My spouse and I stayed at the Viceroy Central Park on a
Wednesday evening in late November 2018. We reserved our room online, and we
selected a package that included breakfast. The Viceroy is a member of the Global Hotels Alliance (GHA), so if you are a Discovery member, you’ll
receive credit and possibly additional perks.
Despite its name, the Viceroy Central Park is not located on
the perimeter of the actual park. (Nearby hotels including the Ritz-Carlton and
JW Marriott Essex House do actually face the park.) Instead, the Viceroy is
located two blocks south of the Central Park on West 57th Street
between 7th & 6th Avenues.
The purpose-built hotel opened in October 2013 and offers 240 rooms spread
across 29 floors. A black brick exterior accented by steel, stone, and casement
windows leads to an Art Deco interior with marble, glass, and brass accents.
Many shops and restaurants are located within walking distance of the hotel.
Property amenities include a small lobby lounge area, fitness
center, and two dining options: The
Roof and Kingside. My spouse and I visited The Roof in July 2018 (although not
as Viceroy overnight guests); see our review titled “Outdoors on a
Summer Night Is Best, But Indoors Is Attractive Too”. We visited Kingside as overnight guests on our November 2018 visit;
see our review titled “Need to Work on Their Customer Service”.
Upon check-in, as part of our room package, the desk agent
handed a complimentary breakfast coupon worth $25. We had looked online at the
Kingside menu, and since most plated breakfast entrees were priced at $18, we
decided that we would instead use the $25 to purchase some items-to-go at the
restaurant’s takeout counter instead. However, when we went to pay for our two
coffees and two bagels, we were told that although the items did not exceed the
$25 value of the coupon, the coupon could only be used to pay for one guest’s
breakfast (therefore one coffee and one bagel). We later learned at checkout
that we should have received two breakfast coupons, one for each registered
guest, thereby having $50 in credit. However, no attempt at recompense was made
by the desk agent. This was a most unfortunate situation, because if we had
known that we should have had two coupons, we would have preferred to sit down
for a served meal. When we checked in, the agent made a fuss about requiring
each one of us to produce our photo IDs so that we would both be officially
registered, so we don’t know why moments later she only provided us with one
coupon.
Our guestroom at the Viceroy reminded us a bit of a ship
stateroom’s interior, with cleverly designed furniture that made use of all
available space. One side of the room contained a large wooden furniture piece
that surrounded and encompassed the bed, with a headboard/mirror/light above,
and dual nightstands/closet combinations on each side. Our king-size bed wasn’t
very comfortable; the mattress was positioned atop a low wooden platform rather
than on a more forgiving box spring; in addition, the mattress angled down on
both sides, so we each felt as though we were rolling toward the edges. Our
room also contained a small desk with two open shelves above, and a small
leather settee in front of the mullioned windows, two of which could be cracked
open. Room amenities included a sound system, complimentary Wi-Fi, and an
espresso machine. The bathroom had retro marble mosaic-style walls, floor, and
open glass shower (no curtain), and a pedestal sink with brass fixtures. One bathrobe,
two pairs of slippers, and toiletries by ROIL are provided.
For the daily rates charged by the Viceroy, we expected more
thoughtful service. With the multitude of nearby lodging options, we are
unlikely to return.
