Review: back at the luxurious Park Hyatt New York hotel

This is my review of the Park Hyatt New York hotel. I was previously here in May 2022 and was happy to return. It is probably the classiest New York hotel run by any of the big chains.

I stayed here using ‘purchased points’, saving 55% on the cash rate, and this is a trick that anyone can use even if they don’t previously have any Hyatt points.

Regular readers will know that I am a fan of Park Hyatt and consider it the best hotel chain owned by a multi-group brand. This means that I would place its hotels above St Regis, Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and The Ritz Carlton.

Park Hyatt New York is based in one of the new ‘super skinny’ skyscrapers overlooking Central Park on West 57th Street.

Before you get too excited about the views from the tower above, note that only the bottom third is the hotel. There are 210 rooms in total. This building was the first of the ‘super skinny’ towers near Central Park and, frankly, the ugliest.

The hotel website is here.

I stayed here on points that I bought

This is not a cheap hotel. It was $1,495 per night for a standard room on the nights I was there. That said, it was $1,995 when I was there last May so the trend is downwards.

I used 90,000 World of Hyatt points for the stay which I bought during various promotions for an average of around 1.4p.

It meant I paid £630 per night vs £1,400 ($1,495 + tax) if I’d paid cash. This is a saving of 55% although, of course, it is still quite a lot of actual cash.

For a little more perspective, for the coming Wednesday night the three available 3-star Moxy hotels in Manhattan – Chelsea is sold out – are between $750 and $800 per night (£615 to £660) including taxes, for a standard room of around 20 square metres. This is what I paid for the Park Hyatt where rooms are 2.5-3x the size and far better equipped.

You can book for fewer points than I used. The three price bands are 35,000, 40,000 and 45,000 points per night. It was unfortunate that I was there on a peak night and paid 45,000.

You won’t get a Globalist suite upgrade here

I was gifted Hyatt Globalist status for the year which lets me comment on elite treatment here.

One of the key benefits of Hyatt Globalist is that you receive a ‘standard’ suite if one is available at check-in. You don’t get one here, at least on a reward night. Reward stays are only upgraded to a King City View room, which is a base room but on a higher floor. Last year I was given a sheet which confirmed this in writing, although I didn’t this time.

The other key Globalist benefits are given:

• 4pm late check-out (very important if you have a late flight back to the UK, which was a key reason I stayed here)
• free breakfast, via room service or in the restaurant, for up to four people in a room (one cooked item, one juice drink, one hot drink)
• free bottled water and premium internet

I would also have received free parking if I’d been crazy enough to drive. Globalist members don’t pay resort fees on redemptions, but this hotel does not charge them to anyone.

It’s a bed factory, albeit a bed factory for the rich

The biggest difference between ‘historic’ hotels and modern ones is usually the lack of public space in the latter. Public space costs money – because it doesn’t make money – so building multiple lounges etc doesn’t happen.

This area:

….. is the full extent of the public space at Park Hyatt New York.

Even the bar and restaurant is small. I doubt it seats more than 50 people, hence the ability to have your elite member free breakfast via room service.

If you like to spend your time seeing and being seen, don’t stay here. You’ll have a lot more joy at The St Regis or, when it reopens, the Waldorf Astoria.

The rooms at Park Hyatt New York are big

The rooms at Park Hyatt New York are bigger than many New York apartments, with standard rooms coming in at between 500 and 620 square feet according to the website.

Not only are they large, they are beautifully designed. Park Hyatt hotels generally have oversized bathrooms and Park Hyatt New York does not disappoint.

However …. this room wasn’t as cool as the one I had last year.

In turns out that, due to the narrow width of the building:

• rooms facing north – as I had last year – are at the larger end of the 500-620 square foot range and have the bedroom and bathroom side by side, so there are windows running the full length of the room and bathroom, ie:

and, also from my 2022 stay:

• rooms facing south, as I had this year, are at the smaller end of the 500-620 square foot range and are of a ‘standard’ layout, ie the bathroom is at the back and has no windows, eg

There is no difference – at all – in terms of facilities between the two layouts, but the north facing ones are far more pleasant due to the extra square footage, a second window in the bedroom and the window in the bathroom. You also get a tiny Central Park view from the higher floor north facing rooms, and get more light because you are overlooking shorter buildings.

