InterContinental New York Barclay by IHG

I stayed at this hotel for about three days during my visit to New York, and it was such a great, satisfying experience. The room was clean, everything was spotless, and the location was excellent with easy access to various places. Most of all, the customer service was outstanding. Her name was Shauna, and she was incredibly helpful! Whenever I had an issue, she always treated me with kindness and attentiveness. I really want to praise her. I believe she made this trip even more special for me.

We had such a bad experience staying in this hotel, totally not worth it. When we checked in they said the room is ready but they will charge us $170 early-check-in fee, never heard of it from any other hotels. Also, when we first called for housekeeping service, no one has come in 2 hours, then we had to call again and it takes another hour until someone showed up. The worst part is, it’s not 2AM and I couldn’t fall asleep because of a very strong chemical smell (like paint), I open the room door to check and find the entire hallway smells toxic. We called the front desk(again, we called twice) and the manager Lance said it’s because they just polished the elevator and he literally said “it’s not our control”. Although they offer another room, it doesn’t really make things much better to move at 2:30 AM. —————————— And problems never end in this hotel. Since we had to move in 2AM last night, we leave all our belongings in the original room (the manager agreed). Next morning, when we return to the old room to pack our luggages and get ready for check out, Someone just swiped open our room door!!!!! can you believe that? My husband was half naked then and both that gentlemen and us are super embarrassed. Definitely bad system and bad communication between shifts.

Although I enjoyed my stay at the InterContinental Hotel Barclay during the weekend of 2/27 - 3/2, I feel it's important to address how the hotel staff handled a last-minute emergency regarding a missing personal item I left in my room. At 7:15pm, as I was about to leave for the airport, I realized the item was missing and immediately alerted the staff, asking them to check with housekeeping and security. The MOD at the time informed us that the situation was under security's review. After 20 minutes, I followed up, mentioning that I was now pressed for time and needed to ensure I could make my flight. An additional 25 minutes passed before we were told there was nothing that could be done until housekeeping and security completed their review. A few minutes later, the MOD informed us that housekeeping and security had checked the room and no items had been turned in. We were certain of where the item had been placed and asked them to check again. The MOD reiterated that security had already done their inspection. At this point, we requested that security escort us into the room since it had not yet been cleaned. Upon entering, the item was exactly where we had originally said it would be — a place that would have been hard to miss. The issue here was not the missing item itself, but rather how the MOD, and the hotel staff, did not take our concern seriously, which ultimately caused us to nearly miss our flight. For a brand like InterContinental, which prides itself on being a luxury hotel and resort, this level of guest service falls short of the high standards one would expect. Given the amount I paid for my weekend stay, along with the substantial resort fees, I expected much better treatment and service from the hotel staff. Unfortunately, my emergency was not taken seriously, which was deeply disappointing.

I travel all over the world, and I can confidently say that the InterContinental New York Barclay is hands down the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had. The service here is an absolute disgrace. My family booked two rooms for a one-night stay, but due to severe weather, our flight from the West Coast was delayed by over 8 hours. I immediately called the hotel around 6 PM (their local time) to inform them of the delay and specifically asked them to hold both rooms. The front desk assured me they would keep the rooms for us. When we finally arrived at the hotel in the early morning, exhausted from a red-eye flight, we were hit with a bombshell: both rooms had been canceled, and we were slapped with a penalty fee for each one! To make matters worse, we were forced to pay over $300 just to get a room for a few hours to freshen up. The front desk staff was unbelievably rude and showed zero empathy for the situation. They were impatient, dismissive, and completely unapologetic for their own mistake. It’s mind-blowing how a hotel of this caliber could treat guests so poorly. I’ve stayed in hotels all over the globe, and I’ve never encountered such incompetence and lack of basic customer service. This hotel is a complete joke, and I would strongly advise anyone to avoid it at all costs. Save yourself the headache and stay somewhere that actually values its guests.

We had a fabulous stay at the Intercontinental Barclay. Check-in with Sharon went really smooth and she was really helpful and friendly. The room was spacious and very clean. And what a great bed!! So thanks again to Sharon, housekeeping staff and all the others for making our stay so pleasant!