I return to St Regis New York …. or ‘how a hotel stay improves when you know what to expect’

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• Dimitri says:

  22 Jun22 June 12:52

  Do others share the view that NYC hotels quality suffers compared to the rest of the world? There are other expenses cities like London or Hong Kong but your money buys a better hotel product even for for the same hotel brands. I wonder why..

  • Lady London says:

    22 Jun22 June 13:14

    I would say thé dame about Paris hôtels. Insanely overpriced at all levels ecxept thé very top or thé very bottom.

    In thé case of Paris i put it down to old buildings that are limping on dôme with out a redire for 50 Yeats or more And no re-plumb, pour City drains etc. Infrastructure is old but until a major redevlopment is done crumbling rooms are sold at outrageous prices and the complete rebuild necessary is not done. Meanwhile due to its worldwide top tourist position these hotels can all carry on like this all charging a fortune. There are gems at all levels but you have to seek them out and never lose their details because the ones I’ve found don’t advertise but do very good returning trade.

    In NY I think its more of it just being a very expensive city and a busy business one also with tourism. As demand for a decent hotel seems to exceed availability at almost every level then we are seeing huge prices for poorer hotels that not really up to the price.

    This is why for private trips I either want 5*plus or I’d be just as content with a youth hostel. Can’t abide paying for the cr*p in the middle. My clients are mostly in the middle budget-wise which is w here HfP has turned out to be incredibly useful making the best of a middling budget.

    • Tom1 says:

      22 Jun22 June 15:52

      LL do you have any budget suggestions for Paris?
      Like you.. I don’t like paying lots of cash/points for a mediocre hotel especially when only in the room to sleep.
      Tempted to try the citizen M – £140 for two nights vs using my IHG free night + 50k for a second night for the indigo.

      • Leo says:

        22 Jun22 June 15:55

        I’ve never yet found availability at the Indigo….

        • Rob says:

          22 Jun22 June 16:04

          Indigo was showing at 55k the other day when I was looking for a Monday in July.

      • Lady London says:

        22 Jun22 June 16:39

        If you want to stay in Paris in summer in budget hôtel then this is worst time. If wanting to stay in business hôtels at summer peak i would expect places like La Defense to perhaps finally offer reasonable prices.

        M’y current favorite in Paris for both personal and work is the new Hampton Clichy. Done several stays since it opened this year. Really nice rooms although much smaller than US Hamptons. Well run (same ownership as a Hilton Curio at a much smarter address). Taxi from Gare du Nord 15/eur or less even with heaps of luggage. On direct bus route, I think 65, from Opéra / Haussmann / St Lazare 25 minutes each way even in rush hour. 2 stops very near the hôtel. RER not currently as good as bus. Do bus first few times then work it out. A new métro stop almost completed reasonably near.

        If you really want budget then if you crosscheck several review sources for each (impt) then a couple of the IBIS budgets look OK. If you are rock bottom cheap, on your own and especially if catching eurostar then the st christophers hostel next to gare du nord was clean and fairly priced when i just needed a night passing through.

      • Lady London says:

        22 Jun22 June 16:43

        Citizen M 140 for 2 nights? Sounds very OK if it’s décent. Please let us Know if you do use it

        • Tom1 says:

          22 Jun22 June 17:57

          CitizenM is 89eur most nights in July and August, non refundable. Less the 10% for members (free), makes it a touch over £70 per night. Even the flexible rate is not much more.
          Although the Hampton is not much different for 3 night stays, with free breakfast, and would count toward the current promo.
          Location wise, would gare du Lyon be better than Clichy?

        • Lady London says:

          22 Jun22 June 20:52

          If you walk everywhere then Gare de Lyon is closer to everything (though some would say still not totally central) Plus it’s a major RER interchange and has métro. If you havent done Paris much before then maybe chose that area in preference but personally it has never charmed me.

          I dont think you’re doing badly at all on that price for citizen m but i’d cross check a number of sources for reviews. Of course I’d also make sure i was earning points if possible too!

        • Lady London says:

          22 Jun22 June 21:02

          PS Forgot to say Clichy is definitely out of the way for nightlife. As a single girl travelling in Paris alone that’s never been something I’ve aimed for. Perfect for work in the centre though due to easy bus even in rush hour. The metro stop they’re building will be on the new line 13 I think.

