BigT

We stayed in NYC pre Christmas for 4 nights and then on New Years Eve for 4 nights. Some brief comments and notes below:

Hotels:

We stayed at Giraffe for the first 4 nights, wonderful, great rooms, well appointed, excellent service, would stay there again in a heart beat.

We stayed at the Sofitel for the second period and to be honest wish we hd gone back to the Giraffe. Sub standard in terms of room qualty, cleanliness and general service. I would NEVER stay there again.

We went to the Radio City Xmas Spectacular which was great fun, saw Grease which we thoroughly enjoyed and also saw the early show of Chicago which was great but we did prefer the West End version. Generally we preferred West End musicals to Broadway.

Went up the Rock which was great, enjoyed walking up and down 5th Avenue and around Manhattan. The Staten Island ferry is a great way to see the Skyline as well as the statue.

On to food.........

River Cafe was good food and great view, well worth a visit

Essa Bagels was excellent

We were lucky enough to eat at Per Se on New year's Eve and i have to say that it was beyond awesome, even at the price it was wort every cent and fantastic.

Gordon Ramsey at the London was fabulous. Great food, excellent service and lovely ambiance.

Keens for the famous mutton chop was excellent.

We were recommended Del Friscos Steak House and ate there. It was not great, the Steak was good but my girlfriend ordered crab claws and the second one was off, it smelt like the bottom of a fishing boat. The first waitress told her it was only the one claw and they could change it, a manager came over very concerned and took the plate away, they credited the dish and replaced it but still, not good. This was the low point of our dining.

We found both Katz Deli and Carnegie Deli to be good and enjoyed both.

We also enjoyed the Mermaid Seafood Restaurant on 2nd Avenue

For burgers we enjoyed Parmer Meridean as well as Prime Burger,

Food was generally great, we found the service to be good as well and a big thanks to all at fodors for some great recommendations.

Big T

starrsville

Sounds like a great trip.
I'm going to check out the Giraffe.

SandyBrit

BigT

Was there a reason why you changed hotels in the middle of your stay? Seems like it would be a bother to me.

Glad to know the Giraffe is excellent and enjoyed reading your report. Thanks for sharing.

Sandy

ellenem

Sandy, From the wording, sounds like Big T went elsewhere for a few days between the two hotels stays.

Anonymous

Please do everybody a favor and post your hotel reviews with a couple of the hotel-review web sites like tripadvisor. Up-to-date reviews, even very brief ones, are always appreciated on those sites.

Wine4Life

So surprised to hear that you liked Keens much better than Del Frisco's... I found Keen's to be incredibly sub-standard and the food/ambience so much better at DF. Interesting how two people can have such varied experiences at the same places!

Margo_Chester

I'm still trying to get a burger at LPM, we've stopped in a few times but the line for a table has been very long and we've left. Maybe next time, it sounds like fun.

BigT

Hi Sandy,

we were in NYC for 4 days and then off traveling and returned for the last 4 days of our vacation before heading off home. Originally I had booked the giraffe and Casablanca and for some reason had second thoughts about Casablanca but for no reason i can quantify. I thus changed things and booked the Sofitel to my regret.

Hi Wine4Life, you are quite right about differing experiences, i read the reports for Sofitel on Trip Advsior before our stay and after our return and fail to understand how I could have stayed in the same hotel as some of the reviewers. With regards to Del Friscos, a very different dining experience, it is big and noisy and was packed, even just after new year. The steak i had was good but i think my experience was probably soured by the serving of off food. Perhaps we simply ordered different things at Keens or you had an off night, i really enjoyed it and so did my girlfriend who is not a big meat eater. I also thoroughly enjoy Morton's although only usually visit in Asia so dont know what NYC is like these days but would have certainly preferred to go there than Del Friscos.

Anonymous, already posted a review on Sofitel at Trip Advisor and Giraffe as well, although it hasnt appeared so may need to re do it.

Cheers,

BigT

GwenB

My husband and I stayed at Sofitel last year and were delighted. It was CLEAN and oh, so quiet-- no NYC noise in our room. Mentioned it was our anniversary at check in a complimentary bottle of champagne was sent up. I'm scouring the boards for a repeat trip... this time with the kids and am thinking of staying there again, even though it is a bit pricey. FOr met he quiet is important... I know, I know it's NYC, but I am not a fan of honking all night long...

nytraveler

Apparently they had mutton - not steak at Keen's. Had never heard it was famous (but many American don't even eat lamb and the number that would eat mutton is, I think, very small).

goddesstogo

Two of my favourites, BigT -- the Giraffe and the River Cafe!