We had a great June weekend in Manhattan. The weather was just about perfect in the 70s. We saw two Broadway shows and Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden. As we were going to be attending events between 33rd and 47th Street, it made sense to stay at the Grayson Hotel, a Hyatt Unbound Collection property on 39th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue.

We’ve previously stayed at the Park Hyatt, the Andaz and various Marriott properties in midtown Manhattan. I had originally booked the Thompson Central Park, another Hyatt property. I realized that was a bit too far to walk to all these events, and the Grayson was also closer to the garment district where my wife likes to shop for wholesale art supplies.

I booked a AAA cash rate of around $340 per night plus tax. It would have been 23,000 points per night and my valuation of Hyatt points is around 1.8cpp so I thought cash made sense, especially given that the annoying $30 per night destination fee would be waived as I have Globalist status.

We arrived around noon and our room was not ready. We had been upgraded to a “City View” room which is just a higher floor with a decent view. There are only three suites at this hotel, so they do not upgrade Hyatt Globalists to suites (which seems like it might be a violation of the Hyatt T&Cs but I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it.) I knew this in advance and since it was just me and my wife, we weren’t bothered by the smaller room. We left our bags at the bell desk; she went in search of art supplies, and I went to TKTS to grab tickets for a Broadway matinee.

We got a text around 1:30pm that our room was ready, but I responded that we would be there around 5pm after our 2pm matinee. We got back to the Grayson after our show and were given our keys for room 2601.

As you can see, the room was small but functional. It had a view north (so no Empire State Building) where we could see a sliver of Bryant Park and the top of a cool art deco building. Being on the 26th floor in an older, renovated building meant that we heard no traffic noise.

One thing I loved was the big pillows. There’s nothing more annoying than those postage stamp sized pillows on a king-sized bed.

Breakfast was served in the main restaurant off the lobby called Harta. There’s also a bar there and it extends up to the second floor with an outdoor patio. There’s a rooftop bar that opens at 5pm, but we never got there as we had other plans both evenings.

The breakfast menu was decent and unlike some recent reports I’d read, we were able to order anything we liked and it would be complimentary with my Globalist status.

We tried several different things over the two days. The everything bagel with lox was good, as was the omelet and the pistachio-berry croissant. My wife didn’t love the French toast as it was a bit tasteless. We ordered sides of bacon and fruit along with coffee drinks and everything was taken off the bill as a Globalist benefit without having to follow up which is not always guaranteed at every Hyatt property.

We also had lunch there on the last day, but for a very specific reason. I noticed that I had received an Amex Offer on two credit cards specifically for the Hyatt Unbound Collection (spend $400, receive $100 back.) This meant that if I could get my total amount to $800 exactly, I could get $200 credited back by Amex. I was going to be about $50 short based on the room rate charges, so it made sense to grab lunch and get another $100 off our bill.

Unfortunately, lunch wasn’t very good. I ordered a Cobb salad which was fine, but my wife’s burger, which she ordered medium-rare, came out almost raw. They took the burger off the bill, which is good service, but of course that was going to leave me short of the $800. I just upped the tip to get me exactly there.

Overall, we were happy with the choice to stay at the Grayson (burger notwithstanding). The location was perfect for our needs and the staff were friendly and helpful. Would I stay there again? Possibly, but there are plenty of other Hyatt properties near enough to Broadway theaters and art wholesalers in midtown that we could try, including two different Hyatt Centrics.

Next up, I’ll have more details about our fun weekend in Manhattan. I’ll also have a post about our unique ride to JFK airport.

If you have questions about this post, let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links.