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[TappyFish]

Today, I write to you all from our room in Disney's Hotel New York! That's right, our holiday finally arrived and thanks to many of you, we managed to check-in with big plans for our 6 day, 5 night stay. However, this isn't a trip report (though I'm hoping to write one on our return). No, sadly this is a small post to show the disappointment we had when we arrived at our room. Let me explain...

We arrived via Eurostar on time at a little after 14:00hrs. We knew that we couldn't check in till 15:00hrs however figured we'd take a chance. When we arrived at check-in, we were greeted by a lady who's name badge was partially covered by her uniform. She explained that our room would not be ready for another 30 minutes. We opted to sit outside by the small pool and wait. We returned half an hour later to be told our room was ready. Fantastic we thought!

We were given room 1123, which was on the first floor and no more than 3 - 5 minutes from reception. Our initial impressions of the hotel were great. I've stayed in all the Disney hotels apart from Davy Crockett Ranch and Hotel New York, while my fiancée has never stayed in one. I was amazed at the sheer size of the hotel. As we arrived at our room, we felt the excitement growing. We opened the door and immediately felt concerned. While the room appeared clean, there were a number of issues.

I work in a hotel so naturally go over any room I stay in with a fine-toothed comb. Even so, many of the issues in this room weren't hard to find!

Straight away, we discovered the television cabinet door was hanging off it's hinges. It was simply hanging open right in front of us: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_150237_zpswm0sttku.jpg

Next, we found dirty scuff marks all over the same cabinet. While I appreciate some wear and tear, these marks wiped off very easily leading me to assume this room was cleaned properly: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_161545_zpspgc2cjvu.jpg

Also here: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_161537_zpsrg1cgehf.jpg

The general state of the cabinet was atrocious. It was scratched, marked and falling apart (literally): http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_154327_zpst6e0idan.jpg

The corner table was also a mess. Again, I expected a few scratches on the wood but this was too much: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_161440_zpskmywd9pc.jpg

We decided to check out the bathroom and came across this plug socket on the wall. While not the end of the world, it does show the age of the room: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_154345_zpslhpudyft.jpg

As we entered the bathroom, I saw this. I have no idea what it is/was - I didn't want to touch it, but I'm sure it wasn't meant to be like this: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_150504_zpsmlfxaohl.jpg

The sinks were clean, however the taps weren't: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_154404_zpsvfsw79sv.jpg

Also here (second sink): http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_154411_zpszrmsb1ml.jpg

The interior of the sink was nice, but again, the age really shows: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_154419_zpsy0cjmlpu.jpg

The bathroom itself was old and felt dirty but was the least worrying thing when we looked in the bath. The bath was dirty with a clear grim mark around the basin - unacceptable. Then the unforgivable was found; several hairs were dotted around the bath clearly showing it hadn't been cleaned. Apologies for the blurred photo - it was hard to focus the camera against the colour/lighting: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_154655_zpsjswdjok1.jpg

We decided that we'd check the bed before contacting reception and sure enough, we found another hair in the bed: http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s606/PuffinRaptor/Hotel%20New%20York/20151104_154850_zps6mfloqat.jpg

By now, we were absolutely disgusted with the room but knew the reception would put things right. After taking pictures, we went back to reception. We spoke to a man this time and showed him the photos. He didn't seem phased and nor did he apologise. He simply asked for our room number and said he'd send someone up. We assumed this would be a rep or manager so thanked him and returned to the room.

After what seemed liked ages, there was a knock at the door. We were greeted by a maintenance man who spent 30 seconds fiddling with the cabinet door before leaving. I rang the travel agent through whom I'd booked our holiday with and explained the situation. At this point, the phone rang - reception - and spoke to my fiancée. They said they'd send a housekeeper up to clean the bath. When she arrived, she did a quick wipe round the bath using the shower and left. The maintenance man returned and did fix the door on the cabinet but took forever to do so. I explained everything to the agent and said that I was unhappy as by this point, we had wasted most of our day sorting out something that should never have been a problem to begin with.

Following my conversation with the agent, we received another phone call from reception. My fiancée took the call again. We were told that we couldn't be moved because the hotel was full however they had tried to rectify the problem. We felt disgusted again at this point. We didn't want an upgrade or our money back. We simply wanted what we paid for. A nice, clean room in this 4-star hotel. What we had was a run down room that was probably better classed as a motel room.

