Excelsior Hotel

Stayed the weekend of January 29 – 31. The hotel is across the street from both the American Museum of Natural History and the entrance to the middle of Central Park. Also has a subway station at the street corner and dozens of small restaurants, bars, and shops within a short walk.
My experience was enjoyable — nothing bad happened, so I take that as a win. I will say that the highlight of this hotel is its cleanliness. Never once did I see or hear housekeeping at work, yet I know they were there, because my room was always tidy and the building’s common areas were consistently spotless. Big kudos to the housekeeping department.
I noticed other people’s reviews tend to mention that it needs «cleaning» — they mean updating. Yes, aspects are older and not completely modern, but don’t confuse appearing outdated with appearing unclean.

I wish I could leave zero stars. The hotel refuses to change the date of my reservation. I asked for a new date and not a refund due to the major snow storm I cannot make it up to New York from Delaware. I have a $ 200 room and the hotel stated it won’t help me out at all. Won’t even give me a discount for a future date. The hotel made it clear that it doesn’t care to help me.

We had an amazing experience here! The staff was great and super accommodating! The room was very nice and the bathroom was adorable. The heat/​AC worked great. There were a couple maintenance issues in the bathroom so it wasn’t a perfect score but it amAzing location made up for any problems. Park at the Natural History Museum across the street for a break on parking fees (but they do close at 12am). Overall I was very pleased with my experience!

If you want to be on the Upper West Side, this is the perfect hotel. It’s in a great location and the price is pretty good for NYC. No, The rooms are good and the staff is friendly. I’ve stayed here a few times over the last couple of years and have always been happy with the room and service.

Cleanliness and heat issues. We had such high hopes for this hotel because it is newly renovated and in an absolutely great location. So close to all upper west side shops and restaurants and right off Central Park. The décor of our first room (standard two double beds, as we were one adult and two girls) was simple but nice and the bathroom was clean. However, when we pulled down the covers of one of the beds, there were tiny black specks of dirt or some refuse all over the sheets! The hotel desk was immediately responsive and upgraded us to a suite. The suite was clean and had two larger beds but in the morning there was no heat coming out of the system in the suite living room. The bathroom was icy cold.
Although the hotel staff is polite and helpful, because of the terrible upkeep along with very limited extras (wi-​fi is not free, no mini fridge and the bathroom amenities so limited)
we would never stay here again.

The room wasn’t terribly small, but it wasn’t the cleanest. The bathtub looked dirty, stained even. There comforter wasn’t heavy or warm. The windows were paper thin, and you could hear everything outside. The bed itself was a little hard. There was a breakfast, but for 17 $ a person, you’re really better off exploring New York (which is what we did). Not terrible of a room, but the cleanliness wasn’t up to par.

Upon arrival we were upgraded to a suite with a view but view blocked by scaffolding! Bathroom very, very small and dusty. Staff not overly friendly but nice enough. Breakfast buffet advertised waffles, etc but none available, only runny cold eggs, pastry, bacon, cold ham and salmon. Not worth the 17 dollars!
2^nd elevator broken most of the visit.
Overall hotel location was good but the hotel is dated and in need of interior upgrade and cleaning.

Never been so nickel and dimed in my life. I’m ok with $ 400/​night in NY, but no free wifi? You can’t print your boarding passes for free? Clean room, but definitely showing its age. We got to see some Thanksgiving day balloons, so that was very cool, but I wouldn’t come again.

Very rude staff. Like a third world experience. Be prepared to be treated badly and possibly defend yourself against verbal abuse.

This place stinks, literally. We had to be moved after the first night because of a chemical smell coming from the HVAC that the engineer couldn’t identify. Our last night a smoker decided to light up in the hall and turn our floor into a fumatorium, exposing our 2-​year-​old to extensive second hand smoke. Front desk was useless at resolving the problem. Poor service all around. Since when is it ok for hotel doormen to stand in front of their hotel smoking cigarettes ignoring the basic function of opening the door for a parent pushing a baby carriage? Never again.