Let’s have a look at some of the key features.

The bathrooms are particular impressive. Everything you want is here – two sinks, lots of toiletries (you even get bath salts and a loofah!) and a box containing all the bits you might have forgotten such as a toothbrush and toothpaste. Toiletries are by Le Labo and come in small bottles.

and

It’s the little things that stand out at this hotel. Electrically powered curtains and shades, a B&O speaker system, a huge desk with all the sockets you need, an impressive mini-bar, Nespresso machine with ample capsules and milk, fast wi-fi etc. Everything just works. Whatever you need, it will be here.

It’s hard to describe how much money has been spent on this hotel. Everything – every piece of flooring, every piece of art, every cabinet – feels expensive and classy.

This chest contains the safe, laundry bags etc for example:

Despite what you might expect, the hotel wasn’t exclusively filled with bankers and their clients. There were a lot of families with young children too.

The stunning pool at Park Hyatt New York

If the hotel has one stand-out feature, it is the swimming pool, jacuzzi and sauna on the 25th floor. It is on the wrong side of the building to see Central Park, but it is still a great experience spending time here.

Here is a picture from last year when I literally had it all to myself:

Here is a 2023 shot taken from the jacuzzi which shows the height of the space – it is hugely impressive:

There is also a spa, gym and hairdressers on the 25th floor which I didn’t investigate.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served in The Living Room, which is basically an all-day eatery. It starts at 7am.

It’s an impressively decorated space but small – the bar is also part of this area – which is probably why the hotel encourages you to have your breakfast via room service.

If you’re not getting free breakfast, you may prefer to give it a miss. Not only is it expensive, but from 8am it starts to fill with groups of business people holding breakfast meetings who don’t appear to be hotel guests.

I took what I was allowed to order for free under the Globalist benefits – one hot item (eggs royale on both days), a coffee and an orange juice. The bill – which was wiped from my final invoice – came to $74 including 18% service and taxes. If you were a family of four without Globalist status you definitely wouldn’t have got change from $250. The staff are great, of course, and – like the rest of the hotel – it is all very civilised.

Conclusion

Park Hyatt New York is a supremely classy hotel which oozes wealth from every pore.

That said, it is – still – a bed factory. If it wasn’t for the pool, jacuzzi and sauna (there is also a gym and a spa), there would be virtually nothing to do in the hotel.

Would I stay here again? Absolutely, if I can buy Hyatt points and save over 50% on the list price.

To be honest, when I arrived in my room and found it wasn’t as large or bright as the one I had last May, I was disappointed. Once I’d settled in and remembered how classy and impressive everything is, I felt better – although I’d try to insist on a north facing room next time with more windows.

It’s worth noting that Hyatt’s Thompson Central Park New York hotel – reviewed here – is virtually opposite the Park Hyatt and requires far fewer points. I stayed there again over Easter with my family because of the location. This hotel also plays games with Globalist benefits, however, because the higher floors are treated as a ‘hotel within a hotel’ and not available for upgrades.

The World of Hyatt loyalty scheme has two great benefits. Unlike Marriott, Hilton and IHG, it guarantees that you can book a reward night as long as standard rooms are bookable for cash. World of Hyatt has also retained an award chart so there is always a cap on the points cost even when cash rates go crazy.

The last offer for buying World of Hyatt points is outlined here but ended on 10th October. A new one will almost certainly be along soon.

The Park Hyatt New York website is here.

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World of Hyatt update – April 2024:

Get bonus points: World of Hyatt is not currently running a global promotion

New to World of Hyatt?  Read our overview of World of Hyatt here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on what we think World of Hyatt points are worth is here.

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Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from Hyatt and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.