The William Vale

I work in film/tv and have to constantly book my colleague's stays in NYC, and this hotel always exceeds my colleagues expectations. It's clean, the staff are friendly, and the food options in and around the hotel are abundant. Their corporate booking team is incredibly kind and easy to work with. I plan on continuing to work with them as much as I can.

We had a corner suite in what seemed like a lovely hotel in the heart of a thriving area of Brooklyn. However when we returned to our room every night at 10 pm there was a nightclub across the street called that had loud music that kept us awake every night and some nights lasted until 3 in the morning. When we asked the manager Elaine what can we do to get a good nights sleep, she was elusive and did not care to help us in any way. We plan on visiting our daughter who recently moved to the neighborhood many times in the future and would no way stay at this hotel ever again.

We have stayed at the William Vale before, so it was unfortunate that we had such a poor stay. Long story short, 3pm check in and our room wasn't ready until after 5:00pm (no idea why), so we sat in the lobby until 5:15pm. Due to the delay, we ended up missing our 5:45 dinner reservation which was booked for a month (Saturday was my birthday!); we were meeting 3 of our adult children in the City so cancelling was indeed a big deal. Also, two of the four elevators in the hotel were down for the entire weekend so it took 20 minutes to go up and down all weekend. We ended walking 14 flights of stairs two times because we couldn't wait for the elevators. The lines to the top-floor restaurant were congested and they were given one of the remaining two elevators. Honestly it was a horrible experience.

Subzero customer service Booked online three stays at the William Vale, for a total of 12 nights, around $10k for rooms including the double corner Gotham view. No email confirmations were received. Multiple phone calls over the next couple of days, more than one hour spent to get what is usually automatic and immediate, a simple email confirming your $10k expense was recorded. The assistant manager we talked with offered as compensation one hour of late checking for each of the bookings. Quote “I am offering three hours for the hour you spent with us”. Which is inappropriate, inane and shows a total misunderstanding of what customer service means, especially at a “hot”, high end property. Offensive and disrespectful. Needless to say, cancelled on the spot all three, hotel lost 12 nights, $10k of confirmed business. Property looks nice, great location and views, but until they train or hire a new front office management should be avoided at any cost. Reservation system is antiquated and doesn’t work. Lots of great places around with better than the subzero “service” we received.

I loved this place. Though my stay was short, it was peaceful, and the views of Manhattan, etc., were amazing. The staff was friendly, and welcoming. They went above and beyond to assure that I was comfortable, and had everything I needed during my stay. I will be back. Thanks again.