The St. Regis New York

Rooms and decor

Picture the hotel that millionaire John Jacob Astor IV commissioned back in 1904 to be the grandest place to stay in the city — that is The St. Regis New York. The building is a stately Beaux-Arts piece of the Gilded Age, the kind where you walk into the lobby and have to look up: crystal chandeliers, gilded high ceilings, marble floors and classical art in every corner, like a small palace dropped into Midtown. The roughly 171 rooms and suites are done in warm, traditional luxury tones with fine woven fabrics, European wood furniture, crystal lamps and marble bathrooms that feel genuinely premium. Many run noticeably more spacious than the Midtown average, the beds are soft, and the real surprise is the quiet — even in a city that never sleeps, the thick walls of the old building muffle the noise so well that several reviews single out how unusually well they slept. Anyone who loves a classic hotel with a story, good-looking without chasing trends, tends to fall for it from the first step.

Food and amenities

The heart of what makes the St. Regis different from other luxury hotels is the St. Regis Butler Service — a personal butler on call around the clock, 24 hours, for every room. It is the original service this brand invented and the template luxury hotels worldwide later followed. The butler does almost everything: unpacking and packing bags, pressing clothes, brewing coffee or tea served to your room in the morning, booking restaurants and tickets, and minding the small details that make it feel like you have a personal assistant. A great many reviews agree this is what keeps the stay in their memory. The other unmissable highlight is the King Cole Bar, a legendary cocktail bar whose wall holds Maxfield Parrish's large Old King Cole mural, and which is known as the birthplace of New York's Bloody Mary (the bar's own version is called the Red Snapper) — a serious, classic mood perfect for a nightcap. On the food side, the hotel's fine-dining room serves both breakfast and dinner in an elegant setting, and there is a spa and fitness center to unwind after a day on your feet. Service, without question, is what reviews single out as the strongest thing here.

Location and getting there

Location is another ace in the hand. The hotel sits right on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, dead center in Midtown Manhattan, in the busiest shopping and business district in the city. Step out the door and the renowned Fifth Avenue boutiques line up for a stroll; head a few blocks north and you reach Central Park for a morning walk or an afternoon picnic. MoMA, Rockefeller Center and the Broadway theaters are all within walking distance or a few minutes by car. The Fifth Av/53 St subway station (E/M lines) is about a 3-minute walk, so you can hop the subway anywhere in the city without leaning on taxis the whole time. Simply put, if you want to wake up and shop Fifth Avenue, swing by Central Park, see some art and catch a Broadway show using the hotel as a central base within walking reach of nearly everything, this location is a perfect ten.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide — the first thing to weigh most is the price. The St. Regis really does sit at the top tier of New York, with several extras following: service charges, customary butler tips, the high-priced drinks at the King Cole Bar, and breakfast billed separately, so the final total climbs faster than many expect. Budget clearly for that piece. Second is the decor, which is traditional classic luxury — beautiful and grand, yes, but reviewers expecting a sharp, modern hotel may find the mood fairly formal and serious rather than easygoing. And because it is a building over a century old, some standard rooms run smaller than the price suggests, and a few reviews still flag bathroom upkeep or building systems that are not flawless at every point given the rate. If something is not right, tell the butler right away — service here is known for fast responses and fixing things.

Our take

After our team sat down and read through the real reviews, The St. Regis New York is a hotel that sells "legendary butler service plus Gilded Age charm plus a Fifth Avenue location" so completely it is hard to find a rival. If the trip in your head is staying in a historic hotel with a personal butler looking after you, waking up to shop Fifth Avenue then dropping into Central Park, and closing the night with a Bloody Mary at the King Cole Bar under that legendary mural, this is a choice that stays with you for a long time. But if you are after an airy, modern hotel, or you mostly value square footage for the money, the high price and classic style here may give you pause. Overall we give it 9.0/10 — best for couples and luxury travelers who value the service and story of a legendary hotel over modern design.