questions and inquiries, my room assignment was changed to a Studio Suite on the 11th floor. On the night of my stay, the price of rooms started at $1,495 per night!

This is the hotel hallway:

The Studio Suite is actually an elongated loft-like room divided into two separate areas. The room is beautifully designed with impeccable details. There is a bedroom area and then there is an area by the windows with a desk, couch and a second television. The curved floor-to-ceiling windows are phenomenal. The window shades are really cool too – you can put the shades up or down with a switch.

On the desk, there were special Park Hyatt masks and a small bottle of hand sanitizer.

Of course, Dave brought his travel guitar! (Won’t leave home without it . . .)

This trunk is actually extra storage space and a room safe.

And this cabinet houses the minibar and coffee machine.

The bathroom is traditional Park Hyatt style with a double sink, a bathtub and a separate shower and a Toto toilet. The toiletries are from the famous French company, Le Labo.

Every time we’ve visited this hotel, we’ve received a lovely amenity of food and wine. Unfortunately, there was no such amenity this year. I was disappointed, but did not say anything. There’s a wine store a few doors away from the hotel which came in handy.

We jumped on a subway and went for happy hour at a really wonderful restaurant in Greenwich Village called Flex Mussels. We had delicious oysters and mussels and cocktails.

Later on that evening, we ordered in food from Up Thai, one of our favorite local restaurants. You can never go wrong with their pad see ew!

The next morning, I went to the fitness center and took a class on the Peloton there.

This is the view of Central Park from the gym.

Breakfast was served in the hotel restaurant, the Living Room. The selection was less than pre-pandemic, and the Lobster Scramble that I was looking forward to was no longer on the menu. Still, the breakfast experience was lovely. We enjoyed the avocado toast and bagels and lox.

After breakfast, we took a walk to the Le Labo store on East 65th Street. We were given a Le Labo Discovery Set, 5 sample tubes of cologne which retails for $30. We walked through Central Park on our way back to the hotel.

We had a late checkout (another benefit of being a Globalist member), so we relaxed by the hotel pool for the afternoon.

Happy New Year everyone!