It’s been nearly a decade since I was last at the Hyatt Grand Central Terminal, New York City and I was happy to return to see how the hotel has changed over the years.
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Location
Connected to Grand Central Terminal in New York City, it’s hard to find a better case for a key Manhattan location than this property. Well connected to city transit (by subway, train, and bus) and located on 42nd Street between Lexington and Park Avenues, the hotel is a great midtown option. I walked to most destinations I visited in the city during my visit.
Address: At Grand Central Terminal, 109 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017
Phone: +1 212-883-1234
Property
Polished and still harkening back to its renovation in 1980 when it was remodeled by former President Donald Trump as a Grand Hyatt, his first construction project. The history of the project is incredible and fraught with accounting inconsistencies that culminated in Hyatt’s Jay Pritzker, purchasing Trump’s shares. Following its second renovation in 2011, the hotel returned to its original layout with 138 distinct room designs.
The hotel contains a fitness room but no pool, a concierge (perfect for securing event tickets) a lounge, and a convenience store off the lobby. The hotel also features memorable artwork that has been a calling card of the hotel for decades. Despite Global status, during this stay I was unable to visit the lounge and did not have time for breakfast.
Room
I was “upgraded” to my corner room which had more space than other rooms in the hotel and more than the last room we stayed in. Upon entering, there was a small couch to the left with limited seating and a table with a single chair.
A dresser opposite the bed had a window and phone.
A wardrobe at the end of the room offered plenty of space to store a week’s worth of clothing if needed. Inside I found wooden hangers and an iron, which made for easy touch-ups to my business attire ahead of my meeting.
The TV was mounted opposite the bed and next to a stunning view of Midtown Manhattan buildings.
As with many Manhattan hotels, the room space was smaller than most will find elsewhere in the US. For New York City, the room was above average size but would still be a struggle for more than just a couple. I’d recommend considering a suite for those staying with family members.
Bathroom
The bathroom was modern but compact. The essentials were all there and the toiletries were premium but it was a limited space. The shower was not over a tub which was an added plus.
Value
Cash rates for the property range from $180/night to $300/night depending on occupancy levels and whether a convention has been scheduled at the hotel. Suites were a surprisingly good deal (though I didn’t upgrade my stay) at $238 per night. Point redemptions for the hotel are occupancy-based so they run 20,000 per night which is not a good value for World of Hyatt members. For the location, modern amenities, and a reasonable amount of space, I do recommend the hotel but only for those that pay cash for their stay.
What do you think? Have you stayed at the Hyatt Grand Central Terminal New York? How was your experience?
It’s called Grand Central Terminal..not station.
Correct. “Terminal” means all trains terminate there. “Station” means some trains run through. Grand Central is a Terminal, but Pennsylvania Station is a Station.
Soon there will be 11 Long Island Railroad Lines running through the “terminal”. Also note GCT houses a subway stop named Grand Central Station. So don’t be to harsh to those who say GC Station – they aren’t always wrong.
You are incorrect. The East Side Access Project will create additional terminal platforms. Trains will access them exclusively via a heretofore disused level of the 63rd St tunnel which will connect to a newly constructed tunnel under Park Avenue.
Grand Central Station, it may be worth noting, is the name of the nearby post office.
Grand Central Station is the name of the nearby post office 😉
Nothing about the dining options there?
Value piece of logic really should be qualified to read that rates are based on current demand, which is a function of city being an absolute dump and dramatically less safe for tourists – and everybody else but particularly tourists – than in years past. Anyone expecting the NYC you may have experienced in the past, good luck. Energy levels are only a have notch above Nashville. If or when city council decides to make the city livable and city returns to prior energy levels, you will not being paying $189. To all those claiming “New York is back”, if you believe that I got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you (or a ferry ride to SI). The only thing that’s back is cost of real estate. As for Grand Hyatt, I actually like the common spaces. Neighborhood is dead on weekend except for other tourists. So if you do plan to stay here and don’t view being surrounded by church groups from Tulsa as your perfect NY experience, consider nights during the week.