        • tom1 says:

          22 Jun22 June 22:14

          Thanks LL, reviews for CitizenM are generally very good – mostly “you know what you are getting”. Modern, clean, comfy, small rooms.
          I’ve booked Hampton Clichy on points as a backup. Will let you know if I end up at the CitizenM.

      • Genghis says:

        22 Jun22 June 18:03

        My go to is Idol Hotel, usually around £150 a night. Perfectly adequate.

        • tom1 says:

          22 Jun22 June 22:14

          looks interesting!

      • Graham Walsh says:

        22 Jun22 June 19:12

        I’ve stayed at the CitizenM in Amsterdam many times. Nice hotel and friendly staff. Comfy bed as you are out and about most of the time. Not a room to relax in. That would be the foyer area which is designed like that to be a social area.

    • David says:

      22 Jun22 June 15:56

      Are you having a stroke or is there a cat on your keyboard?

      • Dimitri says:

        22 Jun22 June 16:04

        LoL

        Rob needs to introduce comment editing.

      • Lady London says:

        22 Jun22 June 16:21

        Sorry may get another consultancy assignment in France so not quite taking my work phone’s language out of french yet. Pesky text editor sometimes seems to overwrite things i’ve already corrected or slip other unwanted corrections in just as i press enter!

• Lady London says:

  22 Jun22 June 13:22

  BTW the St Regis did have some excellent corporate rates to houses in the finance industry I’ve worked for. If you really want to stay there could be worth asking around, we are talking no relationship whatsoever to rack rate more of a comparable rate to other hotels used by corporates there.

• Reece says:

  22 Jun22 June 13:46

  I used to tip semi-regularly for good service when the tipping culture was more reasonable.

  It’s now so absolutely insanely out of hand, in the US in particular, so much so I have a zero tolerance policy for tipping unless someone has specifically gone out of their way to go above and beyond.

  It makes service a much more straightforward experience – you did your job, congratulations, thank you. That’s it. There’s no question of whether or how much to tip. $0.

  I totally get that that some people rely on tips. But time has told us very clearly that the more tipping is considered acceptable, the worse it gets. Bars, restaurants maybe fine – but hotel cleaning? What is the world coming to?! Tipping leads to wage suppression and ever larger tips. The more we tip, the worse it gets. What next – tipping at Starbucks? Tesco?

  We all need to bite the bullet and have a zero tolerance approach, and the industry will re-balance and pay people a fair wage for a fair job. Every other industry manages it?

  To those that say I am taking money from people that are hard-up… I’m Mixed Fleet cabin crew, I receive a very modest income (arguably low-wage but that’s a desperate discussion) for serving hundreds of customers 2 full meals, drinks, additional service etc – do I get a tip? Do I expect a tip? Would I dare ask for a tip? No

  • Dimitri says:

    22 Jun22 June 14:30

    It’s worth noting that all of the western states in the US like California and Washington now impose the same minimum wage for restaurant employees as everybody else. They also have the highest minimum wage in the country. So there should be no reason to tip in these states. In other states where the minimum wage for servers is $2 / hour then the tips are effectively part of their salary and tipping is pretty much mandatory so that the servers can make a living.

  • Rob says:

    22 Jun22 June 16:06

    Starbucks in the US now encourages tipping.

• Mark says:

  22 Jun22 June 15:08

  >If you DON’T have elite status then I would be a little more wary, because you won’t get the free a la carte breakfast or a good upgrade – although your $50 ‘resort fee’ can be offset against breakfast.

  Your previous article mentions that the $50 food credit is based on calender days, starting with the day you check in- so the credit cannot be used for breakfast on the final morning. If this is still the case it would be worth adding a warning.

  • Rob says:

    22 Jun22 June 16:05

    This has now changed, looking at other reports.

• Rich says:

  23 Jun23 June 17:48

  The wind-up merchant in me wants to check in and send a pair of underwear down for express cleaning. Then, as soon as they arrive back, ask the butler to go away and clean them again until my $50 is used up.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.