Michelangelo Hotel — Hotel Review Rating: 4.0 Pearls

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Oyster Hotel Review

Reporter: Jessica F.
Updated: December 18, 2009

 Scene

Though its neoclassical lobby seems more Park Avenue than 7th Avenue, this 179-room Midtown boutique wouldn't have it any other way -- less than 10 blocks from gaudy, rowdy Times Square, the Michelangelo markets itself as the only European-style accommodation at the center of the city's harried business district. Indeed, the European flavor is more than superficial: This is the only American outpost of the 22-hotel Starhotels group; 20 of its properties are in Italy and one is in Paris. What that translates into, at least in this case, is a richly decorated but unstuffy lobby with marble flooring, couches upholstered in Venetian-inspired textiles, and chandeliers inspired by Roman torches.

Like most successful hotels in midtown Manhattan, the Michelangelo does double duty to maintain its consistent 90 percent capacity. From Monday to Thursday, it serves primarily business travelers of the Fortune 500 variety who largely account for the fact that some 40 percent of the hotel's guests are repeat customers. At 5 p.m. on a June weekday, I was just one of three women in the staid, tasteful lobby bar filled with business travelers discussing the day's deals over drinks and fistfuls of complimentary candied nuts. On weekends, you're more likely to see families with kids trundling through the high-gloss lobby on their way to nearby Central Park, Rockefeller Center, or a Broadway theater.

The Michelangelo offers the sort of distinguished, personable service more often associated with properties much further east, like the Hotel Elysee or Loews Regency. And the rooms are easily up to that standard as well: At about 350 square feet, they're very spacious (not just for New York City) and feature huge, 55-gallon soaking tubs (a veritable pool for kids!). Not surprisingly, the hotel has received a lot of industry recognition over the past few years, including a spot on Travel and Leisure 's 2006 World's Best Value list.

 Service

When it comes to service, the Michelangelo's approach is fairly formal and traditional (it caters largely to business travelers, after all) but not overly so (they work hard to make families feel warmly welcome). Staff deliver whatever guests need, from a forgotten toothbrush to a ride to the office on Wall Street to last-minute theater tickets.

Service is prompt and consistent. Housekeeping, in particular, appears to run a tight ship: I returned a little after 7 p.m. to find the elaborate coverlet for my bed folded up in a corner, and the all-cotton bedding turned down. The next day's weather forecast had been noted on a card and left with a chocolate. By the time I returned from an early breakfast the next morning, the room had already been returned its original shape -- the bed remade with the coverlet and fresh towels placed in the bathroom.

Monday through Thursday, the hotel is very much at the beck and call of its business-minded guests, and the amenities -- including free limo service to Wall Street, a free shoe shine, free espresso and cappuccino, and free copies of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, several Italian newspapers, and Newsweek magazine -- reflect this. (If they could give out complimentary stiff drinks, they'd have their guests fully armored for a day of business dealings.) Surprisingly, the hotel does not have a formal business center, but the front desk is more than happy to take care of faxing and copying needs.

The concierge desk was constantly busy during my stay, doing the legwork for typical requests, such as dinner reservations, airport transportation, and tickets for a Broadway show.

 Location

The Michelangelo is smack in the middle of midtown Manhattan, on a relatively quiet block -- 51st Street between 6th and 7th Avenues -- that's all business: By midmorning I could see workers in the office building across the street typing, filing, and sipping coffee. Even so, scores of popular tourist attractions are within easy walking distance. Rockefeller Center, for shopping, ice-skating (in the colder months), and dining is just five blocks away; Radio City Music Hall is a mere three blocks; the glorious Museum of Modern Art is an easy four blocks. The hotel's proximity to Times Square and the theater district makes it a prime spot for those in town to catch a Broadway show. Central Park is also about a 15-minute walk away.

Guests will have no problem getting a taxi at the hotel, especially with so many doormen dedicated to the task (one even told some pedestrians who were competing for my taxi to step aside). And because the hotel is nearly equidistant to Manhattan's east and west sides, virtually every subway line in the city is an easy walk away.

Safety isn't a concern. With so many corporate types coming off 15-hour workdays, it's difficult to be alone on the streets of this neighborhood, even late at night.

