Where to stay when you leave.

The Predictable Decline of Service at Gramercy Park Hotel

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  Site Where: 2 Lexington Ave [map], New York, ny, United States, 10010

11/21/2006 at 11:31 AM
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When we stayed at the Gramercy Park Hotel, one thing really stood out. And no, it wasn't the scary sex castle theme although we still get the shivers thinking about it.

What really stood out for us was the--dare we say it?--amazingly attentive service from the hot doormen to the gracious front-desk clerks to the flirty bartenders. We even let a staffer explain how to work an iPod simply because he offered.

Yet we knew all along, if this Schrager hotel held form, the service would probably decline over time--Hudson anyone?

Recently, the Financial Times popped in for a few nights and while the reviewer loved the hotel decor and design, the service was pretty shitty. Here are her biggest problems are after the click.

Doormen
"On my final night, a familiar figure stopped me as I returned. It was one of the doormen, whom I recognised. He asked if my name was on the guest list. "No," I said, "I'm staying at your hotel and have been for the last two nights." With these prices, to call these teething problems would be kind."

Housekeeping
"Another evening, I took a glass from the fold-down minibar and helped myself to cranberry juice. The following night I returned to find my room had been serviced. I pulled a glass from the minibar. The vessel, sticky with red juice, was the same unwashed item I had used the previous evening - replaced by housekeeping."

Reception
"[T]he receptionist who, despite being corrected, repeatedly called me the wrong name - three times, in fact, in one conversation."

The Hotel's Breakfast service
"On my last day, after spending up to $40 a morning on à la carte orders, I discovered a temporary space in the hotel serving complimentary continental breakfasts. Since no one had told me about this, I'd done my early morning meetings at the Royalton. Besides, there I could have a spinach omelette; at the Gramercy I was informed there was "no spinach available on the entire East Coast".

The reviewer also stayed in one of the bottom-rung rooms which go for $550 and apparently doesn't offer enough space on the bathroom sink for you to put down a cosmetic bag.

Also not going right with the hotel? The restaurant. The Eater blog, reports that trouble may or may not be brewing with the Alan Yau restaurant which was to open in GPH this month. Someone says not at all. Someone else says Spring 07.

Lastly, neighbors are in a tizzy about the hotel guests letting people into the exclusive Gramercy Park by the "hordes." Our suggestiong to Schrager? Drop the price by $200 or even $150, add a spinach omelette to your menu, get some people with photographic memory to man the doors and things may start to improve.

[Photo: NYTimes]

Related Stories:
· Gramercy Park Hotel Coverage [HotelChatter]

Hotel Reviews:
Gramercy Park Hotel

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