Gild Hall, a Thompson Hotel (Hyatt) near Wall Street in New York City is a great Hyatt Privé option in lower Manhattan.
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Note: I was in town for a Hyatt Privé event and the program paid for my stay – not the hotel. I did not pay for my stay but reviewed it fairly and honestly.
Location
Gild Hall is positioned in New York’s Financial District, just steps from Wall Street, the former site of the World Trade Center and the new One World Tower. For those taking a Blade helicopter ride from area airports, the hotel is just a 12-minute walk from Blade Wall Street Lounge. There’s no end to the number of things to see and do within a short walk from the hotel.
Address: 15 Gold St, New York, NY 10038
Phone: +1 212-232-7700
Property
Gild Hall is designed to an exquisite precision, nothing less would be expected from its famed designer, the late Jim Walrod. Large tan and leather chesterfields run throughout the property with bold red in the hallways and 1960s-era photos. Rich wood flooring lighting that utilizes some of the opulently high ceilings makes the hotel feel as much like old New York as it does a stylish and modern version of itself.
There’s a small fitness center for a limited number of guests for those choosing to work out during their stay.
Hyatt Privé Benefits and World of Hyatt Globalist Benefits
This particular property has to be one of the best-priced Hyatt Privé eligible hotels (more on that in value.) Many of the World of Hyatt Globalist benefits coincide with Privé benefits guests can expect:
- Complimentary upgrade to the next room level including suites available at check-in (confirmed with Privé within 48 hours of booking.)
- Early check-in, and late check-out as available on the day of arrival/departure
- Breakfast for two in Gild Hall’s Felice Ristorante
- Two bottles of water daily (delivered to the room)
Privé adds a $50 credit per stay (though most Privé hotels offer $100/stay) and still allows the normal accrual of Hyatt points and stay credits. Only approved travel agencies are able to book Privé rates.
Suite
I was upgraded to the Thompson suite for my stay and it was stunning. It was suitable for entertaining or hosting if traveling with others, equipped to a high standard and I would highly recommend this suite if available during your stay.
Living Room
Upon entering the Thompson Suite (#70 on the 7th floor), a guest closet is to the left, and a guest half bathroom is to the right.
The room and its impressively high ceilings open up to an in-room wet bar with an impressive selection of drinks and snacks. For those staying on a Privé rate, mini bar charges are eligible for the on-site $50 credit. Rather than mini bottles of liquor, most are closer to splits which represent greater value to those who intend to imbibe in the room.
A large sitting area in the living room is opposite the bar with large windows and a TV. Of note, every couch in the hotel is a pull-out offering room for extra guests. While the bedroom had a separate desk, I found this area to be highly conducive to working in a relaxed environment away from the bedroom.
Bedroom
Though I was in a large suite, the bedroom is not separated by a door and wall partition. The space feels separate, but unlike the King Suites (a lower category) that does include a separate bedroom from living space, the Thompson suite does not. For my stay as a solo traveler and even if I were staying with my family, this wouldn’t be an issue. However, if I were hosting friends, family, or work colleagues in my suite for a visit, the bedroom would be in view for guests.
A pair of robes with Thompson-branded slippers awaits guests in the master bedroom closet along with a steamer but not an iron and ironing board. I had to iron a shirt and found that the steamer was sufficient for my purposes.
In the corner of the bedroom is a nook with a desk and space to work; there’s a sturdy luggage rack behind the desk. The desk with a lamp offered plenty of power sources and space enough for a laptop and a second screen if needed. Along with the ethos of the chain, rather than a plastic pen, a pencil is offered with a small notepad.
The bed was comfortable, large, and had plenty of outlets at either nightstand. The TV is sizable and is equipped with Hyatt’s in-room Chromecast so guests can stream their own content channels rather than rely on cable.
As I was shown other rooms on the property, here are some shots of those as well:
Bathroom
The master bathroom in this suite was huge by any standards, not just normally tight New York quarters. Closed off by a door, a separate water closet inside to the left has its own door from the rest of the bathroom. A double vanity is opposite the entrance. Marble floored and spacious, the master bathroom has continues the high attention to detail the hotel offers, but in a contrasting bright white tone rather than the more subdued tans and browns around the rest of the suite and property.
Here is a photo I was able to grab of another bathroom in a King Premium room:
Wrapping around the corner and behind the vanity is a full soaking tub and a large walk-in shower. There are some products available in the bathroom (a bath bomb and CBD-related shower product) that are chargeable from the mini bar menu. The packaging seems obviously differentiated from the included toiletries, but it’s worth noting to avoid confusion.
