InterContinental New York Barclay, an IHG Hotel

I took my five daughters to NYC during the holidays this year for a Christmas treat. I am an IHG member and my travel agent recommended this Virtuoso property to me. I booked three rooms; 1 suite for 3 daughters, 1 room for 2 daughters and 1 room for myself. Upon checking in, a delightful gentleman, Anton, got us all right where we needed to be. We had a fabulous time in the city! Great tickets. Great foods. Great shopping and amazing Christmas light shows. For those of you familiar with Virtuoso bookings, there are lovely amenities included during your stay. $150.00 per day toward breakfast being one of them. After checking out, my statements showed where I was charged for the breakfasts so I emailed them for reimbursement. Below is exactly what I emailed them and the ridiculous response I received. When I replied with more details and asked for resolve, Anthony has ignored me. I find this inexcusable. The two highlights of our stay; Anton who checked us in and the housekeeping staff. What hard workers who were always super sweet! I won’t be back.

DEC 20,2023 4: 56pm EST
Good afternoon,

My name is Kristine Fitts and I just had my five daughters stay with me (and you!).

We were reserved through a Virtuoso agent and not all amenities were discounted as should have been upon our departure.

Please take a look at the following rooms:

Kristine Fitts Room 820
Natalie McGarvey Room 708
Madeline Fitts Room 746

We arrived on Saturday December 16th and departed Tuesday December 19th.

I look forward to the resolution.

With thanks,
Kristine Fitts

DEC 20,2023 10: 53pm EST
Ms. Fritts,

Thank you for staying with us at The Barclay and thank you for your email. Per the Virtuoso benefits the club lounge is included with your stay as far as inclusive food and beverage options and this is where you would have been able to enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Please see the attached letter that was provided with your stay as it explains to you the benefits on property that you should have received upon check in to the hotel. The restaurant was not an option that was included with your stay and this is why charges for the meals of breakfast were charged directly to you.

We are terribly sorry as we are unable to adjust these charges at this time as this is a separate dining option that is not included with your bookings. Thank you for your understandings with this matter.

Regards,
Anthony

DEC 21,2023 8: 01am EST
Good morning Anthony,

Thank you for the quick response, however,
I must beg to differ with your response.

I am very aware of the handout Anton gave us when we checked in, thank you.

We stopped at the front desk and asked two associates at their stations where the Virtuoso breakfast was served. We were directed to the restaurant.

In addition to that, the (not so friendly) server explained to us that only two breakfasts per room were included so the suite which had three girls could only have two applied.

If we were in the wrong place, why would your staff tell us otherwise and why would the server acknowledge the amenity for charging purposes?

I do not know the servers name, but there were two gentleman servers, one super duper friendly, small framed. The other, a larger build, older and extremely grumpy. The latter is who specifically explained to us the charging details.

I look forward to hearing from you.

With thanks,
Kristine

We booked a 2 room suite for 4 people. Only 1 bed was arranged on arrival and it was really hell to get the staff to come and put sheets on the second bed. Then I had to special request a pillow for the 4th person.we're supposed to share a pillow or something? The entire stay we got 3 towels only.for 4 people! Why can't anyone count here? I shouldn't have to keep calling down to beg for a towel and then wait an hour for it. They never change the sheets btw, no matter what condition they are in or how long you've been in them - 5 nights with the same sheets, are you kidding me? The shower drainage pipes are broken because after you shower, the carpet in the bedroom becomes saturated. This has been going on for some time because the wall, rug and baseboards are molded and rotted away. Why would they not fix that? I'm disgusted with this hotel. They have nerve claiming 4 stars. 3 stars would be pushing it.

This hotel is absolutely beautiful. Located in much quieter area but yet close enough to Rockefeller center, st Patrick’s cathedral, the diamond district and fifth avenue shopping. The morning buffet is good but not five star. It could be better but it was fine for not having to leave the hotel. Oh, heated bathroom floor, beautiful rooms, super comfortable bed and gorgeous sheets. Byredo bathroom products. This hotel is historic, beautiful and I highly recommend!

Beautiful hotel. Had a comfortable stay. Location was perfect as a base to explore NYC.
Food and service was excellent.

Overall hotel was a mixed bag. The entrance and lobby are stunning and set the hotel up well. As a Diamond ambassador member, the check in was very well run and staff were an asset. Especially AnnMarra who organised our upgrade. Rooms were good and bad, with a suite being very nice and a premium room being limited by poor lighting and faulty shower head. We also had a little bit of a dissapointing experience at breakfast, with one of the staff who was clearly having a bad day causing our daughter to be very upset. However I must say that the staff did apologize and try and make up for it the following morning. Unfortunately whilst the staff were very friendly, again I wouldn't expect this kind of experience in any high end hotel and overall this let down the experience. Hotel is well placed to access 5th Ave, empire state and many others hot spots which is very good. Overall, I left the hotel with mixed feelings, which is unusual for an InterContinental, as normally the experience, as you would expect is exceptional. After staying at many Kimptons, InterContinentals and other equivalent hotels, I would put the Barclay on the lower end of the scale as prices are high, but quality of experience is limited.

Hotel is a scam - 45$ amenity fee per night (for nothing) and funnily enough they charge 13$ per small bottle of in-room (non-branded) water on top. Absolute joke.

Went for a long weekend trip with friends, had a wonderful stay. I would definitely choose to stay here again on my next trip to the city.

Beautiful hotel, very well located. Great service from valet, front desk staff and at the lobby bar. Will return on my next trip to NYC.

Do NOT stay here if you want quality sleep. You will be able to hear everything your neighbors are doing, saying, and thinking.

Everything else was OK.

Rooms and front desk staff are great - very historic building. Be warned about eating at the Parlour, some staff is cold and they impose a mandatory tip.

First I will start with the positive.
The beds were comfortable.
The location was nice now I would start with the negative when we first came. The guy from the receptionist did not have the room ready for us even though we came late around 7 o'clock evening
We, we requested a Deluxe double. We get a single room with a roller bed. Which was not convenience.secondly, The room has no water and this is 4 star hotel.
Which was very inconvenience. My roommate chose another room for himself.
And he was charged extra money.
My recommendation is to have Trained people at that receptionist.

Got backed-doored with a $72 charge for 2 bottles of water in the room. Asking them to remove the charges as A) I didn't see a charge, B) should be free and C) if I knew I certainly would not have bothered. Worst customer service experience at a hotel. I'll never return to this hotel.
Bar prices are ridiculous as well.

Overall Great experience. Large room, good amenities, water and cheese plate upon arrival.
Minibar, coffee and tea available in the room.
Service in the hotel was ok. Long queue at the front desk.
The bar area was great.
We will definitely come back…

Excellent hotel, very comfortable and easy to access. The lobby has a good view as do the bedrooms. It is charged to various tourist attractions.

The cleaning service carts were outside my room the entire time I was there. The toilet was clogged when I got into the room. The staff and the location were great

Very nice hotel. Clean and quiet. Shower door did not close properly so there was water outside after a shower. I called the front desk and it was fixed the same day.

This hotel is amazing. We stayed at the room with club lounge. The lounge serves nice afternoon tea including scones, sandwiches and coffee and cocktail time and full breakfast. The room is clean and spacious.

Fee for no service

You’ll be stung with a $39 per day “amenity fee” at the end of your stay which you won’t be told about when you check in and therefore can’t claim any expenditure against (you can apparently claim $25 off expenditure per day at the hotel)

Rooms are nice, but hidden, surprise fees are simply unacceptable