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New york quick trip report- The Muse hotel, Orso, Esca, Le Bernadin

New york quick trip report- The Muse hotel, Orso, Esca, Le Bernadin

Old Dec 17th, 2004, 07:01 PM
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New york quick trip report- The Muse hotel, Orso, Esca, Le Bernadin

My wife and I have just come back from a 3 nights stay in New York. Two words to describe it... nice and COLD.

We arrived Tuesday afternoon, took a cab from JFK to the city. Flat rate of $45 plus any applicable tolls. Traffic was horrendous around 5PM. The driver took the 101st exit off the Warwick expressway... In case you didn't know, that's Harlem. My wife said she would not have felt safe without me... Anyway, we got to the Muse to check in after over 1 hour on the road.

The Muse has nice large size rooms by NYC standards, with ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE service. Now I've been NYC many times, have stayed at the Four Seasons, St. Regis, Midtown W, Helmsley, etc... I've also stayed in many other places, in a different class of hotels like the Country Inn's, the Best Western's.... and one thing is common- the people greet you. A "Hi", "Good Morning" go along way. The people at the Muse do not even look at you, acknowledge you, much less greet you with a "Hi". that's less than an acceptable level of civility.

The first night, we went eat at Orso. We shared an appertizer of the Tuna tartar then I had the veal and my wife had the ravioli. The food was good, the Matre'd was grumpy when we asked to move to a different table than the one by the kitchen doorway. As a whole it was good. With wine the bill as about $190 for 2 of us.

The next day I had to buy a long coat because it was too cold to wear just my leather jacket. Went to Sak, they had a raincoat with a removable wool liner for $800. Went to another department store by 5th and the park, Berman something.... their coat was $2800. Right! I took a cab to Macy's, they had a 1 day sale, and I got a coat for $180. Yeah! considering I'd use it none other time here in California.

That night we went to Esca. Great place, dark and had a bustling, vibrant environment upon entering. I had to make reservation 1 month in advance for it. My wife had tuna caparcio, I had the abolone for apetizers. My wife's was good, I thought the abolone was chewy and had too much olive oil. We shared a whole sea bass in sea salt crust that was sublime. With wine the bill was $250. One thing I noticed was that the background music was... wrong. Too techno for the asmosphere.

The last day we went up the upper East side, had lunch at a neighborhood restaurant, window shopped and took a walk through the park back to lower mid town. Rested for a while and went to dinner at Le Bernadin.

Now... we have been to over 40 countries in the world, in 5 continents, eaten at thousands of restaurants and can honestly say that this restaurant is in the top 3, if not THE best restaurant we've eaten at.

The place is beautiful, with a lot of wood and nicely lit with indirect lighting. The service was attentive and prompt, not too snobberish. There's a Chef's menu, a Le Bernadin menu, or you can choose any 3 items in 3 categories- Almost Raw, Barely Touched and Lightly Cooked for $92 per person. My wife had another Tuna (She'll NEED to go to counseling , crab, and codfish. I had 4 flavors of fluke, shrimp ravioli, and lobster (for a $15 surcharge). We also got to pick 1 dessert. We loved our food. The bill with wine was over $350 for 2 and it was totally worth it.

Now we're back, and glad to be home too.

Sorry for any misspelling.
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Old Dec 17th, 2004, 07:54 PM
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I agree about The Muse, but I think we both missed the point. I think we are supposed to be so taken with the cool "uniforms" and look of the staff that we don't notice they're too busy posing to be friendly. At least you got a large room. Ours was tiny and terribly arranged for convenience or practicality.

And totally agree about Le Bernardin. It just doesn't get any better, and we've always felt that it is SO un-pretentious. Even though they have every reason to have their heads in the clouds -- they don't.

You had better luck than us at Esca, where the staff was too busy fawning over a couple of celebrity chefs dining there and our food was overcooked, underseasoned, and just plain mediocre.

