HotelsFour SeasonsNew York, USA
Not in collection
We only cover serious luxury hotels, and this is one. It just didn’t clear our 15.0/20 bar this time; the scores below show where it slipped.
The address is unbeatable: five minutes from Central Park, an I.M. Pei limestone tower whose lobby still stops people mid-step. That’s the case for booking, and it’s a real one. But this reopened in stages through 2024 and 2025 after a long closure, and what came back is uneven. Some rooms have been refreshed with clean, calm layouts and standout bathrooms; other guests, in the same year, walked into rooms with the same shower fixtures and faux orchids as before the closure. That’s not a small gap.
Service is where the split really shows. Most people who write about this hotel talk about a specific person who made their stay: Milton at breakfast, Christina G. arranging a birthday surprise, a bellman named Eddie. But there’s also a front-desk phone rep who volunteered the price of the Ty Warner Penthouse to a caller who’d asked a simple question about a TV, and a lobby incident where a guest was accused of not looking like she could afford to be there. The staff can be genuinely excellent, and the hotel has let a couple of ugly moments happen at the door. There’s no full spa currently, just a limited third-party setup most guests skip, and the gym is small for the category.
Book it for the location, the Garden restaurant, and the chance of a room that’s actually been redone: ask specifically about a renovated floor before you commit. If a fully modernized room matters more than the address, the Downtown Four Seasons or the Carlyle are worth pricing against this one first. For a Central Park view and that lobby, this still earns its place.
Service 15/20
Staff are named and praised often, Joel and Milton among them, but a phone rep’s crack about the $85,000 suite and a lobby confrontation over affordability show real gaps.
Rooms & Design 12.5/20
Rooms are called spacious with strong views, but several 2025 guests still found 90s-era bathrooms, faux flowers and worn fixtures despite the reopening.
Location 18/20
A few minutes from Central Park with the Garden restaurant and TY Bar on site, this is as good as Midtown addresses get.
Dining 14.5/20
Wellness 10/20
The gym is small even by New York standards and there is no full spa, just limited third-party treatments guests skip.
Red flag
I was still technically at a Four Seasons, but this was by far my worst stay with the brand.
May 2026
The lobby bar was dirty and there just weren’t many amenities for what I paid. We ended up going to the Carlyle for drinks instead and regretted not booking there for the whole trip. I won’t be back to this location, there are too many better options in New York.
Strong endorsement
My central park suite was spectacular and dinner at the Garden restaurant was superb.
Andrenalini May 2026
The location is five minutes from Central Park and Madison Avenue, close to Central Station. The architecture and decoration are beautiful and breathtaking, and the service and quality throughout were outstanding.
Drags the score
I’ve generally loved my three nights here, but room service delivered me a club sandwich that was genuinely unacceptable.
Astrid Kumova Sep 2025
The quality and service usually match what I expect from a hotel of this caliber. But last night’s club sandwich was shockingly bad, I think my seven-year-old grandson could have made something better. For a hotel that prides itself on luxury, that’s not okay.
Lifts the score
I forgot my jacket in the room and they got it shipped back to me so fast I had to write a review just to thank them.
DoiryV May 2026
Whenever I call down for something I forgot to pack, they always have it, down to a toothpick. The bed, the soaps, the smell everywhere, it’s all part of why I keep coming back even when I try other hotels in the city. My one gripe is they told me I had a Central Park view and it was a stretch, but it was a free upgrade so I can’t really complain.
“The only vague negative is they told me I got a Central Park view. lol.” in their words
Strong endorsement
The staff treated us like VIPs even though we just walked in with a question, and Joel made our whole visit memorable.
Jenny Murphy Dec 2025
We stopped in the lobby with a question and Joel went out of his way to help us, chat with us and even let us take photos in front of the tree. The other staff we encountered were kind and professional too. If a random lobby interaction was this good, I can only imagine what a real stay is like.
Lifts the score
I spent most of my stay in the room and the bathroom was the real standout, polished and well-finished.
