The Plaza (NYC) on points....

[Laurabearz]

Anyone do it? Or stayed there?? Hubby and I are thinking of sneaking away from the kids for a couple of days.....

Thanks for your thoughts

 

[twinglefam]

We were thinking of the same thing; but with the deals on Southwest, friends fly free.....we decided that it would probably be just as cheap to head down to Disney for three nights! Ok, it may have been a TAD cheaper to take the train in to NYC, but why would you when you can go home....?! That's how my brain works....it's on Disney mode all the time. Going in 8 days!

I was thinking of giving my dad and his wife a few nights in there for his retirement....it's a fun place to go; catch a show, dinner, etc.... have fun.

 

[Laurabearz]

Hey! We are going in 12 days!

It is a small world after all

 

[Merilyn]

I gave my daughter and her new husband 2 nights there for part of their honeymoon. They had trouble with it at first. They were given a dirty room. After several complaints they were up graded to a better room for the same points. They said it was very nice. Hope you enjoy your trip.

 

[Disney Doll]

We did ti for an overnight a few years ago for my bithday. We went to see Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and then stayed there. It was a lot of points(like 52 or something)for one night, but we enjoyed it, as it was a special occasion. Our room was very nice, and we didn't find it dirty or anything. Of course, you don't get the rooms that overlook Central Park, but we enjoyed our stay.

 

[PADVCmember@OKW]

We stayed at The Plaza this past Thanksgiving on points.

Our room was small, dark, and not very well kept. We were later told that DVC reservations are booked into the smallest rooms.

Had a great time in NYC but wouldn't stay at The Plaza on points again.

 

[PamOKW]

There have been a couple of recent reports on the Plaza on the AOL DVC board. Everyone has enjoyed their trips and one member was upgraded to a park view. There are two levels of points when booking the Plaza. The Plaza is one of the most famous hotels in the world and the location in NYC can't be beat. However, it's true that some rooms are small without views. Getting a dirty room is an odd occurence...just like we sometimes get reports of dirty rooms at DVC.

 

[StevieD]

I have stayed at The Plaza many times (on business). Like most hotel rooms in NYC, the rooms tend to be on the small side. Its a great location - right across from Central Park. The staff is top notch - so if you have a problem, don't be afraid to voice your concerns.

Here's a little tip to enhance your excitement and anticipation of your trip - go to your local video store, and rent the DVD or VHS of Hitchcock's North by Northwest. If you haven't seen it, it's one of his best (Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Landau (at his creepiest)). Watch for one of the earlier scenes, where Cary Grant has a meeting at The Plaza hotel (this is what kicks off the movie's plot twists - Cary Grant is mistaken for another man in the bar). This scene was filmed in the Lobby, front desk, and the bar of the Plaza - and it really hasn't changed much since this was filmed (1959 or so)!

Have fun!!

 

[Patricia]

We did it for one night about two years ago. The room had a partial view of the park and it was beautiful. THe staff was very attentive and the whole experience was great. I loved staying right there in the city, eventhough it's only a 45 minute drive home. I would have to say the whole experience was great.

 

[auntsue]

We went last Memorial Day for our 30th anniversary. It was great. We booked the deluxe room. It was gorgeous. When the bellman took us up, he said, "Oh, you have a fun room. It used to be part of Orson Welles' suite." It had about 14 foot ceilings, a fireplace with a mirror that went up to the ceiling, two oversized chairs and a little table, a desk and chair, an armoire, and a king-sized bed. The service was fabulous also. BUT, the prices was out of this world, $66 for breakfast for the two of us, $79 for afternoon tea - it was soooo elegant and delicious, but that is a lot of money. It was amazing to realize that people did this every Sunday. I think it cost $5 for an 8 ounce bottle of coke. My husband almost had a stroke. We ate dinner in the Oak Room, again beautiful, but an arm and a leg. We went to see Beauty & the Beast & Aida while we were there. We got tickets from the booth in the Plaza, a humongous service charge, but incredible seats. All in all it was an awesome weekend, but if we ever did it again, I'm afraid we'd have to forego the eating on site and we'd have to preorder theatre tickets. But I'll never have another 30th anniversary, so from that point of view, it was worth it because it was a weekend I will never forget!

 

[Laurabearz]

Thanks for all the responses!

I have a couple of more ????

There are two choices listed in the CC points chart.... Classic and Deluxe. ANyone know the difference... or how those terms equate to the Plaza room choices? For those of you who had the smaller, inside room, did you book Classic?? OR Deluxe??

This is a big trip for my husband and me.... only our second time away from our children...... and we really need it to be wonderful.... The posts that mention inferrior rooms has us concerned.

