REVIEW: New York – The Ritz Carlton NoMad and Conrad Midtown hotels

This New York trip – Ritz NoMad and Conrad Midtown, is a review from our regular contributor, Gus. 

Sightseeing and hotel-hopping in New York

After landing in New York on a wonderful and indulgent day flight with British Airways from London’s Heathrow airport (see here for review on the flights and lounges), I was looking forward to a few days of Grade A tourist-ing and indulging. I didn’t need to wait long, as after fighting through the crowds at JFK and getting to Manhattan, I checked in to the uber swanky and very desirable Ritz Nomad. This is not any old Ritz. This is new as of summer 2022, and in many ways, it also represents a departure from some of the ‘older’ or more traditional Ritz hotels, featuring fresher and more chic and characterful furniture, a smarter vibe, and – if even possible – more luxury.

The Ritz-Carlton Nomad – pricey but top-quality

But this doesn’t come cheap. Especially in the Big Apple. Or, more precisely, you’ll struggle to find a base level room under £650, with £800+ being more frequent and even £2k+ not being that uncommon in these post-pandemic travel boom times we are in. Unsurprisingly, points can offer excellent value here, and this is how I booked – 116k a night for a regular room (with many of those points being bought in one of last year’s buy Marriott points with an X% bonus’ promotion).

It’s also worth calling out that the Ritz Carlton NoMad is a tall tower very central on the Manhattan’ finger’, close to Madison Square and the Highline, while it has a sister site – the Ritz Carlton Central Park, which, quelle surprise, – sits right on the south edge of its namesake park.

The thing that struck me when checking in is how narrow and almost cramped the reception area feels. Like many NY hotels, the space premium means that there simply isn’t the real estate to have vast, airy lobby’s like you can get in some city hotels, but when I checked in, I did feel a little enclosed. They’re being fully booked probably didn’t help, but what did help was the attentive and polite and numerous staff – outside the doors, inside the gates, in the corridor, and behind the shiny and welcoming desks. Prosecco was offered, and I was walked to the lifts and then onto the room.

Room and rooftop

And the room did not disappoint. For a base level (no Marriott Bonvoy Gold upgrade over here when heads of state and celebs and those with a few bobs are competing for the best rooms!), it was lovely.

The colours are creamy and muted, and the bar was well stocked with munch and booze.

It was spacious and quiet, and the fittings were tech-smart and well-cared for. And there was even a free Ritz Nomad cap and a fruit welcome amenity.

What really blew me away, however, was the rooftop bar – the Nubeluz.

I have frequented a fair few high-floor bars in my time, and this is a beauty.

It only has a small outside terrace area (very windy on my trip), but it boasted absolutely eye-wateringly amazing views looking south. Given the height of the hotel, you are literally looking down on other nearby rooftop bars, and you can even see the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

Though not a great start to the day

So far, so good. However, I have to admit to being pretty underwhelmed by the breakfast experience at their Zaytinya restaurant.

Admittedly, it was an early sitting (jet lag, anyone?), but it was all a la carte and actually, the options weren’t great, and neither was the service. For example, I wasn’t allowed to change something in an omelette, and despite the early empty-ness, the food took a long time and was decent but not impressive in display or flavour.

What else to say? Well, like most NY hotels, there is no pool, and the gym is in the basement and pretty small. What was cool, though, was that free rides in an electric Cadillac are available to guests – on a first-come, first-served basis – to go anywhere within 2 miles of the hotel (but only from 12 pm). I had an amazing NY lifer and charming elderly gent as a driver and used the ride to transfer from the Ritz to my next hotel, the Conrad Midtown. So, let’s use that segue and move on to the next hotel!

Don’t forget you can get extra perks by booking Ritz Carlton’s and other high end Marriott brands through our luxury agents GTC.

Heading over to the Conrad Midtown

Like the Ritz, there are two Conrads in New York. Both have been well reviewed by Michele in the past, so I won’t dwell on this, but I was at the Midtown and not the Downtown.

Overall, I really liked the hotel, especially its location and views. That said – and this may be because I had just had some Ritz time – it felt a little lacking. It is an all-suite hotel, which I really liked, but it wasn’t quite as wonderful or indulgent as I had hoped. Perhaps it was the super busy reception every time I went past, or the lack of turndown service, or the mediocre ‘park view’ (which I upgraded to for $100 per night at check-in), but it was lovely but with a lowercase’ l’.

You can find more information about the Conrad Midtown here.

More hits than misses

A couple of things to mention. The first is that ‘The Lady’ model and sculpture that just sits there in reception is really fun and cool, and the second is that it (too) has an epic location. It has proximity to Central Park (without the price tag that is right on its border commands), and so much is within walking distance. It’s also worth saying that once or twice on the surface, the staff here had pretty surly faces, but as soon as you get into even the smallest of conversations, smiles and New York-drawl-infused gags and chatter weren’t far away.

You can get extra perks on Conrad hotels, such as upgrades, by booking through our luxury travel agent partners, GTC, here. There is also an extra night free promotion running.