The Excelsior is in a great location, across from the Museum of Natural History, and the staff was mostly friendly. But we were otherwise disappointed with our stay. At this price, we expected more.
First, the two double beds in the room were actually rather small, probably about 1.5x a twin. So one of our party was forced to sleep on the small couch in the suite’s living room. We had a couple of other problems throughout our stay including: the bathtub drain backed up, the toilet ran consistently after being flushed (they fixed this upon request), a bulb in an overhead light flickered on and off, the windows had no screens so several large moths flew into our room, the sink tap water smelled awful (could be a Manhattan issue?).
There were a few other minor annoyances like the bar closing early and the price of using the internet and printing services in the business room.
I guess we could have been unlucky, since other people seemed to enjoy their stays here, but we will not give it another try to find out.

I stayed here for a five day conference at Columbia. The price can’t be beat for the location. It’s a decent sized room, very clean with simple décor. The shower is great but bring your own shampoo and conditioner because their bottles are tiny! I had zero view or free phone & wifi. but it’s near the 79^th crosstown stop and right around the corner from the Museum of Natural History and a stop for the B & C lines. The Red 1 is two short blocks down and over on 79^th, or up on 86^th.
Several spots to eat at nearby and it’s a relatively quiet neighborhood.
If you’re not trying to spend time in your hotel and just need a safe clean place to crash, this is the spot.

At the very last second I found out i needed to drive the hours and into NYC. I needed a hotel for two nights the night before. I wanted to stay near central park and came across the Excelsior. The price was right and they had a room with two beds. When we first drove by we didn’t know it was even a hotel because the construction on the outside hid the name, so it took a few passes to find it. When we did we were saddened to learn there was no valet parking. Driving at all in the city gives me anxiety.
I asked at the desk about parking and they sent me across the street to park at the Museum of Natural History. It turned out to be a great deal. They validated my parking ticket and 2 nights parking was only $ 60, that is fantastic in my book.
The hotel is not huge and grand, but clean and comfortable. All who work there are friendly and helpful. The elevators are slow and clunky but gives you a feeling of times gone by. We stayed on the 16^th floor and although you can hear the street if you really try it wasn’t a bother at all, the room was extremely quiet. There was no view at all, we kept the blinds closed at all times since you can see into windows on the other side of the hotel. The room was HUGE by city standards. It had 2 rooms (sitting room and bedroom) plus the bathroom. It was so clean and well taken care of I was impressed. The beds were soft and the linens crisp. Rarely I am not at all impressed with the toiletries in the room but my hair is incredibly soft from the products and the soap smelled amazing.
The location is tricky. you will either love it or hate it. We wanted to be near central park and this is just steps away. The museum of natural history is just across the street and the Metropolitan Museum of Art is walking distance away. There are some wonderful restaurants to try just around the corner (I would highly recommend going out for crepes!!) If you like to walk through the city, as we do, you will be fine. Time Square is just under 2 miles away and there is some great shopping on the way. If your looking to be close to some nightlife this isn’t the spot, at night it is quiet and pleasant. In the end we were sad to go and both my daughter and I agreed that we would not hesitate to to stay again at the Excelsior. We both found it charming and comfortable. A gem in the city!

We stayed at the Excelsior the beginning of July.
Pros: clean, bigger room than I thought for NY, fitness center, centrally located, half a block from the subway, across the street from the Museum of Natural History, half a block from Central Park, uncrowded/​nice part of Manhattan, staff friendly, complimentary newspaper at the door in the morning, higher quality soaps and lotions (haha), comfortable bed, blackout curtains, good AC, quick elevator.
Cons: These are more things that could have been better, not really cons. wifi isn’t free, no complimentary breakfast (which wasn’t a big deal since there were so many good breakfast places within walking distance), TV channels slightly difficult to change.

