Daniel Steyskal

Review of Gansevoort Hotel Group

Stayed here for two nights and took the time to ch...

Stayed here for two nights and took the time to check out the rooftop bar.

I expected a 5 star experience given how the property was promoted, but the management of this establishment need to go back to hospitality school and get a full IT/Security audit of the premises.

A couple days before my stay I called to confirm my reservation, the phone was dead due to technical issue. Not a big deal, but it makes you wonder when they have no alternative communication mechanism.

Check in was normal and the room was well kept though oriented towards a certain element.

During the day, rooftop bar staff was attentive and normal.

At night the place changes, and this is due to the fact that they really let anyone in. The line at the front is merely for show as people can get past "security" with a puppy dog look, a "come on man", lying about staying or just showing a white plastic card, something I tested during my stay and subsequently.

Rooftop bar staff changes at night, more pushy, more aggressive, which is probably a response to the flood of non-guests at night.

On 7/18/2013 I went to the rooftop bar, but left my wallet in my room. The wait for the elevator was pretty crowded so I took the stars as I was staying on one of the higher levels, a "luxury" suite. On my floor I saw what could only be described as a crime scene, blood on the walls floor, bloody handprints and blood on the door. There was no staff there, caution signs or anything to indicate it was an accident, but given my experience with the night rooftop staff, I figured a staff member had an accident and wasn't trained on Health Code Laws, which in NYS you must have a staff member at any accident with bodily fluid until it is cleaned properly.

I was very surprised when two hours later it was still there telling me a few things:

1) This was not a staff member
2) Maybe this was an accident, but could be a possible rape or assault
3) There are no cameras in the stairwell and security does not regularly patrol the stairs.

I have pictures of these scenes, which management was very dismissive of.

After informing management of this they did their theater of "ensuring safety on the premises", but given what I saw the next day walking the property and again seeing how easy it is for people on the street to sneak in, they really do not know what they are doing.

It's a real shame as this is a nice piece of property, but management has not failed to show me their lack of experience and ability. Given my experience and what I have seen other guests post about YOU ARE NOT SAFE staying here. Management talks a lot about how they are ensuring guest safety, but when all it takes to sneak in is a white piece of plastic, at most, and a major incident goes unnoticed for hours, and uninvestigated after it is pointed out, you can tell it is all talk.

Proceed with caution or stay at The Dream, better priced and much better run.

Gansevoort, make the investments in infrastructure and training to live up to 5 star standards rather than cheapening them.