Mohit Kumar Sharma Dec 2025
The room had a clean, modern look with a comfortable bed, good lighting and a layout that felt calm without being dull. The bathroom’s size, mirrors and finish stood out most, and small details like water pressure, towels and amenities were all handled well. Housekeeping reset the room with real attention to detail every single day, and the evening skyline view added character to the stay.
Strong endorsement
Our flight was five hours late and the staff still had us settled into a beautiful room with dinner waiting.
119pattyb Sep 2025
No request was left unanswered across housekeeping, bellmen, doormen and everyone else we dealt with over seven nights. Our 44th floor room had fabulous city views, a very comfortable bed and modern decor with good lighting. My husband loved being able to request ice or anything else through the app, and we came back most nights to fresh cookies and fruit waiting for us. Breakfast in the Garden restaurant was wonderful too, served by someone who’d been there since the hotel opened.
Strong endorsement
Not one thing to complain about, the staff knew everyone’s name and Milton at breakfast is a character every hotel would want.
BigTraveler002 Aug 2025
The front desk and concierge team are the kind of people I’d hire if I ran a five-star hotel myself. The rooms were super quiet, super clean, and cleaning and turndown were always on time. I’d absolutely recommend it without hesitation.
Mixed read
The property is beautiful and the location is fantastic, but for the price I expected more of a wow factor.
simonbM6944UE Apr 2025
The rooms were spacious and comfortable but slightly less impressive than I expected at this level. Everything was clean and well-appointed, just not memorable. Service was professional but at times felt impersonal and inconsistent, with some requests taking longer than they should have.
Strong endorsement
The lobby, the Garden restaurant and the TY Bar reminded me this is a classic property that hotels just don’t build like anymore.
H8072QVjeffw Jan 2025
You need a moment just to take in the vastness of the lobby. Meals were consistently delicious and the cocktails at the bar were fantastic. My room was clean, nicely appointed and comfortable, but what stood out most was the concierge team, who got me into every restaurant I wanted and made it feel like they’d handed me the keys to the city.
The Four Seasons Hotel New York occupies an I.M. Pei-designed limestone tower on East 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan, a few minutes’ walk from Central Park and Fifth Avenue. The 52-storey building reopened in November 2024 after an extended closure, with a phased return to around 219 rooms and suites, including a number of floors converted into longer-term residential units by owner Ty Warner. The lobby, with its soaring ceilings and honey-toned stone, is one of the most recognized hotel interiors in the city.
On property, dining centers on The Garden restaurant and the TY Bar, both located off the main lobby. The hotel has an updated fitness center and mechanical systems following the recent renovation, with a spa refresh planned. Rooms run large by Manhattan standards, many with Central Park or skyline views on higher floors. The location puts Fifth Avenue shopping, Midtown’s theater and restaurant scene, and Central Park within walking distance.
It depends heavily on which room you land in. The location and lobby justify a premium on their own, but guests report a real gap between renovated suites and rooms that still have pre-closure fixtures, so it’s worth confirming your room type before booking at these rates.
Only partially. The hotel reopened in stages from late 2024 through 2025 with upgraded technology, mechanical systems and a reimagined restaurant and bar, but multiple 2025 guests still found bathrooms and furniture that hadn’t been touched since the pre-closure era.
Guests who’ve done both often say the Downtown property has the more modern rooms, and some prefer the Carlyle for its bar and personal service. This Midtown location wins mainly on proximity to Central Park and the scale of its lobby.
Travelers who prioritize a Central Park-adjacent Midtown base and want a shot at one of the renovated suites. Anyone wanting a full spa or guaranteed-modern rooms across the whole property should look elsewhere or confirm their exact room category first.
Directly with the hotel. The Reserve button on this page takes you there, and the reservation is made with the hotel, in your name.
Directly with the hotel is the simplest: the reservation is then the hotel’s own, so a change of dates or a request for a particular room goes straight to the people who run it.
Not something anyone can promise: it depends on what’s still unsold the day you arrive. Telling the hotel in advance that you’re celebrating something is worth doing.
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