Location OK, hotel and personnel...not so much
By ElizabethC, 01/12/09
Let me preface this by saying, for the most part (with this exception) I like Embassy Suites. Secondly, if you are an HHonors memeber, the Doubletree in Times Square has much better suites and service.
We stayed at the hotel the nights of December 26-28, 2008. I always call ahead to ensure my room has everything I need and is above a certain story. I called and asked whether there was already a crib and fridge in the room, I was assured there were. Upon arrival to the room, the crib was there the fridge was not. It took my husband 5 minutes to explain to the front desk that although they thought there was a fridge in the room, in actuality there was not. HHonors desk intervened and we promptly received a fridge.
Saturday morning we woke up at 8:00 am, only to discover we had no running hot water. Spoke to the hotel manager on duty who was unresponsive. Left a msg. for the HHonors manager who returned our call Monday. We were told hot water was not available b/c the hotel was full to capacity and then some, if they are not qualified/prepared/able to handle the influx of people, then they defenitely need to lose their rating, a star, and status. The breakfast line took 1 hour to enter, not worth the wait, and worth every penny to go outside and pay for a meal at that point.
At check out we discovered that we were being charged for every item on the mini-bar, we had not used anything. Upon arrival, due to the accessability of the mini-bar we phoned the front desk and asked them where we could place the items so as not to be charged and not have our 19 month old playing with the items. They suggested we leave them on top of the TV stand in the living room part of the room. They removed that charge from our bill; but, only after managerial intervention.
The location of the hotel is very uch designed to ctare to anyone staying in the financial district. Within walking distance of SoHo, Little Italy, and even in the cold of December those were very easy walks with a 19 mos. old in tow.
Next time, though, anything other than this hotel. I have stayed at the W, marriot Marquis, Hilton Times Sqaure, DoubleTree @ Times Sqaure, Waldorf-Astoria, Hampton Inn on 31st and I have to say this Embassy Suites rivals the Hampton for the most dismal service and accomodations.
Because I am an HHonors member and I used points for my stay, I am giving value 2 stars. I usually never park at the hotels I park in garages, this hotel did not have a very accessible public garage, so $65/night it was.
