DC4MS

I had an opportunity to visit the Ultimate Escapes Elite Club property at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York City as a “guest journalist” to evaluate their property and write a trip report. I paid my own airfare, taxi, meals, and activities. I stayed for a total of one night and did not receive any financial payment for this review.

Ultimate Escapes currently has twelve properties located in New York City at three different properties including Trump International Hotel & Tower (7 properties), 1600 Broadway (3 properties), and The Link (2 properties). They have three NYC properties in the Premiere Club, four properties in the Signature Club, and five properties in the Elite Club.

I was offered pre-trip planning and concierge services by their Escape Planning Specialist who wanted to arrange a chauffeured limousine service from the airport, restaurant reservations, and preferred setting at a Broadway show, but unfortunately my visit was short as I had a business meeting to attend in the city and barely had time to grab a hot dog from a street vendor during my visit.

When the taxi dropped me off at the front entrance of the Trump Tower located across the street of the Southwest corner of Central Park, I was instantly greeted by a bellman who quickly grabbed my luggage, escorted thru the front door by a concierge, and was greeted at the front desk by two attendants. Check-in was very smooth, efficient, and very friendly. The front desk offered me a choice of refreshments, local newspaper, and even escorted me to the guarded elevator and showed me to unit #310.

The Elite Club property is a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom suite (1350 square feet) with five large closets, kitchenette, living room/dining room combination, decorated by Hirsch Bedner Associates, and had a killer view of Columbus Circle. There are also great views of Central Park West and Broadway, but the view of all the action taking place 20 feet below was captivating. When I inquired about typical rental rates for this sized room, I was told that prices start at $2,300 per night plus taxes.

Walking into the main entrance of the property initially felt like any standard hotel suite, but once you walk past the foyer you are standing on the north side of an approximate 40 foot long Gallery that leads past two huge walk-in closets and one guest bathroom. The closet near the front door entrance is about 6’ x 8’ and offers lots of room for luggage, coats, or even baby strollers.

The guest bathroom is decorated with black marble, gold chromed fixtures, and a large mirror. The Gallery is well appointed and has various artwork on the walls.

The second walk-in closet near the guest bathroom is actually large enough that it could function as a nursery for any families that may be traveling with infants. There is also a large safe that can easily fit camera equipment, purses, and even a small computer.

The master bedroom is approximately 13’ x 17’ and offers a full unobstructed view of Central Park West, separate his and hers large walk-in closets and a spacious bathroom (by NYC standards). The master bathroom had floor to ceiling marble, gold plated fixtures, jetted tub/shower combination, extra soft towels, and a telephone (imagine those conversations).

The master bedroom had a king sized bed that was very comfortable, but lacked a traditional bedspread. There were a few nice touches like a Trump monogrammed robe, Trump slippers, Trump chocolates, magazines (Trump of course), umbrella, and Fuji water laid out for guest enjoyment. There was also a small lounger chair in the room and an excellent view of Central Park West out of the 10’ x 10’ windows. Fortunately, the windows had double pleated curtains that blocked the rising sun in the east and easily make the room dark enough for an afternoon nap. One thing that amazed me was how quiet the room was with all the activity taking place outside and I was very happy that Donald must have added extra insulation to the walls to prevent any outside noise from disturbing his guests.

The master bedroom had a wooden armoire that contained a standard 4:3 (non high definition) Zenith 27 inch television, Zenith DVC/VCR combo and multiple drawers for clothes. This is one feature of the property that could be improved by simply replacing this television cabinet with a nice wall mounted plasma or LCD television.

The Guest bedroom is only slightly smaller than the master bedroom, has a much smaller closet, a queen sized bed, but offers two dramatic views of Broadway and Columbus Circle. There is also a wooden armoire and television similar to the master bedroom that should also be upgraded. The guest bathroom was similar to the master including a telephone, but did not have a jetted tub.

The kitchen was approximately 8’ x 10’ and was pretty tight, but offered granite countertops, full sized GE Profile refrigerator with an ice/water dispenser, GE profile dishwasher, 4 burner GE gas range and a microwave. The kitchen was well equipped with most utensils, and an assortment of glasses, flatware, and plates. The kitchen was pre-stocked with a huge assortment of snacks and alcoholic beverages (individually priced) such as Trump vodka ($14.50), Patron Silver tequila ($50), sodas ($5), assorted beer ($9), Champaign, wine, Red Bull, and even Trump Ice water.

The living room and dining offered the most dramatic view of Columbus Circle and it felt like you were actually hovering over a very active round-about below. The room was incredibly quiet and offered a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of NYC below. The famous Steel Globe outside was so close that you could almost reach outside to touch it. The entire area was about 13’ x 24’ and combined a living room, work desk, and dining room in one open space.

There was a Zenith P42W34P2003 widescreen plasma television on a cabinet that contained a Brother Intellifax 1270e and Zenith surround sound system. A three person couch, lounge chair, and sitting desk completed this part of the living room. A round wooden table with four chairs comprised the dining room. The feature presentation of the living room was the three separate glass windows that were approximately 10’ x 10’ each that presented views of Central Park West, Columbus Circle, Broadway, Time-Warner building and shops, and a real-time window of the ever changing NYC below. All the curtains in the living room were controlled by a Silent Gliss automated curtain remote control system that made opening and closing the curtains a form of entertainment.

There was a fantastic health club in the basement that was superior to most other Destination Club facilities in NYC. The club had a 18 yard lap pool, dozens of workout equipment, two private massage rooms, huge men's and women’s steam rooms, showers, and changing facilities, and even a manicure station.

One interesting room on the 3rd floor was the Boardroom on the North end of the building where guests (I assume there is a fee for using this room) could easily have a business meeting with a dozen or more clients. Ultimate Escapes owns 7 rooms (some are doubles) on the third floor and every time I met someone near the elevator I asked if they were an Ultimate Escapes member and they said yes. Most of them were staying in the Premiere and Signature rooms and I offered them a tour of the Elite room and they all took me up on my offer for a quick visit.

Although this is probably the smallest Ultimate Escapes Elite home in terms of square footage, the size of the unit was quite large for an upper West side Manhattan location. New York City is an incredibly exciting place to visit and the quality, amenities, and location across from Central Park of this property will satisfy discriminating visitors.

Here is an online slideshow of some photos I took during my visit.
Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

TravelGuy

Nice Review!!

It's great that UE has multiple NYC locations so members can select the property that fits their activities while in the Apple.