SHould we look elsewhere for our "once in a lifetime" weekend in NYC???

HELP!!!

 

[mlshields]

My cousin stayed at the Plaza on his points. Of course, living in NY we had to see what he got for his points! To tell you the truth, yes the Plaza is amazing, but the room was incredibly tiny. I mean small enough that on either side of the bed was about 2 1/2 feet! Yes there were 12 foot ceilings and a very old 1920 ish bathroom, but there was a window approximately 8 inches wide by 2 feet tall and that was about the most spectacular thing about the room. I know of many more hotels in NYC that give you more bang for your buck - the Marriott Marquis and the Novotel in Times Square and surely the W downtown is amazing (look for hotels downtown since they are still feeling the effects of 9/11 and they surely appreciate the customers more). Have a wonderful time and enjoy NYC the best city in the world!

 

[Richyams]

We stayed at the Plaza a year ago last Christmas. We reserved the cheaper point cost room, it was great. It had two queen beds, two big windows and was larger than any DVC studio, yes, even OKW. It was a park view room, I believe it was on the 8th floor.

The only mistake we made was at the breakfast place. The buffet was like $35 per person, I figured ordering off the menu would be more reasonable. Well $6 per cup of coffee with no free refills, and I drink alot of coffee, the omlette with sausage, my wife's and kid's order brought the breakfast bill to.....I can't remember now, but it must have been near $150, because I remember thinking that I would have saved almost $50 if we had just went for the buffet.

 

[Laurabearz]

mlsheilds says she got a room that was super tiny.... Rich says his is larger than OKW.... boy they sure do run the gammit.....


WHat to do What to do.................

 

[alexcturner]

Dear Laurabearz, have you considered priceline for a hotel in New York? there is a website biddingfortravel.com that will walk you through. We used priceline last Oct for a hotel there and were very pleased. (new york Hilton for 75 per night.)

 

[jlambrig]

The Plaza is no different than any other hotel, including Disney, they will give you good rooms if they can but if occupancy is high then you will be given small rooms while the cash customers get the nicer rooms.

 

[DVC Bunny]

DH and I stayed at the Plaza on points in January. We were given a room overlooking Central Park, which was fab, but the service, IMHO, was not up to par. We requested two things from housekeeping and both times it took hours. First, we requested a key for the bar (which was SUPPOSED to have been given to us at check-in) and the second was when we requested additional pillows. If I had been paying cash (as opposed to to I had extra points and use 'em or lose 'em) I would not have been happy.

-Deborah

 

[Laurabearz]

Originally posted by alexcturner
Dear Laurabearz, have you considered priceline for a hotel in New York? there is a website biddingfortravel.com that will walk you through. We used priceline last Oct for a hotel there and were very pleased. (new york Hilton for 75 per night.)

The problem, at least for us, using priceline is we want to know ahead of time (before booking) the type of room/view we are getting. It is the kinda of the same about us using points... We could get a nice room with a view.... or a smaller room with nothing....... The plus side for the points is we will be at The Palace!

From what I can tell... to garentee a view, at a 5 star hotel like the Palace is big, BIG money.............

It would run us approx 180 points for our three nights at the Palace. We are point heavy, so 180 for a long weekend doesnt hurt too much Our other option, as we see it, it to fork over a couple of grand and garentee our room/view.

As it stands now, we are leaning towards booking on points and taking our chances with the room. My hubby and I are people persons and feel if we are unsatifeid with our room, they will offer us another one!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts! I will post an update when we reach our final desision!!!

 

[mapny]

We have done The Plaza and the other DVC option in NYC (Sheridan Murray Hill is what I believe it's called) and would definitely recommend the latter. While The Plaza is quite an "experience", we did not have a good visit there - but I don't think many others did either. Our room was small and uninteresting and on Sunday morning, the hotel was out of hot water - for everyone!!! No attempt was made to accommodate any of the guests. I don't think I ever would have stayed at The Plaza other than as DVC members, but I wouldn't do it again. Next time, it's back to the Murray Hill location for us - not as exciting an address, but otherwise good location, great suite, great service and great value!!

 

[PamOKW]

we will be at The Palace

I know you probably just mistyped but get The Palace out of your head if you are going to The Plaza. There is a Palace Hotel not far from The Plaza....don't want you checking in to the wrong hotel!

Almost all of the old-time luxury NY hotels have a mix of rooms. I've heard similar complaints about small rooms at The Waldorf. They also all have the outrageous prices for food and drink and the same problems with staffing. But, I still think it's worth doing at least once and you may end up in a great room as has been the case for some folks.