Hotel review

Here's my TripAdvisor review of my stay at the Parker Meridien Hotel in New York last week:


I can't comment on the stay before summarizing perhaps the most chaotic and irritating reservation experience I've ever had. My daughter was performing with a choir at Carnegie Hall and the hotel was convenient. I reserved a room for her and my wife in my wife's name for Wednesday night checking out Sunday. I was going to join them on Friday and reserved a second room in my own (different last) name, all with sub-$300 AAA rates- decent for the neighborhood.

That was all fine, until they decided to arrive on Thursday instead. When I tried to change the date on the web site, the price jumped to $800. I decided that was insane and that human beings wouldn't stand for it, so I called the reservation line, where, after several minutes repeating that I did not want to move the whole reservation back a day but shorten it by a day, the agent said she couldn't fix it, put me on hold for about 5 minutes, then came back and told me that the hotel manager had made the change and kept the same rate, and also that she had requested connecting rooms as I'd asked. I thanked her and forgot about it for a while, but for some reason became concerned a few days later. I called the reservation line again and was told the reservation had not been changed and again got put on hold for 5 minutes and again was told it would be taken care of.

I figured things were fine until I got a pre-arrival e-mail still showing the original arrival date and I hit the roof. I called the hotel this time and they said there was a notation in the reservation saying the date should be changed but that nobody had actually made the change. They said not to worry and changed the date.

The next, day, my wife arrived, her reservation was fine, but no accommodation had been made for connecting rooms and that the clerk was insisting that nothing could be done about it. She called me from the front desk and I had to get on the phone with the Stepford Clerk and have her get the manager. Apparently, the notation for connecting rooms had neglected to mention who to connect to. The manager understood that it was unlikely that I had asked for a room connecting to some unknown party and that it was clearly their mistake, and though it was impossible to connect at that point that we could be next door and could check out at 4PM with no charge.

Once we got there the hotel was fine. New York hotels are allowed a certain quirkiness that would not be tolerated in less concentrated environments, and ours is no exception. With the advent of flat screens, the hotel took advantage of the opportunity to wall mount the TVs and eliminate the bulky furniture underneath. This leaves the rooms feeling almost expansive, with generous space between the end of the bed and the opposite wall. It also leaves the room without any place to store one's clothes, if one is inclined to unpack. My room had one small drawer to the right of the desk and a shelf to the left. That's it. But you do get the expansive feel and a wall that really looks like there should be a piece of furniture there, especially because there are no less than 3 sets of electrical outlets that were probably useful when TV was sitting on the dresser.

The beds were fine, there's an odd paucity of glasses and no fluffy robes, and the faucets in the bathroom are set about 1/4 too far back, so if you have the water on low pressure it lands on the counter instead of in the sink. Overall, though, I found it a pleasant, convenient place to stay. It's close to multiple subway lines and has 3 Starbucks, a Dean and Deluca cafe and a well-stocked fancy grocery store all within a block or so. I would certainly stay there again.