Um, not sure you’ve been to NY much. “Dramatically less safe”… “than in years past”…. You definitely weren’t around in the 80’s and even early 90’s….. Now that was an adventure. Earlier years than mine even more exciting. Times square (for example) hasn’t been interesting since then.
Frankly, I thought into the 2000’s to 2019 Manhattan got a little too “nice”. Practically Disney world.
Still plenty of life to be lived in the city. Besides, these “tourist areas” are for first time visitors (or people who haven’t been to a big city before) only anyway. People who visit NY regularly know to avoid those nonsense areas.
. Also, comparison to energy levels in Nashville is probably not a dig. It’s a fun town for a short visit.
Just like native San Franciscans don’t go to Fisherman’s Wharf, native New Yorkers don’t go to Times Square.
The hotel is abandoned and about to be knocked down
You could at least have taken photos of the lounge and written about breakfast and evening options. This seems like a rushed review – I expected better.
Whereas the bfast review
No upgrade for you lololol.
It happens.
The hotel has been closed for two years. This review is fraudulent.
You’re mistaken. I checked in and out this week, the hotel is very much open.
I actually stayed there for two nights a couple of weekends ago. Kyle is not making the hotel up 🙂
Overall, rooms were ok, lobby was cool and location was awesome. Grand Central Terminal offers good subway connectivity.
And I am actually staying in it right now!
I’m sorry, I made a mistake. The hotel reopened in November, and I didn’t know that.
What about lounge and breakfast offering for Globalist?
These are pretty important things to cover in any legitimate hotel review, isn’t it?
Wasn’t offered lounge (not sure it’s reopened) and no time for breakfast.
There’s no longer a lounge. It was closed at the start of Covid when it was a Grand Hyatt and will not be returning.
Signage is still up, but it wasn’t specifically outlined at checkin and I had no time to utilize it anyway.
We stay at the Grand Hyatt every time we go to the city. The last time we stayed was last month. The bar in the lobby was still closed and also the lounge was still closed. I asked if it was closed permanently and the desk manager said that they were reopening soon. The lounge access can be purchased on top of your hotel stay if you don’t already have access to it and they have a full breakfast, snacks throughout the day, appetizers at night, and coffee and drinks all day and night as well as beer and wine for a fee (honor system) and at night they have desserts. It’s nice to not have to leave the hotel first thing in the morning trying to find a breakfast spot and cofffee and having to spend $50 just for it.
I will stay there in June and would very much like to utilize the lounge. Did they by any chance tell you a more specific date when the lounge is reopening?
Cheers
During Baseball season a lot of the visiting teams stay there so it may cost more to stay a night
I stayed here in December. It was a terrible stay at a terrible property in a convenient location. My concierge even refunded half of my points when I complained. Globalist breakfast is just a credit in the convenience store, and the lounge is almost certainly not returning. I believe part of the reason it rebranded from a Grand Hyatt to a Hyatt is so a lounge would no longer be part of the brand standard. This property only reopened because the City of New York required closed hotels to reopen in an effort to provide jobs for the displaced workers. Its days are numbered in this capacity, as I believe the owners never truly wanted to reopen it.
Regarding the points pricing, it isn’t occupancy based, it is seasonally based with rates falling in to a specific category. It is a category 5 hotel, so rates are 17K/20K/23K based on whether the NYC market is Low/standard/high.
This hotel will be torn down and replaced by the tallest building in NYC: 175 Park Avenue, which will be 1,566′ tall. The renderings look spectacular.
It used to be my go to NYC hotel until it was downgraded from a Grand Hyatt to a Hyatt after the pandemic stalled the decision to rebuild on the same site. Regardless, the property is now average at best as the owners have failed to maintain the case goods and other furnishings in the room. They are beat up. With so many options available in NYC, Hyatt or otherwise, I would never use points here and would only stay again if the paid rate was $200 or less. And remember, the Hyatt has a mandatory hefty destination fee on paid stays.