Travel: New York: THE MELROSE HOTEL
Written by: Katherine Brodsky

140 E 63rd St, New York, NY

Located on the Upper East Side, The Melrose Hotel was previously known as the Barbizon, a residence for young women who came to New York in pursuit of their brightest dreams. It housed would-be writers, actresses, dancers, artists and more.  Grace Kelly, Candice Bergen, Joan Crawford and Liza Minelli were just some of its notorious residents.

Many years, new owners, a name change, and $40 million dollars later, the Barbizon became known as The Melrose Hotel. The hotel was completely renovated and the Melrose Company’s signature Landmark Restaurant and Library Bar were added. The hotel was transformed into 306 rooms worth of luxury accommodations on 22 floors with 21 suites.  Also located in the building is the 34,000 square-foot Equinox Fitness Club and Spa, one of New York City's finest, upscale fitness centers. Use of the facility is offered to all hotel guests.

What may justify the rates for this hotel is its terrific location.  It is only a couple of blocks away from Central Park, Bloomingdale’s, Barney’s, Tiffany’s, restaurants and many other attractions, including a film museum.  It’s a truly magnificent area. Pure Manhattan, albeit the expensive side of Manhattan.

The rooms themselves are furnished with very nice, elegant, modern furniture.  The bed is especially comfortable, which is probably one of the most important elements in a hotel room, which often gets overlooked. 

The bathroom is really amazing.  The sink is large, there are a number of mirrors, the tub is very cozy and the products that the bathroom is stocked with are really of the finest quality, made in London, even. Not typically what I expect from hotels.  I’ve actually tracked down the manufacturer so that I could buy the shampoo!   There is also one thing that is NEVER included as part of the bathroom “collection”, a deluxe sponge. What else will you use for that show gel (yet they never think to include it)?

A major complaint is one that really overwhelmed all of the positives.  The noise.  The walls were made of paper. Or at least it seemed that way.  Perhaps Leonard Cohen’s song “Paper Thin Hotel” was even inspired by this hotel. Our neighbors for the night were not the loudest, but we could hear EVERYTHING, every night.  The rooms are rather small, so perhaps in their attempts to cram as many rooms into their space, the management figured they’d save space by making the walls as thin as possible.  It’s a theory.  At any rate, that was a major design flaw, that left this reviewer (that would be, ME), unimpressed.

Service was courteous, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

Overall a comfortable, meticulously clean hotel in a great area, but with the major detractors as noted above, it didn’t seem like such an outstanding value.

VERDICT: 3.5 out of 5