The hotel is very beautiful, the location is fantastic, and we had nice interactions with everyone who worked there. The reason I can't give it a great rating is twofold:
--We were in NY for a formal, black tie event. The bathroom was as dark as a cave and it was just awful trying to put on makeup in a very dimly lit room. The mirror had a strip of lighting on the left side that cast terrible shadows over your face and left the other side of your face in total darkness. I am pretty minimal on makeup, it takes me less than five minutes to do my own, but I was so frustrated trying to see what the heck I was doing and not come out looking like a clown. I love a good aesthetic, but bathrooms need to be functional. I was telling my best friend who lived in NYC for many years about my issue and she said she vividly remembered staying there in the past and having the exact same problem.
--Second: we were on the side facing the Holland Tunnel which apparently is a city planning nightmare. The right two lanes enter the tunnel and during rush hour, people line up blocks and blocks away waiting over an hour to enter the tunnel. Other people who are not following traffic signs either because they are out of towners or trying to skip the line, try to cut in at the last minute. This leads frustrated commuters to lay on their horn for minutes on end as they voice their frustration with the chaos. From 3pm to 10pm every day, expect no less than ten cars to be endlessly honking.