If there was a World Cup for hotel beds, my king-size in The Peninsula New York would be in with a shout of making the final.
It’s exquisitely comfortable.
And the rest of this ‘Grand Luxe’ room in the landmark 1905 Fifth Avenue Beaux-Arts building that The Peninsula New York occupies is dreamy, too, a full-marks score derailed, however, by a faulty bath-tub plug and a dribbling, leaky shower hose that I summon maintenance men to fix.
(I used to think that in hotels of world renown, basic room plumbing would be checked before a room was declared ready.)
But back to the plus points, of which there are many.
My 14th-floor lair in this newly refurbished, iconic Big Apple hotel has bedside charging pads, military-grade Wi-Fi, and touch-screen tablets that control a beautifully oversized TV and a superbly adjustable lighting system.
Iconic property: Ted Thornhill checks in to The Peninsula New York, set in a 1905 Fifth Avenue Beaux-Arts building
Ted describes his ‘Grand Luxe’ room (very similar to the one pictured) as ‘exquisitely comfortable’
Above is a bathroom similar to the one in Ted’s room. Although the plumbing needed fixing, Ted describes his bathroom (see video) as a ‘marble-smothered treasure’
Above is the Pen Top bar on floor 23. Ted writes: ‘The Peninsula is part of what makes Fifth Avenue so timeless’
Dim the filaments, and this cream-hued room offers total tranquillity.
And dodgy plumbing aside, the ensuite is a marble-smothered treasure.
Allow me to also heap praise on the 21st-floor spa, where knots in my muscles are banished by the magical hands of masseuse Daniela, with a post-Swedish-massage swim in the stunning 22nd-floor indoor pool, as rows of traffic glisten mesmerisingly 200ft below, leaving me convinced that The Peninsula NYC could do quite well in a World Cup of spas.
There are lower-level delights, too.
On a luxurious red banquette in Clement, the hotel’s signature restaurant, I enjoy a lovely breakfast – eggs Benedict and a basket of pastries, plus proper posh coffee befitting of a proper posh hotel.
However, the waiting staff fail the ‘second coffee test’, as many do – failing to deliver that all-important order of back-up coffee without a nudge.
Above is the ‘stunning’ 22nd-floor indoor pool, which Ted visits at night ‘as rows of traffic glisten mesmerisingly 200ft below’
Clement, the hotel’s signature restaurant, where Ted enjoys ‘a lovely breakfast’
Bar at Clement, where Ted sips coffees with a friend in a ‘convivial atmosphere’
Peninsula New York’s grand lobby
And I’m surprised to hear an animated argument between team members through an open kitchen door.
Still, this is New York, where zesty dialogue is de rigueur, I guess. And I like them. They’re wonderfully courteous (to the guests) and so, too, are their colleagues next door in Bar at Clement, where I enjoy coffees with a friend in a convivial atmosphere amid a light scattering of black marble tables and banquettes that have moved through the colour spectrum to light brown.
Stroll through the grand lobby of the 219-room Peninsula New York and out through the revolving doors and you’ll find yourself on an all-time-great shopping avenue, of course, and a few minutes’ walk from Central Park Zoo (and, my friend reveals, Monkey Bar, a 1940s throwback cocktail joint with a speakeasy vibe).
The Peninsula will tell you it’s in a great location. But I’m here to tell you that The Peninsula is part of what makes Fifth Avenue so timeless.
And when that inevitable weariness from being sheep-dipped in The Big Apple’s streets hits, the hotel’s spa and that dreamy bed await.