Know Before You Go: The Peninsula New York
The Peninsula New York is a well-located, elegant hotel option on 5th Avenue in Midtown, steps away from some of the world’s best shopping and a short walk to the MoMA. While there are many top-notch hotel options in this area, we chose this one for its “Peninsula Time” flexible check-in and check-out program since we were here for a stopover before a late-night flight out of JFK to Europe — this enabled us to keep our rooms until 10PM on our day of departure. Another notable feature of the hotel was the sprawling, multi-level wellness center, with a luxurious spa, well-equipped fitness center, and family-friendly indoor rooftop pool with stunning views of the city and glimpses of Central Park beyond. The hotel offers children’s menus, kid-sized robes and slippers in the room, and additional children’s amenities and activities for a fee. However, the room furnishings and decor were somewhat dated, there were limited connecting room options for families, and the on-site dining program lacked the notability of comparable hotels and was expensive even for New York standards. While this hotel had its pluses and minuses, we would stay here again for the “Peninsula Time” program alone any time we needed an early morning arrival or late night departure given the uniqueness of this benefit.
Sample Travel Club amenities and VIP benefits*:
VIP WELCOME & SPECIAL AMENITY
$100 HOTEL / RESORT CREDIT
PRIORITY FOR ROOM UPGRADE
DAILY BREAKFAST
EXTENDED CHECK-IN / OUT
UNLIMITED HIGH-SPEED WI-FI
*Specific amenities and benefits vary by property
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Have an existing booking and want to add Travel Club benefits? Contact us
OVERALL RATING
💛💛💛+
Standard, Approaching Notable
Overview
At-a-Glance
Date of stay: July 2025
Length of stay: 1 night / 2 days
Trip type: Family city stopover on our way to Europe
Property type: Family-friendly city hotel
Tailor-made for: Shopping and spa enthusiasts, art lovers, business travelers, couples, but also family-friendly
Highlights
Midtown location on 5th Avenue — a block away from the signature Louis Vuitton building and a short walk to the MoMA.
“Peninsula Time” flexible check-in and check-out program, where guests can arrive as early as 6am on date of arrival, leave as late as 10pm on date of departure. This was incredibly beneficial since our flight to Europe departed JFK at 11PM.
Family-friendly indoor rooftop pool with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city with lounge chairs, lots of pool noodles and kickboards. While the pool was not full-sized, it was still a great amenity for families.
Children’s amenities in room — child-sized bathrobes and slippers, macarons — and children’s menus.
Bathrooms feature a “Spa” mode lighting and music option which the children loved for bathtime.
“Smart rooms” with digital controls, lovely lighting, and nightstands specifically designed to charge and store electronics out of view.
Award-winning spa and well-equipped fitness center, both notable for city hotel standards.
Open-air rooftop bar with garden-like atmosphere and incredible views of the city.
Nice service touches with attentive, twice-daily housekeeping.
Good to Know
To take advantage of the “Peninsula Time” flexible check-in and check-out program, the hotel requires 72-hour advance notice for the time of arrival and departure.
Bathrooms were dated and in need of refurbishment
There was no coffee maker or tea in the room for the room category we booked.
Even base rooms here are expensive and there are limited interconnecting rooms for families (e.g., Superior Rooms can only connect to Superior Suites, and Grand Luxe Rooms can connect to one another, but these configurations start at $4K+/night), so we opted for adjacent Superior King Rooms. The hotel often has special offers for families booking connecting rooms but guests (or travel advisors) need to contact the hotel directly to request these special rates.
While there is not technically poolside dining, the rooftop pool has dining tables and chairs and guests can order in-room dining delivered to the pool.
The hotel also has children’s programs and amenities available for a fee, like Camp Peninsula, and family-friendly experiences via the Peninsula Academy.
Rating Detail
OVERALL RATING 💛💛💛+
LOCATION & SETTING 💛💛💛💛💛
ROOM 💛💛+
SERVICE 💛💛💛💛
DINING 💛💛+
ACTIVITIES 💛💛💛💛
FAMILY SERVICES & AMENITIES 💛💛💛💛
WELLNESS 💛💛💛💛💛
WOW FACTOR 💛💛💛
VALUE 💛💛💛+
Rating Legend*
💛💛💛💛💛 Exceptional
💛💛💛💛 Notable
💛💛💛 Standard
💛💛 Substandard
💛 Unsatisfactory
*All ratings are relative to similar-class properties
