Thompson is one of my favorite Hyatt brands. The brand will be continuing its expansion with another property in New York, and it’s an interesting one.
In this post:
Parker New York becomes Thompson Central Park
Long story short, the Parker New York will become the Thompson Central Park New York in the coming months. This property has quite a history:
- The Le Parker Meridien New York used to be a Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) property; however, in 2013 SPG filed a lawsuit against the owners of the property due to fraudulent award stay reimbursements
- In early 2018, Le Parker Meridien New York formally left Starwood, and joined Leading Hotels of the World (LHW); unsurprisingly that didn’t work out too well, since this is a big property, and LHW doesn’t have as much pull as other major global hotel groups
- In 2019, the property joined Hyatt, as the Parker New York, though it didn’t specifically join one of Hyatt’s existing brands, but rather just maintained its previous name
Many of us have been wondering what the ultimate plan was for the property under Hyatt’s management, and now we know — the Parker New York has undergone a significant renovation, and will be opening this fall as the Thompson Central Park New York.
This will be the third Thompson property in New York, though the first actually branded as such — the two existing Thompson properties are called Gild Hall and The Beekman.
Basics of the Thompson Central Park New York
So, what should we expect with the new Thompson Central Park?
- The hotel is at 56th Street & 6th Avenue, so it’s just a couple of blocks from Central Park, and also just a block from the Park Hyatt
- It hasn’t been announced how many rooms the hotel will have post-refresh, but the Parker New York was a mega-hotel, with 729 rooms; it’s my understanding that the hotel’s footprint may be reduced a bit, but we’ll have to wait for official details on that
- The base rooms at the hotel will be 300 square feet, while as of now the most premium room on sale is a 450 square foot studio suite
- The hotel will continue to have Burger Joint and Indian Accent, the hotel’s two restaurants
The Thompson Central Park is accepting reservations for stays as of November 1, 2021. This will be a Category 5 World of Hyatt property, meaning that a free night redemption will cost 20,000 World of Hyatt points per night. Paid pricing here seems fairly steep, at $450+ per night, though prices do vary.
Below are some pictures of the new Thompson Central Park. As you can see, the hotel is very much getting a Thompson look and feel, so it looks like a pretty substantial refresh has been done of the property.
I could see myself staying here
I’m kind of looking forward to the Thompson Central Park, and could see myself staying here. Let me start by saying that I don’t travel to New York City that often, and for that matter this isn’t my preferred location when I’m in the city. However, I could see the value in this place if I wanted to be in the area.
I love Thompson’s room decor, and it looks like this property has been nicely refreshed. A couple of things, though:
- The owners of this property were super anti-loyalty program back in the day, so here’s to hoping that changes as a Thompson, under Hyatt’s management
- The pricing here is aggressive, and will likely decrease over time, given the size of the hotel; personally I’d expect pricing to eventually get closer to $300 per night, at least seasonally
Bottom line
The Thompson Central Park New York is now accepting reservations for stays as of November 2021. The Parker New York joined Hyatt in 2019, has undergone a significant refresh, and will soon reopen as the Thompson Central Park New York.
While this isn’t exactly a boutique property, it is nice for Hyatt loyalists to have a newly refreshed mega-hotel that should add lots of capacity to Hyatt’s footprint in the city.
What do you make of the Thompson Central Park?
Ben, you forgot something hugely important: the property is sold in 2019.
The Parker’s pool was an awesome selling point! What FOOLS to demolish it ‼️‼️‼️
So long Parker….. I used to work at Norma’s from spring/summer of 2019 to the beginning of stupid-19 and all the craziness. Seems Norma’s is getting sent to the chopping block unfortunately. I would love to go get a plate of crunchy French toast again.
Does this hotel still have the top level pool?
No it's been taken out
I thought Le Meridian and the Parker where two separate hotels. There is still a Le Meridian there. Biggest question is what is gonna happen to the Burger Joint?
Burger Joint will reopen 11/1
It’s widely known part of the hotel was being converted to condos. Obviously that shrinks the room count. Given it’s widely known it might have been worthy to mention here in all the speculation about room count.
Anyway I loved the old old PM from 20+ years ago. The recent versions have sucked. I bet the Thompson version will be a wonderful place to stay.
729 ROOMS?
no thank you lol. but looks beautiful! ironically enough, there are so many limited options of NYC hotels with direct central park views...and some of them are so random and not the best hotels.
Ironically, the Viceroy (located next door to the Parker) took the Le Meridien flag after the Parker exited the system.
Well that answers my question. So the Le Meridian turned into the Parker which is now The Thompson. And the Viceroy is now the Le Meridian. Thx!
Could’ve sworn Burger joint moved out during the pandemic… I work on the block but haven’t been to the office much in the last 15 months until last month ..
The elevators at this property were a nightmare. Hopefully they've addressed this
That is true. Any time around check out, getting on an elevator would take a while.
Not trying to be nit picky, but given your comment on the size of the rooms, the two pictures provided are clearly their studio suite rather than standard guest room. It might make sense to adjust the description.
Any word on whether they’ll be reopening Norma’s?
Not happening
The pool is really nice at this hotel— not that it’s a nice place to hang out, but it’s always nice to go for a swim in winter and see Central Park
Pool is gone.
At 729 rooms, this should be an Unbound property. I don't see how antagonistic owners can maintain a Thompson vibe.
I have stayed there a few times. The staff were always great. When ever I passed a staff member, be it maintenance person or a manager, they always said hello.
One of the best perks is the pool. It is on the top floor with some great views of the park. Worth a night there in the winter to swim and look out at the park.
Any updates on what happens with Norma’s, the breakfast restaurant?
I stayed here once in the Starwood days, I like the location and look forward to trying this new iteration.
@lucky what is your preferred location when visiting nyc?
I wonder if they will have room service from Burger Joint. I like their burgers. :)