But I'm really surprised at Orso, they are always so friendly there.
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Old Dec 17th, 2004, 09:20 PM
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Great trip report! Man, you spend alot on food! And I was worrying about dropping $150 for dinner at the Four Seasons Fountain restaurant in Philly for New Years day (Jan 1) dinner... We don't drink, so wine wouldn't bring the bill up, but spending this much on dinner is not the norm for us. I can't wait to really have an extravagant meal in a fine dining setting! We regularly eat at places like Outback or Houstons instead!

The wife finally agreed to go back to NYC after a 5 year break as we had a horrible time the first time we went. We had an awful fight, ate at a restaurant that was terribly overpriced, fought during the meal, she went to the bathroom for 20 minutes and I thought she had basically left the restaurant and went back to the hotel or something, so I left! It turned out that she was in the bathroom for more than 20 minutes, came out, I was gone, couldn't hail a cab on a Sat night and had to walk like 20 block back to Times Square and didn't remember what hotel it was!!! She was SO pissed when she finally found the hotel and then me in the room, and made me sleep on the disgusting floor and said she'd never go back.

We stayed at The Edison hotel - terribly small room, bad room in general, but great location at Times Sq. Never again will I stay at a shabby hotel in NYC. Staying at a nice hotel like the Sheraton New York Towers at a minimum MAKES the trip SO much better and more palatable.
,
Steve R
Silver Spring MD
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 09:46 AM
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??

A cab from JFK to the theater district doesn't take you through Harlem. I'm guessing you were in Queens, off the Van Wyck.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 10:04 AM
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Don't be too sure, suzanne. I once took a cab and he told me not to panic but we went from JFK, straight north on the Van Wyck all the way up to the Cross Bronx Expwy, then back down again. He said it was much quicker as most of the others were jammed at that time of day, and he was chatting with other drivers. We did go through Harlem.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 10:36 AM
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Too bad you didn;t enjoy evrerything on your trip. Don;t recall that it was especially cold - hasn;t really been cold at all this year yet.

As for your trip from JFK - I think it must have been the VanWyck - and Queens. There is no 101st St exit for anything in Manhattan - and even if there were - it wouldn;t be Harlem. And I'm not sure why anyone wouldn;t feel safe in a cab - either in Queens or Harlem - especially at 5pm. (There are heighborhoods I wouldn;t hang around the streets at 3am - but you;re always safe in a cab!)
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 10:56 AM
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Holy crap, Patrick. That's REALLY out of the way (maybe the prez was in town?). Well I hope the driver didn't make you pay both tolls.

Coolcamden said he took the 101st exit of the "Warwick", I could only assume he meant Van Wyck, which has a 101st Ave connection in Queens.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 11:08 AM
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Funny you mention that, now that I think about it, that WAS the problem. The president WAS in town. We actually came down the Westside Highway also.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 12:47 PM
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OK- it was the Van Wyck, and I am sure the exit is 101st. We were on it all the way until we hit 7th ave., made a left turn, went through the park, exit at 59th and went down.

Along the way to 7th ave, we saw the banners on light poles that said "East Harlem"?

NYtraveler, You may feel safer in your locals, that you are familiar with,... I am sure I'd feel safer than you if you'd been in San Francisco Bay Area, driver made a turn into an unfamiliar area to you, which has a reputation to it... or an alley in Saigon ;-) so it's all about the relative comfort zone. Me thinks.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 12:50 PM
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It's possible the cabbie took the Triborough Bridge to the FDR and got out at 106 st which is indeed Harlem but more likely it was the Van Wyck Exp.

What's your next hotel pick? On what basis did you chose the Muse? Always curious to know how people pick.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 01:20 PM
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Thank you, that's what he did.

The Muse has a corporate account with where my wife works. We got a fairly decent rate on fairly short notice. Thought we'd give it a try. Next time, we'll go back to the St. Regis.