Eventually, after massive support from our agent (and no support from the hotel staff) we were told that we could move to the room next door. We didn't understand how this was possible (being told that the hotel was full) but were glad to be doing so. Why we couldn't have done this in the first place... Walking into the new room we could smell the difference. The room was fresh, clean and looked in a much better condition. Everything worked - almost - and the place was spotless!

We feel really let down by the reception staff who didn't even apologise. We've wasted a whole afternoon waiting on staff to pull their fingers out when it was a simple task to move us. I don't understand how such a reputable hotel has such poor standards and feel that this kind of room presentation and level of customer service is acceptable. No apology. No offer of a tea or coffee while we wait. Nothing.

I'm not sure if there is someone I can talk to or email when we return, however if anyone knows of a "customer helpline" or email address that could take my complaint seriously, I would be grateful. I'll be taking this up with my travel agent as well, though feel they really helped here.

So, if like us, you've planned a trip to Hotel New York, I'd be very careful about what you find when you arrive. Anyway, I better head to bed because we have an early start in order to catch up on lost time and it's already gone midnight here!

~ TTFN ~

[michaelj1973]

OMG what a story. I do hope that this day will be better for you.

[Mogzee]

Hi TappyFish

I've just returned from a stay at Hotel New York and my impression was that it is in desperate need of an upgrade!  My room wasn't in any way as run down as your original room but it did look tired and dated   I've only ever stopped in the Disneyland hotel (which was lovely) and I won't be back at the NY until it has undergone an upgrade.  Didn't stop us from having a great time in the park though and I hope you have a great holiday despite the hotel

[chrisvalentine]

OMG , we are a party of 8 staying at HNY on dec 7th inc 3 kids and 2 under 2 also a Disney newbie, myself this is trip 78 having stayed and all the resort hotels before inc HYN and have never had this kinda problem, I would acpect the rooms to be spotless everytime , its not a cheap holiday , its very disappointing to see kinda stuff happening , I hope you have put something in writing to them, I do hope you enjoyed the rest of your holiday though, the magic of Disney has never left me since my 1st trip at the age of 12 back in 92, xxxxx

[rosiebud]

Wow, thought with it being a Disney Hotel the standard would be very high. Have visited Disney Florida many times, and every hotel we have ever stayed in has been of a high standard.
We have booked to stay in this hotel next September for my Granddaughters 6th birthday and it will also be my sons birthday in the same week. I really hope this is just an unfortunate oversight on the hotels part and that they at least apologise to you. I really hope the rest of your holiday is as magical.

[rebecca20]

Make sure you make a formal complaint - I have done this twice which isn't bad considering I've visited so many times. They are usually very good at giving compensation - usually in the form of a free stay or meal voucher.

[RockNRoller]

Oh boy does that list suck. I've often thought the rooms and hotels are looking tired but never found them dirty like you did. Last year we had TV troubles for the whole of our 5 days, we reported it every day but all we heard was "The fault is with the cable company". Not sure how that is possible when our friends next door had no such issue. Better be working this time, I missed my dose of Disney TV whilst on holiday badly.

That said it will always be the New York for me, roll on the refurbishment.

[DisneyDuckLover]

I have some similar complaints to make about NPB. Does anyone have an email address I can have?

[rebecca20]

I always use the DLP website and do it on the 'after your trip section' its been a different email address the past two times as they seem to come from different people depending on the complaint.

Just note it takes a good 3 weeks to get a reply.

[DisneyDuckLover]

Thanks for this advice Rebecca. I emailed on Sunday so hopefully I'll hear back soon.

What comp have you been given, and what did you complain about?

[petals]

you can email guest services and tell them your complaint. They take ages to respond though. There's a section on their website to complain through

[rebecca20]

I complained about the service in Chez Remy as we were refused the allergy menu and given incorrect orders and got a free premium meal voucher and there were room problems on my last visit and got a free nights stay and two day park tickets.

I've never been overly fussed about free things and generally give them to friends or family, but it's a nice gesture!

I always mention the smoking problems and ask for them to try to enforce it more on my emails too because I get really bad with asthma and every single trip I've had someone blow smoke in my face which results in a full day of me being MIA.

They usually take 4 - 6 weeks to reply but they are very apologetic.

FYI - I'm not a big complainer normally but the past few years things have really started to slip and I'd rather tell them so they can get it sorted for other customers. I always message the good points and good service too so those who need to be praised can be because some CMs are amazing at their job!