Hotel Review: Gild Hall, New York, NY

by joeheg

In the fall of 2021, I knew that I had 3 Hyatt free night certificates that were expiring at the end of the year. Since, at the time, COVID was relatively contained, I didn’t think that Hyatt would extend the certificates any further (and I was right in that they didn’t.)

When I got home, I searched for the only Hyatt Category 4 hotel in Manhattan and found award availability for three nights. With the help of the Hyatt Concierge on Twitter, I used my three certificates to book a stay.

Gild Hall, A Thompson Hotel
15 Gold Street
New York, NY 10038

a room with a large chandelier and a large window

In 2018, Hyatt purchased Two Roads Hospitality, including the Alila, Destination Hotels, tommie, Thompson, and Joie de Vivre brands. Hyatt took time to integrate the brands into the World of Hyatt portfolio but now you can book almost all hotels with your Hyatt points online.

In fact, Gild Hall, A Thompson Hotel, is the only category 4 Hyatt hotel in Manhattan. It’s located in the Financial District near the South Street Seaport. We’ve stayed in the area before, when we found a great rate at the nearby AC Hotel.

I couldn’t pass up staying for 3 nights in Manhattan with free night certificates, even it meant staying Downtown, when we’d be spending much of our time seeing Broadway shows.

Upon entering Gild Hall, I was amazed this was a category 4 hotel bookable with a free night from the World of Hyatt credit card.

We were checked in promptly and given keys to our room on the 10th floor.

a sign on a wall

We received the room right across from the elevator. Normally I’d complain but there were only 8 rooms on each floor and I wasn’t worried about being woken up by elevator traffic as we’d be returning late every night.

a door in a room

We dropped off our bags and headed back to the subway to catch our first show, which was only in 90 minutes. Humblebrag that we saw Freestyle Love Supreme and were 2 rows away from Lin Manuel Miranda.

a group of men on a stage singing into microphones

When we got back to the hotel that night, we took pictures of the room before crashing into bed. Such are the sacrifices we make to write posts for the blog. Might I mention what a comfortable mega-king bed we had?

a room with a bed and a desk

For a New York hotel, we’d never seen a bed this big before. In fact, the room was a reasonable size for what we thought was a boutique hotel. We’d expect more design and less space but that wasn’t the case.

There was a decent desk, even if we decided we were taking the weekend off from working on the website

a room with a television and chair

Plenty of plugs to charge devices.

a black and gold rectangular object with a round black bowl on top

We even had a closet to hang our jackets and clothes, and a mini-bar.

a bed with a headboard and a lamp

a box of food and wine bottles

IN case you forgot minibar prices, here’s a reminder.

a menu with price list

The bathroom wasn’t large but was sufficient for our needs.

a bathroom with a sink and toilet

On our first day, we headed out to find bagels. Nearby Leo’s Bagels fit our needs, even if we had to wait for 40 minutes in line to order.

a sandwich with bacon and cheese

The next morning, we decided to eat breakfast at the hotel restaurant. While Hyatt Globalists may get to eat here for free, we had to pay full price.

a menu of a restaurant

I ordered the plain American Breakfast

a plate of food with eggs potatoes and bacon

Surprisingly, Sharon ordered the Avacado Toast, which looked amazing.

a plate of food on a table

I’m not often amazed by hotel breakfasts but these were fantastic. Great presentation and fresh ingredients are not what I’m expecting from breakfast.

Unfortunately, the service level didn’t match the food quality which I’ll chalk up to the service industry shortages due to COVID. I charged the breakfast to the room and paid for it with my World of Hyatt card.

The most unusual thing about the stay was that the hotel offered a bath bomb and “Adult Toys” on the room service tray. The only other place we’ve seen this is at the W Hollywood.

a group of items in a box

Final Thoughts

Would I stay at Gild Hall again? Definitely!!!!

As a category 4 World of Hyatt property bookable for 12,000 to 15,000 points for the first half of 2022, this is a total steal for a Manhattan hotel. Being in the Financial District may seem far from the tourist attractions, you’re only a 20-minute subway ride from Times Square.

It may not be the perfect place for first-timers, but if you’re familiar with getting around the city, Gild Hall is a great option. The ability to use a free night certificate from the World of Hyatt credit card makes this hotel an unusual jewel on the southern tip of Manhattan.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

8 comments

Dan January 5, 2022 - 12:46 pm

It’s a great hotel for the price. They also have free bikes (which I used quite a lot).

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Quo Vadis January 5, 2022 - 2:34 pm

Great find for a Cat 4 Hyatt property in NYC, will have to try them sometime. When you mentioned using Hyatt Concierge (on Twitter) to redeem your certificates, thought you were a Globalist. The breakfast(s) look great there.

Haven’t been to NYC in several years and will be redeeming a (Cat 7) cert for a free night stay at Park Hyatt New York next month, looking forward to it and hoping there isn’t a blizzard then.

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joeheg January 5, 2022 - 9:02 pm

I accidentally booked the room for 1 person instead of 2. Not wanting to cause problems at check-in, I tried changing online but couldn’t. I Tweeted the concierge for help. They ended up rebooking for me and all three free night certs were on the same reservation.

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JohnB January 5, 2022 - 6:41 pm

Score! That is a nice room! And free!

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christ January 5, 2022 - 7:59 pm

I spent a night there to use a free night certificate and didn’t really like it. The decor was nice, but the location seemed out of the way from wherever I needed to go. It also had a rather gloomy feel overall — maybe it was the weather. I passed on my Globalist breakfast after waiting ten minutes to not get a table. Not sure I’d pay to stay there.

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joeheg January 5, 2022 - 9:04 pm

Staying downtown isn’t our first choice and we have our favorites when staying in the theater district. However, we’re open to staying there if we have to.

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Mike January 6, 2022 - 3:38 am

Stayed there on a cert and they charged a resort fee each night. Had to call them to get it removed.

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Maxwell Lee January 8, 2022 - 12:25 pm

Globalist breakfast on recent reports is pretty limited. Not the open menu that you received as a paying customer or that you’d expect at most hyatts.

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