Hotel Overview

According to the official website, The London NYC by Conrad was the only all-suite luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The location is also excellent: it is close to Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and about an 8-minute walk from Times Square.

This hotel was going through a rebranding and corresponding renovation at the time. It was originally called the London NYC, and at the time of this stay the official website listed it as the London NYC by Conrad. After the rebranding, its formal name would become Conrad New York Midtown.

Booking the Hotel

I booked one night using a weekend free night certificate from the AMEX Hilton Ascend. Possibly because New York was extremely hot in late July and that counts as a slower travel season, the redemption value was not especially high. Paying cash directly would have been only about $200 + tax. If redeeming points, the cost was 95,000 per night, and I can’t imagine many people would want to use points at that rate. For more on how to use Hilton weekend free night certificates, see:

Entrance and Lobby

Because renovations were underway, the main lobby was closed, and guests had to enter through a small side door. The canopy still had the old London NYC sign on it.

The narrow passageway was a bit cramped, but the wall design was pretty nice, and the Conrad branding was already up.

The temporary check-in lobby and Concierge had been moved to the second floor and felt quite underwhelming.

Guest Room

I stayed in the entry-level one-bedroom king suite. According to the hotel website, all rooms had already been fully renovated.

Hallway

In person it looked fairly simple and elegant, but in photos the carpet somehow looked dirty.

There was a small room near the hallway corner, and behind the door was the ice machine.

Living Room

Right by the entrance was an area for changing shoes.

I liked the pendant light over the dining table, with its exposed wiring and designer look.

The cabinet on the left felt a little unnecessary, but opening it revealed the mini bar.

Mini Bar

Refrigerated section

Non-refrigerated section

Bedroom

I also really liked the bedside lamp design, with a slight industrial feel.

At first I thought this TV could swivel, but it turned out I was overthinking it.

Closet / Dressing Area

A set of shoe-shining tools

The first drawer contained the safe.

Bathroom

The shower had two shower heads, including one handheld option, which was a thoughtful touch.

The Shanghai Tang bath amenities were green tea scented, but the artificial fragrance was very strong, and I personally did not like it.

Breakfast / Elite Benefits

Hilton was quite generous here, as Gold members also received free breakfast. On the morning of check-in, we got a text from the hotel asking roughly what time we would arrive. The message also explained the Gold member benefits: a $30 dining credit per person for up to 2 people, or 1000 bonus points per night, plus 2 bottles of water daily. I replied with our estimated arrival time, and at check-in we confirmed that we wanted the $30 dining credit per person.

The restaurant was closed due to renovations, but the hotel offered 24-hour room service. The $30 could be used toward any food or drink items. There was also a fairly thick menu on the living room coffee table showing what was available at different times of day. We decided to use the credit for breakfast.

There were many more breakfast options, but only these could be scheduled in advance. The order form had to be placed outside on the door handle before 2 a.m.

We ordered one continental breakfast and one omelet. The total came to $30 + $30 + tax + 17% tip, and we ended up paying a little over $15 out of pocket.

We also requested late checkout, and the front desk approved a 1-hour extension to 1 p.m. The next morning, before heading out to wander around, we confirmed it again with the front desk. But when we returned around 12 p.m., housekeeping was already cleaning the room. Running into that was awkward enough, but even more awkward was that the housekeeper innocently asked, “Do you need me to leave?” We could only ask her to step out for a bit and come back after we left in half an hour. -.-|||

Finally, there was also the benefit of 2 complimentary bottles of water. Since there was no water set out in the room beforehand, we took two bottles of Fiji from the mini bar. At check-out we explained the situation to the front desk, and they removed the charge from the bill. Otherwise, they would have cost more than $11 per bottle after tax.

Gym

I’m not sure whether it was because of the renovations, but the gym door was propped open and did not require a key card. Overall, the space was not especially large, but the layout was sensible and the equipment was quite complete. As a side note, the guest room elevators also did not require a key card, which felt a bit lacking from a security standpoint.

In the middle area there were towels and complimentary bottled water available (I assume this was probably the same type of water included as the 2 complimentary bottles).

Bottom Line

Overall, I enjoyed this stay quite a bit. The suite renovation was tasteful, and the Gold benefits were generous. If you have a weekend free night certificate or the cash rate is low, this is a stay I’d still recommend.