Where to Sleep in New York

During this latest trip to New York, I was extremely lucky. For my Friday night stay, I scored a free night at The Eventi Hotel on 6th and 30th because it’s a Kimpton hotel and I had saved up enough Kimpton love for a free stay. On Saturday, I was also very lucky in that the wonderful folks behind Hyatt offered to put me up for the night in one of their wonderfully sniffle-free Respire rooms at the Grand Hyatt New York. (More about that later.) Combine that with the amazingly cheap flight I booked on United Airlines and this was a very cheap weekend. (Except for the food. Obviously, as I mentioned the other day, I spent more than $300 on food between Friday and Saturday. Priorities, people…)

I love love love Kimpton hotels. Firstly, because of the free wifi. Secondly–and I don’t know if this is a new thing–but during my last two stays, they’ve given me a $15 voucher for the minibar. Thirdly, the free wine reception every night between 5 and 6 pm. Call me crazy, but I like talking to strangers, and the free wine reception provides a great opportunity to get to know your fellow travellers.

The rooms at The Eventi in New York are a bit on the smaller side, but the bathrooms are wonderfully huge. (I contrast this with The Burnham in Chicago, where I normally stayed when I was a visitor. Close the door to the bathroom and your knees are in your chest.) My only quibbles with Eventi are like this: I ordered room service when I arrived on Friday and it took over 50 minutes to arrive. I had to call three times to confirm delivery. Then on Friday before I left to go out, I called the front desk to let them know I couldn’t close my blinds. They told me they’d send someone up. I arrived home around midnight and the blinds were still broken, necessitating another call to the front desk. The problem was promptly addressed at that time, but come on…six hours?

On Saturday, I relocated to The Grand Hyatt New York.  In comparison to the Eventi, this room was HUGE. It went on forever. It was also pristinely dust-free and on a less-noticeable scale, the air was very very pure. Hyatt claims that on average, the air in Respire rooms will be ten times purer than normal air.

I don’t want to say that I was pessimistic, but after I confirmed my booking, I was wondering…would I really notice that a Respire room at Hyatt was that much better than a regular room? Would I notice that the room was so “pure”? Hmmm….

Well, If I can skip straight to the point…I did notice. Big time. I seriously woke up without my normal morning congestion. No reaching for the box of tissues next to my bed. Honestly, it felt SO STRANGE. Clear passageways. Truly.

Years and years ago, my mother forced me to the allergist where I was declared allergic to everything and apparently on the brink of death. (And I can tell you…after being shot up with everything you could possibly be allergic to ALL AT THE SAME TIME and told to wait 20 minutes for the reaction, I I was definitely on the brink of death. Pale, listless, nonsensical. My mother the nurse was not happy.) Obviously though all these years later, I’m still alive and can only claim true allergies to dogs, cats, raw carrots, chocolate, caffeine and pistachio nuts (the last two only when consumed in large quantities).

The Respire by Hyatt hypo-allergenic rooms, powered by PURE Solutions NA, are designed to eliminate up to 98 percent of airborne viruses and bacteria, as well as pollen and other irritants commonly found in indoor environments.

The Respire by Hyatt  Hypo-Allergenic Rooms purification process includes:

• Application of PURE Shield and PURE Clean to minimize presence of allergens on carpet, upholstery and other surfaces in the room.
• One-time shock treatment to minimize irritants.
• Complete disinfection of Air Handling Unit and Installation of removable tea tree oil cartridge to maintain these conditions.
• Installation of hypo-allergenic mattress & pillow encasings.
• Installation of a powerful air purifier by Healthway, listed as a Class II Medical device by the F.D.A. (pictured above.)
• Recertification every six months.
• One-time shock treatment to minimize irritants.
• Complete disinfection of Air Handling Unit and Installation of removable tea tree oil cartridge to maintain these conditions.
• Installation of hypo-allergenic mattress & pillow encasings.
• Installation of a powerful air purifier by Healthway, listed as a Class II Medical device by the F.D.A.Recertification every six months.

That’s a whole lot of treatments and pureness. All I’m saying is that after a night in a Respire room, I woke up with a clear head (despite the alcohol) and clear sinuses for the first time in a long time. I believe the last time I awoke so was in November of 1992 in a youth hostel somewhere outside Heidelberg, Germany. It was super super cold. There was no heat. I was the first person to sleep on a particular mattress. On the floor. But I had no blankets. (It’s a long story.) You would think this would have made me sniffly, but I think there was just something about the combination of that mattress and no blanket the cold valley air that made everything all right.

The Verdict: I would stay at either of these hotels again. But for different reasons. I like the Eventi for all the reasons I mentioned above, and in hindsight, for its relative (in comparison to the Hyatt) smallness. The Grand Hyatt, on the other hand, is a HUGE hotel. HUGE. I mean…really, really big. But to that I’d say that sometimes, anonymity is not a bad thing. And really, this visit was all about the Respire room and on that front, the Grand Hyatt delivered.

Passport Delicious was a guest of the Grant Hyatt, and as such, is very very thankful.