BTW, I went into the Pennisula to try to check out their lobby to get a "feel"... I was turned away by the bellman:
"Sir- may I help you?"
"I'd like to check out the lobby and perhaps have a drink at the lounge."
"The hotel is only for hotel guests."

OK!

I was in a dress shirt, Gap pleatless khaki gray slacks, in a leather jacket. Oh and I had on a $30K Patek Philippe watch. Guess I was too shabby to be seen in their hotel?

Also the Plaza had staff standing on the steps, telling people to show their hotel keys in order to pass.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 01:41 PM
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Too funny, coolcamden. We once stayed at the Peninsula when the St. Regis was just reopened after their long renovation. We did the same thing and thought we'd have a drink in the famous bar -- nope. We were also told it was for hotel guests only. I don't get that in either case as it normally isn't true.

What is it about us??
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 03:45 PM
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For the sake of accuracy:
1. If you exit off the FDR Drive at 106th Street, you're in East Harlem, not Harlem. (East Harlem and Harlem are two different areas in upper Manhattan.)
2. There is no 101st Street exit on either the FDR Drive (east side of Manhattan) or the West Side Drive.
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Old Dec 19th, 2004, 02:31 AM
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The Peninsula bar, at least the one on top of the hotel, is for anyone BUT hotel guests. I mainly saw lots of call girls. I think I wrote about it earlier.

The library bar in the lobby is nothing to get excited about. Nothing like the King Cole or other famous hotel bars. There is no lobby to the Peninsula...two sofas where you can wait for your limo, another banquette in the elevator area. I liked my room at the Peninsula a lot but nothing else.

here is a link to my comments from over a year ago:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34438570
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Old Dec 19th, 2004, 05:08 AM
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Ah the plot thickens.
So The Peninsula was having a problem with call girls and guys coming to pick them up.
The hotel decides to end this situation.
Coolcamden arrives in his leatherjacket and K30 watch looking like he's looking for. . . and asking to go visit the bar.
They turn him away.

It starts to make sense now.
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Old Dec 19th, 2004, 08:05 AM
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Argh man, I knew I should have worn more bling bling.
Or the other way around? I'm... I'm confused now
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Old Dec 19th, 2004, 08:27 AM
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That's pretty bizarre. I've never been turned away from a hotel before if I just wanted to check it out?!?! Oh, and 106th street is just not that scary -- this isn't NYC circa 1975! You can feel safe at 5:00pm pretty much everywhere in NYC -- 4:00am,well that's a different story.
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Old Dec 19th, 2004, 01:37 PM
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coolcamden, was it the entrance to The Plaza on the Central Park South entrance where the bellmen were checking for room keys?

If so it is because there is a bathroom directly to the left of that entrance down the steps and they've had trouble in the past keeping people who aren't guests of the hotel, restaurants or bar out. At one point, they started locking those bathrooms until 5PM.

The two department stores you went into Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman are both extremely expensive specialty department stores.

If you ever want to check out a hotel again and someone gives you a problem, tell them you are a meeting planner with XYZ company (pick any Fortune 500) and they will roll out the red carpet for you. Way over half the business hotels get is in group revenue.
 
Old Dec 19th, 2004, 09:23 PM
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The entrance to the Plaza was on the east side. The side that's facing Bergdorf Goodman. BTW, thanks for the names of these department stores. We don't shop much, so I only remembered Sak's. I have no problem paying money for a coat, but the practical side of me said to me that I may not wear that coat very much after these 3 days, does not make sense to spend too much on it.

About accessibility to hotels, thank you for your suggestion. My wife and I have spent our lives working in high level positions in Silicon Valley. We have been really fortunate to have realized some of the fortunes that come about in this valley. I've taken 3 companies from start up to public, and now started my last one. My wife is 1 of the founding directors at the most famous, iconized search sites in the world. We can affort to stay at ANY hotel in the world. If a hotel chooses to turn us away, we figured it's their loss and we're fine with it.
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