 Airport Transportation

New York City has three nearby airports: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Getting into town from JFK or LaGuardia is usually more convenient than from Newark, but travel times are heavily dependent on the time of day and traffic conditions. From JFK, a taxi to anywhere in Manhattan costs a flat rate of $45 and takes around an hour in average conditions. From LaGuardia, a metered cab ride to midtown Manhattan costs about $40 and can take 30 minutes if traffic is light, three times that if it's bad. Rides from Newark cost at least $40 plus tolls and can take more than 90 minutes. It's customary to tip your driver 15 to 25 percent.

Those looking to save some cash can use the privately run shuttle buses that are available at all three airports for about $14 per person. For more information on the shuttles, go to Super Shuttle or New York Airport Service. Public transit is also available for as little as $7 per person, but travel can take up to two hours and involve a lot of lugging bags up and down stairways.

For mass-transit directions right to the hotel, check out HopStop.com.

 Rooms

Standard rooms are most appropriate for the early-to-bed, early-to-rise crowd; younger guests may find the neoclassic decor a bit stodgy, though it is at least innocuous. But all guests are likely to appreciate two characteristics of the rooms: At close to 350 square feet, they're larger than most found in New York City, and though the hotel is in a plum midtown spot, the noise stays out of the room. During my stay overnight, I only heard the whooshing of an occasional taxi.

Given the nation-state-size budgets going into hotel-bed R&D these days, the ones here are nothing extraordinary, but they are done up in a fancy coverlet with crushed velvet throw pillows and clean, high-thread-count white linens.

The bathrooms, on the other hand, are a real highlight. They feature huge (55-gallon, if you want the specs) soaking tubs, two plush terry bathrobes, and a Philips Magnavox mini TV -- a relic of the '90s, but a nice touch nonetheless. Toiletries are the hotel's own branded products, which was a slight disappointment for a boutique of this stature.

The 27.5-inch plasma flat-screen TVs get basic cable; pay-per-view movies are $14. There is no iPod dock, but the Bose CD player has great sound.

The minibar features a standard assortment of drinks and snacks.

 Features

The Michelangelo has a new gym with two treadmills, two elliptical machines, and a plasma-screen TV. Unfortunately, the windowless room itself, located in the basement next to what appears to be a prep kitchen for the Insieme restaurant, seems to have been an afterthought.

A morning caffeine fix, however, is not an afterthought: From 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekends, the hotel's lobby bar transforms into an Italian cafe. Guest can help themselves to American brewed coffee and a selection of pastries, and order espresso-based drinks from the barista.

Surprisingly, this boutique business hotel lacks a proper business center; instead, there's just a single computer in the lobby. Wi-Fi service is $10 a day in the rooms, but unavailable (at any price) in the lobby.

 Family

The hotel was recently recognized as a great family choice, even though it lacks any particularly kid-friendly amenities like milk and cookies, or the "welcome toys" that the nearby Loews Regency doles out.

The restaurant and room-service menus offer enough to keep developing taste buds happy, including chicken fingers, chicken wings, and spaghetti with butter.

Cribs are available for free, rollaway beds for $30 a night.

 Cleanliness

Very clean, with one (very minor) exception: I found some dust around the minibar door in my room.

 Food

In a neighborhood full of expensive, mediocre, and mass-produced fare, the hotel's restaurant, Insieme, is a welcome alternative -- though it is a bit spendy: Dinner entrees range from $26 to $32. Rated one of the 10 best new restaurants in 2007 by the New York Times and one of the best restaurants of 2008 by New York magazine, Insieme serves nouveau Italian cuisine -- classic dishes prepared with a modern flair (think meat lasagna with bechamel sauce or Saltimbocca prepared with lemon puree, bok choy, lardo, prosciutto, and sage). Many customers come in for the pasta tasting menu; at $68 it offers small portions of five of the popular pasta dishes, plus fruit and cheese. The host told me that about a quarter of the dinner crowd stay at the hotel, the rest of the customers are the local business crowd and theatergoers in the know.

Room service also comes from the Insieme kitchen and is available 24 hours a day.

Each morning, the hotel serves free pastries and espresso-based and American coffee in the lobby bar.

 Bottom Line

This European-style boutique, located near Times Square, charms both business travelers and vacationing families with impeccable cleanliness, an acclaimed Italian restaurant on-site, bigger-than-usual standard rooms with massive soaking tubs, and complimentary cappuccino and pastries each morning. A very fine alternative to Midtown mega hotels -- and, given all the little extras, a worthy competitor to the business-minded luxury boutiques, like the posher Loews Regency, on Manhattan's East Side.