Pretty hotel and nice views. Location is obviously the best part, but a lost a star for charging for wifi. I travel a lot and I honestly cannot remember the last place I stayed that charged for wifi. $ 25 per device per day is absolutely ridiculous. Already paying a decent amount for the room so this should have been free. This was also never stated on the website during booking.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that our room was basically an apartment. There was a living room, and even a (small) kitchen complete with dining ware. We had everything we needed: Iron/​Ironing board, hair dryer, plenty of towels and washcloths. The cleaning staff cleaned without laying a hand on our personal belongings. The room was large enough for three people to be comfortable. There’s no central air, since it’s an old building, but the two air conditioners in the windows chilled the room very quickly. The staff were courteous and helpful. The building is right across from Central Park, with a really easy to remember address, so getting around was cake.
Some negatives: There was some construction out front, and dirty water was dripping down from all the scaffolding. The beds were NOT queen sized — kinda small for couples. Again, old building, so not a whole lot of outlets. I ended up pulling my mattress out a few inches to reach one behind the bed (resulting in charging my phone under my pillow). The bathroom was a few inches higher than the rest of the room for some reason, which led to all of us tripping over the step at some point (not fun when you’re barefooted and wet). As my friend put it, the window in the shower was «boob height,» so she may have unwittingly flashed some passers-​by when she opened it (there’s not ventilation).
I usually stay with family when I come to NYC. The only other hotel experience I’ve had, out of sheer luck, had me being bumped up to a penthouse suite — so it’s kind of hard for me to compare this place to anything. But it was alright! If I ended up needed to stay here again, I’d be cool with it.

I stayed at the Excelsior for two nights at the beginning of April. Front desk staff upgraded my friend and I to a double suite which was very considerate. This hotel is in a great location! Super close to the subway and the AMNH makes the Excelsior a perfect budget friendly stay.

Hotel is ok. Best part is the location by far. We paid somewhere around $ 150 per night which is apparently a steal, but I wouldn’t pay anymore than that; no matter what time of year it was. We didn’t spend much time in the hotel but here’s what I came across while we were there.
I arrived to the hotel after work to meet my Dad who was in town for my birthday. He was having a drink at the bar so I joined him with my suitcase still with me. The hostess came up and asked if I’d like her to take my bag and put it away while we were drinking which was nice. So when we decided to go up to the room I went to the front desk and asked the guy «Do you know where I can find the storage closet? A lady took my bag there while we were at the bar.» His response, «uhhhhh did you check the luggage closet???» — in a sarcastic manner.
Whatever, it really didn’t bother me that much, but I figure out of every single person in the hotel — that guy should have the BEST customer service. Not so much.
Anyways the rest of the stay was pretty normal. Rooms were small but nice, nothing fancy which is the way I like it. The remote did stop working the last night which was frustrating, but I didn’t make the effort to call up for new batteries.
Conclusion: Average hotel, great location, great restaurant/​bar, crappy customer service. Would only stay here again if I paid close to the same price.

I WILL NEVER stay here again!
The location is perfect; however, the customer service is awful. I don’t think some of the staff are too fond of people of color. They were very impolite when asked for directions and about the use of facilities. During my stay, I didn’t see any other people of color staying there, but go figure; I didn’t get the memo because I am a tourist. The facility wasn’t too clean. In the elevator, I came across a huge, unfamiliar bug. There was hair on the bathroom floor and in the bath tub. And how dare I ask for room service; I would get a very rude receptionist who answered the phone. During my entire stay, I felt so uncomfortable. For my first time in NY, I was quite surprised by the treatment of some of the staff. Had it not been for other attractions that NY had to offer, I would say that NY is a buzz kill. I definitely will NOT be patronizing my time and money at this hotel again!

Overall, a nice hotel. The rooms are small but typical for NYC. A small upgrade & the room was much less confining.
The room itself was very nice, bed was comfortable enough & bathroom was nice as well with a window that actually opened!
Lobby was great with a nice sitting area & the workout area was small but more than adequate.
Honestly, I probably would’ve given the place 4 or 5 stars if not for the front desk staff. Personally, I think they need some lessons in customer service. A smile, or a «Hi, what can I help you with?» can go a LONG way for customer service. Unfortunately, they acted more like you were bothering them. Not just one front desk person, I believe we dealt with 3 of them during our stay, all with the same attitude.
Now on the flip side, the bellman was awesome. Polite, friendly & fixed a small issue with our room’s thermostat in just a minute or two. He should be working the front desk instead!
That said, if you can get past the front desk people, it’s a very nice place to stay that’s well away from the craziness of Times Square, but with easy subway access.

Definitivamente le doy 3 estrellas. La localización es buena, el precio ajustado, las habitaciones enormes y en general bien equipado. La gran pega es que no tenga wifi gratuito en las habitaciones. Que en pleno siglo 21 un hotel en la «capital del mundo» te cobre por usar un wifi paupérrimo no es normal, y eso que el precio del hotel no es precisamente barato (que tampoco caro, como he dicho antes).
Recomendable si te da igual lo del wifi.