John Xu

Review of Jumeirah Essex House Hotel

Located right next to Central Park, a few blocks a...

Located right next to Central Park, a few blocks away from both columbus circle and 5th avenue, location doesn't get that much better than this. The hotel may not look like much from the outside, but walking in you can see the history of the hotel. Also, there may be quite a bit of construction up-front, but that's par for the course in NYC.

The JW Marriott platinum lounge is great, with plenty of non-alcoholic beverages, and a nice breakfast spread and decent hors d'oeuvres in the evening. The lounge is busy, but not packed, and there is a cash bar if needed. Only problem is that it's not open 24/7, so if you need water past 10PM at night, you will need to raid the gym.

The room is comfortable, I was upgraded to junior suite with a view of... other rooms and an alley. I may recommend a park view room over a junior suite upgrade, but it'll depend on your own personal choices. The room is a bit tired and dated, but everything worked so no real complaints there. However, the lack of bottled water in the room is a big negative.

Overall, not a bad hotel for NYC, but I've stayed at better JW's.