Restaurant (Felice 15)
During my stay I ate twice at Felice 15, one of several highly regarded Felice restaurants in the city. From the late afternoon until close, the venue was packed both in the bar area and the restaurant proper. I had some work to do so when I came down for dinner just after 7pm I was told that I would have to wait for a table. I was happy to go back upstairs to my room to wait and continue working. The venue contacted me by text when my table became available. When I came back down to dine, I found myself amongst other diners well into the night who were local to the area, a great sign for the quality of the food on offer.
For dinner, the restaurant was very dark and in an effort to avoid disturbing other guests, I opted not to turn on my flash so the photos are noticeably grainy in the limited light. I had just one night to utilize the restaurant so I asked for a recommendation from the server, a bolognese (lunch portion) to start, and a Chicken Milanese as my main course. It was too much food but I tried both (for the purposes of this review only…) and they were both exceptional. The ticket for the two items came in around $52 – just a shade over my credit before the tip.
For breakfast in the morning, finding a table before 8 AM was an easier task. A comprehensive menu was available for the included breakfast but due to a limited amount of time, I opted for the Avacado Toast, served with a pair of poached eggs. I also added a cup of coffee and was offered drinks to go but decided against it. Service did not suffer in the morning and the food was fantastic as expected.
For Privé guests (and I presume World of Hyatt Globalists), a pair of breakfast vouchers are handed out at check-in, one for each of two guests permitted (though there would be two more for children if they are included on the reservation) issued for each day of the stay. I gave my additional breakfast voucher away to a nearby table and the staff seemed non-plussed though other properties may have frowned on sharing my benefit with a guest not associated with my room.
Those who might visit the hotel for an event or during even busier periods might be escorted upstairs to La Soffitta, the hotel’s bar and additional seating for the restaurant.
Value
Depending on the type of rate, room type, and occupancy, rates swing substantially from as low as $200/night as reported by Google to more than $600/night. During my stay, the average nightly rate was on sale for $249; next weekend is as low as $218. Those are pretty wild swings. World of Hyatt free nights are offered at 20,000 points per night, though peak night stays and off-peak can offer stays for less or more than that base amount.
Depending on the cash cost per night, using Hyatt points or a free Category 1-7 night award may be a good use. Live And Let’s Fly values Hyatt points at about 2¢/point so assuming the property is offering free nights at 20,000, the regular room rate would need to exceed $400 to make points the better use.
Of note, the hotel includes some amenities like bikes, and premium coffee in the lobby as part of its $27.50/night destination charge. Globalists on an award stay do not pay this fee, but Privé rates are cash only so this would have to be weighed into the value.
What do you think? Have you stayed at Gild Hall? How was your experience?
Nice review of the hotel but the cynical me says it’s just a giant ad for your agency. Add in the “ For those taking a Blade helicopter ride from area airports” and it screams elitism.
This entire Prive thing makes no sense to me other than a money grab that everyone gets a cut out of. Another made up gimmick to fleece additional cash from business travelers.
That said, nothing wrong with promoting your business, it’s what pay the bills for the site.
@Dave Edwards – I review any hotel I would have researched before I stayed there and Gild Hall is a great example of one that needs a review. When it’s $200-600/night it’s either a great value or overpriced depending on what that experience looks like and the price for that particular stay. With regard to the Privé cash grab, the rates I saw were $20 more/night than the member rate and about $10 higher than the prevailing rate, so to get a $50 on-site credit regardless of the upgrade, early/late check-in/out, daily breakfast, etc. it was cheaper than what was on the open market from the credit alone. The thing with Privé is that only approved agencies can sell them and there aren’t a lot out there so if someone wanted to book a Privé rate they have to go through an agency.
Stayed here many times and always have mixed feelings.
Felice is amazing and the highlight of the hotel for me.
However, the storage closets used for fitness “rooms” and lack of natural light in 90% of the guest rooms has made me choose elsewhere.
If someone doesn’t require a gym and doesn’t mind an atmosphere with almost no natural light, this hotel is an okay choice. (Its also important to mention the regular rooms are also quite small, and the bathrooms have no ventilation so they get very humid quickly. Plus, the showers are old and the water pressure is weak.)
I had stayed here using the Hyatt Category 1-4 award certificate. This has a hunting lodge style design in NYC. Dark colors and minimal amount of light make it a very unappealing place to stay. I won’t return.
@Kyle, I though you were a Globalist Member?
If not, all these little extra that need to be paid make the final bill pretty steep, isn’t it?
This was very nice and useful for myself
Thanks for sharing.
Did you change the orientation the coffee table in the “Sitting Room” for the different photos? If so, why?