The Thompson Central Park was a beautiful property, well appointed, and excellent value for money. In fact, it was nearly perfect.
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Location
Just three blocks south of Central Park, the Thompson Central Park straddles some interesting Manhattan neighborhoods. Within a five-minute walk is 30 Rockafeller, the NBC headquarters, 7-10 minutes away from Times Square, and close to everything with many subway stations. A taxi in from LaGuardia took about 45 minutes at 8 pm and set us back $64 before tip. We loved the location.
Address: 119 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019
Phone: +1-212-245-5000
Property
The property feels like a mix between a premium leisure property and a business hotel. Check-in at reception was efficient, and the desk agent took the time to explain various unique aspects of the property critical to our stay.
I hate starting a review of a property I like with a negative aspect, but this is the section where it belongs. Our stay in New York City was during the middle of October where it was warm during the day and a little bit chilly at night. We wanted some ice in the room and this became a problem. We called the operator and were told it was on the 22nd floor and that there was a bucket in the room. We found the bucket and made our way to the 22nd floor where my daughter and I found another person looking for ice.
Separately we both paced the entire floor but came up empty-handed. The two of us talked about how neither of us could find it, when someone came out and said there was no ice on the floor and we should call room service. I went back to my room to do so, where they told us it was on the 22nd floor but would deliver us ice in 25 minutes.
I finally found an unmarked door between rooms with a keypad on it. I grabbed the handle and opened the door to find… the ice machine. Between the two of us searching and the guy who poked his head out, it’s fair to say that the Thompson Central Park needs to better mark this door and should explain it over the phone. Something along the lines of, “look for an unmarked door with a keycard entrance that happens to be unlocked.” Or just put up a sign.
Parker’s (Lobby Restaurant)
For upper story rooms like ours (2505) a different bank of elevators is used than those off the lobby. This pathway takes you through Parker’s the lobby restaurant. On the only night of our stay, a Thursday evening, an excellent jazz band was playing in Parker’s and was well attended.
Burger Joint
Hidden just off Parker’s, up a short flight of stairs and behind a red velvet curtain is Burger Joint. Plenty of patrons were inside when I peeked my head behind the curtain a little after 10 pm. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to try it out as we ate at Lucali’s in Brooklyn, but it looked like a great burger spot.
The hotel has a fitness center but I didn’t photograph it.
Benefits
Globalists within the World of Hyatt will enjoy breakfast at Parker’s daily for two adults and two children attached to their reservation. Globalists can also check in early (if available) or check out late at 4 pm as can guests staying on a Hyatt Privé rate. As a lowly Explorist, I was still offered a park view room, early check in and a 2 pm check out.
Room
We were pleasantly surprised to when we opened the door to room 2505. Immediately in sight was a glimpse of the treetops in Central Park and the beautiful buildings that line its edges. For New York, the room felt large and spacious. The couch at the window helped utilize key space.
Both of our queen beds were comfortable, the room was incredibly clean, and had a conservative, modern design. A Nespresso coffee machine with (6) pods (some of which were Stormio for aficionados) was above a minifridge which was not stocked (my preference), waters available in the room.
The View
It’s amazing how someone living in wooded western Pennsylvania can so quickly come to appreciate the sight of natural greenery. The view from the park was stunning. There was a building across the street under construction but we hardly noticed. Much like Matthew, the last time we stayed at the Park Hyatt New York, even closer to the park, did not have the view we had at the Thompson Central Park.
Bathroom
The bathroom was reasonably sized for US cities and above average for New York.
Thompson has a great partnership with Bowmakers. I love their product, it’s fresh, and while these are not toiletries in travel-sized bottles, I find it much more charming that they aren’t attached to the wall.
Value
As I mentioned in other posts, the week we were in New York City was inexplicably expensive. There were no major events on, yet the city was higher priced – across nearly every hotel we looked at (80+) – than normal by about 50%. Nightly rates during our stay averaged at about $680/night or 29,000 points. At normal rates (just under $500/night or 25,000 points) we still find the property a worthy value and perhaps even our new home in the city. I highly recommend this hotel which felt like a bargain with that view.
What do you think? Have you stayed at Thompson Central Park New York? How was your experience?
Many (including me) have had poor experiences here. They also recently started playing games with award availability (tiny subset of base rooms made available). I discourage booking here for both those reasons.
Everything was looking great until I saw a bath tub with a shower curtain. That absolutely does not belong into a hotel of this level. Those are for Motel 6 and Comfort Inns.
Are the beds queen sized? They seem a bit small and more like doubles (unless those are huge pillows!)
Is stormio the Nespresso term for decaf?
It is a very strong blend.
How was the breakfast?
Interestingly enough, I (we) stayed at this property during almost the same time period as Kyle (OCT 17-20) and while the experience overall was stellar, my wife also spent at least an hour searching for the 22nd floor ice machine. Staff was great in getting us the ice we needed in a very timely manner, but its uncanny that we shared the same experience. In response to JoeMart’s post, we thought breakfast was fantastic (we stayed in the upper floors and ate on the third floor level) with a wonderful variety of offerings. Epilogue: we thought the property was exceptional across the board albeit high in price as aligned with expected NYC rates.
I stayed here back when it was Starwood Parker Meridien. It does not appear to have changed much.
The brand of soap etc is D. S. and Durga – not bowmakers. Bowmakers is just one of their fragrances.