Millennium UN Plaza — Hotel Review Rating: 3.5 Pearls

Oyster Review Summary

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Oyster Hotel Review

Reviewer: Sara B.
Updated: June 10, 2010

 Scene

The Millennium UN Plaza is housed in two towers of 38 and 40 stories each. The east tower is hobbling along on a renovation from 2000, and management is unsure exactly when the west tower was redone (before any of the current management arrived). The hotel has lost its mojo -- its lobby was designed in an earlier era when thick green marble columns and gold kidney-shaped couches once bestowed a rich, luxurious feel. The armrests of what surely must have been pristine black-and-gold honeycomb upholstery are now covered in black pieces of fabric to hide the wear beneath. Some of the couches are stained, and the thick black and gold rug that's reflected in the mirrored ceiling is also showing signs of wear. Decor in many of the rooms is also outdated, especially in the older west tower, where shimmery, dark-plaid couches reflect the luster of a bygone era.

But the hotel's features still best the great majority of Midtown East business hotels. Its indoor pool comes with a stunning view from the 27th floor, and this is the only hotel in Manhattan with an indoor tennis court, one in which the Williams sisters were spotted warming up before the U.S. Open a few years ago. The equipment in the fitness center is outdated, but the view of the East River and the U.N. headquarters from the perch of a treadmill is hard to beat.

 Service

Though not on par with the doting attention found in hotels like the Four Seasons, the Kimberly, or the Mandarin Oriental, service at the Millennium UN Plaza is everything you would expect from a hotel that regularly sees dignitaries among its guests: polite desk clerks, prompt porters, and formal doormen who seem to pay a bit more attention to guests wearing suits than those in jeans. But unlike comparable luxe hotels such as the Sofitel, there isn't 24-hour room service, and turndown service is only by request.

Their concierge service (contracted out by a separate company) is able to recommend solid restaurants in the neighborhood and hook you up with tickets to just about any show in the city, as well as to Yankees and Mets games (both baseball stadiums are a relatively short subway ride from the hotel). However, unlike many of the chain hotels that use TKTS or other discount providers, all tickets are bought using a broker, and are rarely cheaper than what you'd find at the box office (and occasionally even more expensive).

 Location

Between 30 and 40 consulates are located within a three-block radius of the hotel, including the Kuwaiti consulate next door and the Mexican consulate across the street. In fact, the bottom 28 floors of the hotel's two towers actually house many U.N. offices. Security is among the tightest in the city, and a bomb-sniffing canine is permanently on-site at the hotel.

The hotel is located on the easternmost outskirts of Midtown East, four long blocks from the subway hub at Grand Central and 10 minutes by taxi to Central Park. The sidewalks in the neighborhood are packed with office workers during the day, but everyone clears out once the consulates, embassies, and UN offices shut down for the night. The advantage is that it's really quiet in the evenings, and very safe, but unlike at the Midtown West or downtown hotels, there's no nightlife.

 Rooms

Rooms in the Millennium UN are split between two towers, the east (renovated in 2000) and west (renovated sometime prior). Though they have new Frette linens and Samsung 40-inch flat-screen TVs (replaced in 2008), the lack of in-room Wi-Fi and the outdated decor, particularly in the west tower, dates the hotel beyond its years.

• Standard rooms start at a respectable 250 square feet, which is a bit bigger than the rooms at many of New York's boutique hotels, but smaller than the comparably priced Westin or Hilton in Times Square, and considerably smaller than the rooms at the nearby Kimberly Hotel. Standard rooms come with a either a king, queen, or two double-size beds, and a choice of a view to the East River and Queens, or to Brooklyn.
• Rooms begin on the 28th floor in the east tower and the 29th floor in the west tower, and go up to floors 38 and 40, respectively. Given that the hotel is on the easternmost side of Manhattan, most rooms come with incredible views.
• Tip: The most requested rooms are corner rooms in the east tower ending in 16 with sweeping views east towards Queens and south towards Brooklyn.
• The enormous one-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom suite is 1,000 square feet (bigger than many New York apartments), but its kitchenette doesn't include a single pot, pan, or utensil.

All rooms include:

• Comfortable bed: firm mattresses; down comforters; Frette linens
• Bath products from Gilchrist & Soames
• Flat-screen TV with basic cable and movies on demand
• No Wi-Fi; hardwired Internet costs $13 per day.
• No minibars or coffeemakers

 Features

• The pool has spectacular views from the 27th floor, but you'll have to take your laps before it closes at 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends.
• 38th-floor Har-Tru indoor tennis court, the only one in any Manhattan hotel. Rates range from $95 and $110 per hour, depending on the time of day.
• The cardio and strength-training equipment in the 24-hour gym has seen better days, and none of the cardio machines have personal monitors (though there's a flat-screen TV mounted in the corner that's tuned to CNN), but the view from a treadmill on the 27th floor is a sight to behold.
• The fitness center also offers massages -- $135 an hour for Swedish, $145 an hour for pressure point.
• In-room hard-wired Internet costs $13 a day; wireless Internet in the lobby costs $11 for 30 minutes.
• The business center has four PCs and a printer, but it's located between the Ambassador Grill and the lounge and has very little lighting. The minimum charge is $10, which only gets you 20 minutes online, and each additional minute is $.50.

 Family

• Cribs are free, and rollaways -- which fit into any room size -- are $40 per night.
• There are a few connecting rooms and suites with pullout couches and multiple bedrooms.
• The room-service menu has a kids section listing items like chicken fingers, burgers, and silver-dollar pancakes for $10 to $12.

 Cleanliness

Though the linens and TVs were replaced in 2008, the furnishings and fixtures in both the rooms and the lobby haven't been replaced since 2000, and some even before that; expect to see some stains.

 Food

Even though the tables were set with white linens and silverware, the Ambassador Grill is only open for breakfast. Room service, however, is available from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. But given the room service menu's exorbitant prices -- between $24 (Mediterranean vegetable Wellington) and $37 (marinated grilled baby lamb chop) -- you might as well walk a few blocks to Cipriani Dolci, the Grand Central Oyster Bar, or better yet, Caffe Linda, where the food is much better. Prices on the breakfast menu are also steep: a sliced banana is $5, a cappuccino is $9, two eggs with bacon is $16, and a breakfast burrito is $25. Even cereal and a sliced banana on the kids menu is $10.

 Bottom Line

Steps from the UN headquarters on the eastern edge of Midtown East, the 427-room Millennium UN Plaza offers an indoor pool and the only indoor tennis court in NYC. However, the property is showing wear and tear since its last renovation in 2000, and there's no in-room Wi-Fi, only hardwired Internet for $13 per day.