Hale-Byrnes House

Poor front desk service.

A perfect place to stay!!

Overall, we very much enjoyed our stay at the Lowell hotel in the upper east side. The rooms are spacious and beautifully decorated, the staff was warm and welcoming and very friendly. Couple of areas of concern: construction project at the hotel began in Ernest the first morning after our arrival at 8 AM. No warning to guests, just hammering and drilling noises coming right outside of our room, although I learned later they were happening on the floor below. I did mention this to the front desk staff and they discounted one night at 50%. I was grateful for the concession, but I would've preferred knowing that this was happening either at arrival or pre-arrival to prepare my schedule and activities accordingly. Also, dinner at Majorelle, which was absolutely outstanding, suffered from very slow service as did breakfast each morning in the hotel, not something unexpected for the caliber and quality of this hotel. While we're talking about breakfast please note that the prices are very high - $55 for 2 eggs, coffee & toast. Normally I wouldn't bat an eye at high prices for a meal at a hotel of this quality, but it boggles my mind that two eggs, a couple of pieces of toast, some bacon and a cup of coffee will run you half of $100... If you booked breakfast as part of your room rate, you will get a credit to help defray but not completely cover the meal. The location of the hotel is terrific and a short walk to Central Park and amazing shopping.