Before my one night stay at the InterContinental Barclay NYC, I never really gave much thought to luxury hotels. Of course I like fancy hotels as much as the next traveler, but I have always preferred to spend my money on flights instead of finding the most luxurious accommodations.
Give me a quiet comfortable bed in a good location, and I’m good. I don’t need to be pampered while on the ground! Or so I thought…
A full review of my 1 night stay at the InterContinental Barclay in NYC
Since I didn’t really have any plans for my one night stay, I was quite flexible in terms of what part of the city I wanted to call my home base. I ultimately decided to stay near Grand Central Station, and the InterContinental Barclay one one of the options presented to me in my filtered search. It looked good, the price was decent (at least compared to everything else) so I booked it. Simple as that.
Getting there
A quick check of the traffic situation on google maps while standing curbside at JFK after arriving from LHR revealed that things looked bleak going into the city. I decided to splurge on a taxi.
Unfortunately, the traffic was getting brutal once we made it into midtown shortly after 1pm and I ended up getting out of the cab with several blocks to go and just walking the rest of the way. It was certainly faster than siting in traffic!
Making matters worse was how hot it was in the city that day. The calendar may have said late October, but it was 85 degrees and I was wearing far too many layers of clothing to feel comfortable.
First impressions
I was a hot sweaty mess by the time I reached the entrance to the InterContinental, and right away I felt hopelessly out of place. Everyone in the lobby was wearing suits and pretty dresses, while I trotted in drenched in sweaty khakis and a t-shirt. Yikes.
On one hand, I was feeling very awkward. On the other hand, this looked to be one heck of a nice hotel. Score!
The lobby
Getting to my room
The room
I found the room to be quite interesting. I wasn’t all that impressed when I first walked in, but after having a look around, I realized that the design and decor of nearly every element of the room was top notch.
It was a seriously good looking room – so good looking in fact, that I was afraid to touch anything before I had the chance to clean up a bit from the long and hot ride into the city from JFK.
The bathroom
A word about room service
Normally I like to indulge in room service when traveling alone, but that’s just something that I can’t do in New York City. There are so many good restaurants up and down every street here, and it’s not difficult to find something many times better than what you could get delivered to your room.
I did consider the room service option for a split second though – until I had a look a the prices. Yikes. I was clearly out of my league, and it was a big fat reminder that I was staying in a luxury hotel.
I ended up going to a local takeout place for dinner that evening, but I took full advantage of the luxuriousness of the room later with a long hot shower and lounging around in the amazing bath robe and pillow-like slippers. That was nice. Quite nice in fact, and I was very disappointed about being able to stay only one night here.
Final thoughts
This was my second-ever stay at an InterContinental (my first was earlier this year at the Presidente InterContinental in Mexico City), and I think I like this brand a lot. Sure, they are more expensive than the usual Hyatt’s and Hilton’s that I tend to gravitate towards, but I’m starting to understand why people like luxury hotels so much. The feeling of being spoiled is totally worth it.
