The Westin New York Grand Central

I was extremely disappointed with my stay at this hotel. We stayed for five nights, and during that time, we couldn’t even microwave our food. The staff informed us that there were no microwaves available, and no one offered any assistance to help us heat our meals. I’ve stayed in several five-star hotels, and this is the first time I’ve encountered such an issue. Considering the hotel charges around $400 per night, I expected much better service. Being forced to buy fresh food every day was frustrating. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone, and I certainly won’t be returning. The staff’s lack of helpfulness made the experience even worse.

Service was not up to par with the level of standards expected of Westin/Marriott.

First, there was no water provided in the room when I checked in. In my entire experience of traveling the world, even 3-star hotels provide complimentary water in the room. When I called the hotel guest services, they said they would send up to my room. When nothing happened for almost an hour, I called again. A different person picked up. She merely said that there was no record of my request. There was no empathy for a thirsty guest. So I said, could you please send it up, and her cold reply was, to my utter shock, 'there is no room service after 1030pm'. I had to ask so what do I do and she then prompted to say I had to go down and get the water from the front desk if I liked. I had no choice but to go down, even though I was not properly attired. When I was downstairs, the front desk staff just told me to wait at the side. There was no courtesy in the delivery at all. I felt like a beggar, not a hotel guest.

A lady then walked out nonchalantly from a room and just passed me a bottle of water. Zero courtesy again. Was there really no one who could send the water to our room, or at least put the water in all our rooms upon checking in?

When I next asked for firmer pillows, the response was simply, 'the pillows in our rooms are already firm.'.

This is not the level of service I expect of a Westin/Marriott hotel. Usually there would be welcome drink/fruits/chocs in the room but the Westin Grand Central hotel room felt like it was stripped to the bare basics. Of course, I am measuring up to standards I have seen in other Westin/Marriott hotels in other countries. If The Westin Grand Central is benchmarked differently, do let me know.

Definitely, not all were bad. Some of the front desk ladies were very polite and efficient when they handled my check-in and -out. As a gold elite member, they also upgraded my room. There are certainly some staff who need better hospitality and customer service training to better live up to the standards and expectations. Otherwise, Westin/Marriott's reputation could be tarnished in the hands of a few rotten apples.

Rooms are basic and not luxurious feel. There is also no master button to control the lighting nor curtains, everything is manual.

- I don’t know what’s up with this hotel. I paid the full amount before checking in. Checked out on Monday, and everyday I keep getting alerts that they are charging me different amounts to a point they maxed out my credit card. Accounting department hasn’t returned my calls or emails. Front desk doesn’t seem to care. I’ve never been through a booking as stressful as this one! Found retainers in couch. Yellow spots in the bathroom ceiling. The rooms we had originally booked were not given to us. I was offered one bed and a sofa bed while I had 3 children.