Polished Tours and Activities

My brother had an eight-night prepaid reservation at the Empire. His flight was delayed a day, so he missed the first night. Importantly, he had completed the hotel’s check-in process sent to him by text. Despite that, because he didn’t physically arrive that night, the hotel canceled the entire reservation, gave his room away, and initially attempted to retain payment for the full stay. I understand no-show policies and have no issue with a penalty for the missed night. What I cannot understand is canceling the remaining seven prepaid nights after he had checked in electronically. Thankfully, Expedia intervened and refunded those seven nights while retaining the first night as the no-show penalty—a completely reasonable resolution. Based on our experience with the hotel, I’m not confident that would have happened without Expedia’s intervention. Even more upsetting was how we were treated. My brother arrived after an exhausting flight ordeal, already stressed, only to discover he had nowhere to stay. Rather than showing empathy or trying to help, the staff were rude and dismissive, putting a terrible damper on the beginning of his trip. I live directly across the street, so I went to the hotel in person hoping to understand what happened and collaboratively find a solution. The front desk employee was defensive and short with me. When I asked to speak with a manager, she told me she was having a bad day and was not going to help me. I genuinely hope whatever made her day

Very nice hotel beside beautiful Washington Square. Close to some very nice restaurants. Renovations still in progress though, so we were disappointed that the bar was not open.