Luxury Hotel
http://www.tribecagrand.com/?g=ppc&ppcseid=5158&ppcsekeyword=tribeca+grand+hotel&mmtctg=2783105975&mmtcmp=74282495&mmtmt=2&mmtgglcnt=0&mmtadid=9934790615
2 Avenue of the Americas – Tribeca

The circumstances under which we came to stay at the Tribeca Grand were unique in that we were evacuated from our home in Battery Park City during Hurricane Irene.  So perhaps it is difficult to judge the service based on a skeleton crew who was essentially forced to board at the hotel because there was no public transportation for them to come and go.

The most significant factor determining where we decided to stay was pet-friendly, as we had two cats to evacuate.  The Tribeca and Soho Grand Hotels are unique as they do not charge any extra fees for pets.  Of course you get what you pay for!  Fortunately, they were running a Summer Special Weekend Rate of $319/night which I assume is usually worse in season.  We booked the minute we found out evacuation was mandatory.  Lucky thing since they booked up very quickly.

Beginning with decor, we were very impressed with the dramatic Church Lounge and the open balconies throughout.  As it turns out, photos are not permitted at the hotel under any circumstances :).  But I got a few before being scolded.

The room was a tad less impressive.  New York City rooms are never big, so we were not expecting the honeymoon suite.  It was small but comfortable.  Well, maybe for two people.  The cats really weren’t diggin’ it!

Pets are generally permitted only on 2nd and 3rd floors, which makes sense.  Should they escape they could fall to their death off the balconies.  So, much to our surprise our room was on the top floor (8).  This prompted us to deny maid service for the weekend lest the door get propped open with the cart resulting in a cat escape.  Another little surprise was the roof up on the 8th floor…

Glass.  Who knew?  The guests all came out of their rooms and stared in awe as the storm increased in intensity and the roof began to rattle and shake.  And leak.  Was the 8th floor a bonus?  We think not.  Luckily we had electricity the entire time.  The elevators only went out when somebody pulled the alarm well before it started to rain.  And we were walking down.  Who knows?

Ok, let’s talk view.

How about we skip talking about the view?

Amenities?  None to our knowledge.

Service?  Spotty and downright horrendous at times, but we’ll chalk that up to the hurricane and not even mention it.  Only two events deserve mention:

1.  they are pet-friendly and provide bowls, leashes, toys, etc.  We forgot 2 of our 4 bowls and asked the desk for extras.  We were told they’d bring them up.   It was 4pm Saturday.  I waited.  And waited.  Then called to inquire.  I was told they were on they way up.  Very sorry ma’am that they haven’t reached you yet.  So I waited.  And waited.  Then called and said we needed to step out and they had permission to leave them in the room.   At 12:30am, no bowls.

2.  We were advised that breakfast would not be served in the Church Lounge because of the hurricane and guests should plan on staying in their rooms for the majority of the day.  We were advised to order room service and submit orders prior to 2am.  We did.  Figuring early would not be good, we selected 11am delivery.  We got a call at 11am saying our choices were not available and would we mind scrambled eggs or pancakes?  Not at all.  We took one of each.  We understood.  By noon we had breakfast delivered.  Steve signed the $73 room service check (!!!) and added a $10 tip.  Likely gratuity was included but we didn’t think about it.  As Steve signed, I chatted and passed the guy a ten dollar bill.  Ooops.  Thought Steve saw me.  Ok, so he wound up doing well.  But as we chatted as he walked  out he advised us that the restaurant was fully open if we wanted to go downstairs for brunch service.  Whaaaaa?!!

We also stepped over to the Soho Grand for a late lunch/early dinner.  We had not eaten all day since we were clearing off our balcony, packing and evacuating.  The service there frankly made this look great.  I’ll share that in my very special review of Soho Grand’s Club Room.  Don’t miss it.

So overall, in good weather conditions would we return?  No, it’s not so grand.  Check out our review of The James Hotel nearby in Soho.  It is a far better value in a stunning building with gorgeous rooms, grounds, restaurants, bars, rooftop pool and stunning panoramic views of Manhattan.