- ssullivan's Rating
The legendary Barclay Hotel is located just off Park Ave. on 48th St., across the street from the famous Waldorf Astoria. This grand hotel has offered some of the city’s premiere accommodations for over 75 years and has hosted heads of state (President Reagan, François Mitterand, and Nelson Mandela), celebrities (Bette Davis, Marlon Brando, and Ernest Hemingway), visiting NFL teams, and Miss America winners. A major renovation in 2001 updated the hotel’s public areas and guest rooms, preserving the majestic grandeur of decades past, but also giving guests a full slate of modern conveniences.
To be honest, I normally would not have stayed here. Such a hotel would normally be way out of my budget. However, my reservation was booked and paid for by a client company, whose headquarters were just a couple of blocks away. Originally they had wanted to put us up at the even grander Waldorf Astoria across the street, but given that it was Valentine’s Day weekend, the Waldorf was fully booked. Imagine my surprise when the client called to give me the reservation information and actually apologized for putting me up at the Barclay instead of the Waldorf! I politely told them that it would not be a problem and not to worry about it. I doubt that I missed very much by staying in a four-and-a-half star hotel, as opposed to a five-star one.
As the Barclay is an older hotel, most of the rooms are fairly small. Despite being slightly cramped, there was still enough room for a king-size bed, desk, armchair, and entertainment armoire. Guest rooms feature elegant furnishings of dark wood, custom window treatments, down-filled duvets, and pillow-top mattresses. Large work desks in each room were custom-designed to fit the unique floor plans of some of the guest rooms, ensuring that each room has a large work space. The wall-mounted lamps on either side of the bed, which are controlled by dimmer switches, are a nice touch. Amenities like high-speed Internet access and digital in-room movies are available. The bathroom, while very small, was one of the most attractive hotel bathrooms I’ve ever seen, with marble floors, custom faucets, and a large tub with a curved shower curtain rod. Features like a scale, bathrobe, makeup mirror, and handheld hair dryer were included, as well as a line of spa-quality amenities, including lotions, shower gel, and mouthwash.
If you’re looking for luxury and price isn’t an issue, the InterContinental Barclay is a good choice. The hotel’s services and guest rooms are quite good, and the location, near Grand Central, Park Avenue, Central Park, and Rockefeller Center, is unbeatable. However, unless I get a big increase in pay, I doubt I’ll be staying here when I’m actually paying for the trip myself!
- Hotel website: http://new-york-barclay.intercontinental.com
- Subway/bus routes: 51st St./Lexington Ave. and 53rd St./Lexington Ave. Stations, routes 4 (late nights only), 6, E, V; bus routes M27, M50, M98, M101, M102, M103.
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