Jan 17

Jan 17 The Brief Bernic Hotel Stay

Before going over to New York, I was warned that space was obviously at a premium. This leads to some interesting design choices, such as the Steinway Tower on Billionaire’s row. However, this writer is currently a humble student, and so decided to stay at the The Bernic Hotel New York City, Tapestry Collection, one of the more affordable options in New York at $250! a night.

Overview

I haven’t stayed at Hilton much, but thought I would try out my Hilton Gold status; some key benefits include a food and beverage credit of $18 per person per night, along with potential upgrades to the best “non-suite” room in the hotel. Hilton, being one of the largest hotel operators, has over 1 millions rooms spread across more than 7,000 properties, and it, like its competitors, has a bewildering number of brands. Those range from luxury, such as the Waldorf Astoria to “lifestyle”, such as the Tapestry Collection, to more budget friendly Full Service and “focused service” hotels. The official description of the Tapestry Hotel is “upscale, original hotels that offer unique style for guests seeking a genuine connection to their destination”, which to me means absolutely nothing outside of lifestyle boutique.

Location

The Bernic Hotel New York City, Tapestry Collection’s biggest strength was it’s location right beside Grand Central, and 1 min away from a Halal Cart. It’s also right beside the UN Headquarters (book tours in advance!), SUMMIT One Vanderbilt and Bryant Park, and if you need to get anywhere else Grand Central connects everywhere.

One thing to note is that the entrance of the Hotel can be a bit hard to find, so look out for the Allora Restaurant.

CheckIn

The hotel’s slender design meant that the lobby…almost didn’t exist outside a chair, table and checkin counter.

However, the check in associate was wonderful, and she informed me about my gold upgrade from a 1 QUEEN BED room to a 1 QUEEN BED WITH BALCONY. While not the most amazing upgrade, the extra balcony was $40 more so it was appreciated. Furthermore, she helped me with the Food and Beverage credit, and also gave me some water and lotion for the cold New York weekend. And up the elevators we go!

The Room

Being very narrow, each floor in the The Bernic Hotel New York City, Tapestry Collection contains only ~6 rooms.

The hallway was for once, not painted in generic beige / neutral colors, and had a nice splash of blue; however, it still reminded me of a generic office building.

The room is 180 sq ft, which while acceptable for one person, would be cramped for 2 people.

We are actually going to start here with the…bathroom tour! The bathroom is LITERALLY located right next to the entrance.

In all fairness, this was one of the nicer city hotel bathrooms I have been in, and I also really liked the Beekman 1802 luxury bath amenities.

There was also a closet directly opposite with a bathrobe and ironing supplies.

Next up is a functional desk with power outlets. One thing I noticed about this room was that while space was small, the design helped it feel less cramped.

Right beside it was a proper Nespresso coffee station, which came in handy since coffee now costs money with the breakfast benefit.

There was also a rather sizeable mini-bar free fridge underneath.

And to round out the inside of the room there was a massive 55-inch flat screen plasma TV, which I prompted turned off because you don’t come to New York to watch TV.

And finally, the bed, which was similar to other mid tier hotel branded beds. I will say the room was a tad on the hot side, and the air conditioning was a bit loud, which made it harder to sleep.

Now, onto the balcony. Given the hotel’s central location, there wasn’t any nice view from the balcony, other than into someone else’s room.

Amenities

Travelers should do their research before staying at this hotel, as the hotel clearly states it lacks a lot of the traditional amenities like a gym or pool. That being said, the hotel will give you a gym pass should you request one. On the food and beverage side, I manage to get $36 as a Gold welcome gift, which I thought was a lot, but this is New York.

Allora, the hotel’s restaurant, focuses on classic, elevated Italian food (dinner menu here). I instead opted for some chicken breasts, which I admit were moist, delicious and wonderfully sauced. But still $35 LOL.

You could also use your credit for a more reasonably priced breakfast (menu here).

The Point

At some point in your life, you want to move out of hostels / 2 star inns, and into something a bit better. This is that bit better: a solid choice for anyone wanting to stay in a central location New York city. The staff were quite accommodating, and proactively upgraded me / informed me about the food and beverage credit. The room, while small, was functional, clean and looked quite new. The tradeoff is that you don’t get many of the traditional amenities associated with a hotel, but heck, you’re in New York, go outside!