HotelChatter

Check-In
We arrived at the hotel around 1am and walking into the lobby, we were a little concerned about our digs for the evening. Sure, this is the Carlyle, favored by celebs and super rich people. Since we were booked for a standard room and not a suite where Gwen Stefani or the Cruise-Holmes family would hole up, we were worried that our room would be much like the one at the Waldorf-Astoria that we experienced last year.

Furthering our concern, we booked this room using credit card rewards points as NYC hotel room rates were sky high for this night. We were convinced we were a "lesser" guests in the eyes of the hotel and would be relegated to one of the worst rooms in the house. But that was not to be.

Room Reaction
After a short ride to the 5th floor in a teeny tiny elevator, we were shown to our room. The door opened and we gasped a little at the size of the room which was for lack of better description, huge.

We had a giant king bed with soft sheets and pillows. Opposite that was a long dresser with a large flat-screen TV atop it. Over by the windows were two plush chairs and on the other side of bed was a handsome writing desk.

Near the room's entrance was a mirrored bar and a walk-in closet. The bathroom was equally huge, complete with both a tub and a shower (which had an awesome rain shower head.) We were tempted to go back downstairs and ask if we could spend the whole week here.

Amenity Madness
Since it was so late at night, the hotel had already prepped our bed for turndown, laying slippers and a mat by the bedside--one of our favorite turndown service perks.

Also in the room were an iPod docking station, the TV, a fully stocked minibar, Fiji water (for a fee), bathrobes, an umbrella, Kiehl's toiletries and yellow soap imprinted with the Carlyle logo.

Killer View
Aside from having a spacious room to lounge about in, we actually had a killer view of Madison Avenue. Hard to believe right? A room view in Manhattan that doesn't feature an air shaft or a brick wall.

Internet Connect
This is about where our hotel high started to wear off. The Carlyle charges $15 a day for WiFi and it is exceptionally crappy. We could not maintain a presence on AOL instant messenger and forget sending out an email through our Mail program. Additionally while surfing the internet, the connection would short out and return 30 seconds later. However, randomly we were able to upload a short video.

None of you were fooled. You all knew this was the Carlyle.

Service
Naturally, this is an old-timey luxury hotel and the service is all that you expect it to be...with one exception. The housekeeping had forgotten to stock our bathroom with the precious Kiehl's toiletries so when we woke up in the AM to take a shower, we had nothing to use. We called housekeeping and they promised someone would be up right away. It took about 15 minutes, causing us to be late for our meeting. But room service was prompt, the bellmen fast to help out and who doesn't like an elevator attendant? (Although, those elevators are tiny so he might just be taking up valuable space.)

Check-Out
We were able to score a late check-out of 1:30pm which we initially assumed would give us time to attend a meeting downtown and return to pack up our things. Just to be safe, we packed up our main suitcase but left our things in the bathroom a bit of a disaster.

Once we realized we wouldn't make the check-out time from downtown, we called the hotel and told them we would be late. The hotel said they needed the room immediately and that the bellman would just gather our things. Immediately, we freaked out. (No one touches our stuff!) So we bailed on a lunchtime offer and headed back up to the UES. We got there at 2pm and promptly checked out. Grrr.

Bonus: Lost and Found Heaven
About an hour after we checked-out, we realized that we left our computer charger behind in the room. We got on the horn with housekeeping and they said the room hadn't been serviced yet (Ed. Note: Oh really? Why did we need to check out "immediately?") but they would send someone up there to see. Of course, my charger was there and since I was still in Manhattan they messengered my charger to me free of charge. Heaven.

Bottom Line
We would absolutely return here. We're actually wondering when we can get back there again. And we would hope to stay more than one night there, if our funds could ever afford it. Although, the hotel is opening up their Senses Spa in September so that just might be the excuse to check it out.

Room rates start at $755.

Tags: Guess the Hotel / Hotel Video Tours / Luxury Hotels / Rosewood Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / HotelChatter Reviews

by juliana