The Regency vs. Shelburne Murray Hill in NYC

[jasheehy]

I know the Regency is pretty top notch, however has anyone stayed at the Shelburne Murray Hill. Is it nice, etc. Planning a trip and it is 10-15 points a night cheaper then the Regency. Since we won't be in our room for the 3 or 4 days we are really there, don't know if the Regency is worth the points.

Any suggestions.

Thanks

 

[mufasa0505]

The Shelburne Murray Hill was taken off the list. It's the Regency or nothing for NYC now. Sorry.

 

[goofy4dvc]

I just returned from 6 nights at the Regency that was booked with DVC points. It was a fairly nice older hotel with alot of marble. Not breathtaking in anyway, but nice. There were two levels of rooms and we booked the least expensive. THe bathroom was small, with a single sink. We had to take turns. The vanity was not big enough for both of us.

At the time, we looked into Shelbourne and it looked more dated. I checked out both hotels on www.tripadvisor.com and read the trip reports. People were saying that the Shelbourne was in need of renovation. And sure enough, we found out that the hotel is either currently or will soon undergo a remodel. The Regency is a little closer to the Times Square. It is about 3 blocks east of the southeast corner of Central Park.

GrayLine tours has bus tours at the SE corner of CP that are a pretty good deal. $49 per person for 48 hours. They have 3 different loops: downtown, uptown, and nightime. The uptown goes north of CP and lets you see all the condos where all the celebs live, the Dakota where John Lennen lived and was killed, Harlem (you can see BIll Clinton's office building), lots of architecturally neat buildings and churches. The downtown loop goes past alot of other neat buildings and churches, World Trade Center Memorial, St. Pauls' Church (be sure you check it out also if you to the WTC Memorial), and all the way down to the Battery. From there you can take ferry to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You can get off and on at the various stops, so it is a good way to get around. The buses are double-decker, you can sit on top where it is open or below where it is air-conditioned. The night-time tour takes you through the Times Square area and across the Manhattan bridge into Brooklyn where you get an awesome view of the city lights.

There is a little DR (Duane Ready?) store (think Walgreens or CV) that is about a block east of the Regency where we purchased bottled water, sodas, and snacks. It's just a little ways northeast of all the action, but within walking distance. Speaking of which, pack very comfortable walking shoes because you will walk alot. More than you ever think you will walk.

 

[lisah0711]

We just returned from three nights at the Shelburne Murray Hill -- not on points. It is in desperate need of refurbishing. I would have been very disappointed had I been staying on points, especially the number of points required for a 1 bedroom suite. You can't beat the location and the rooms are large (except for the tiny, tiny bathroom). After reading the review of the Regency, I hope that this is not indicative of what you can expect when you trade out your points in the concierge collection other than Disney.

 

[snowdrift7]

We used points to stay at the Shelburne Murray 2 years ago. Horrible experience: room was shabby (peeling paint) and small, both TVs were broken, staff seemed annoyed when I asked for bedding for the sleeper sofa. I was really happy to see Disney dropped them. We stayed several times at the Eastgate (a sister hotel to the Shelburne) when it was part of the Concierge collection. Much better experience; rooms were as large or larger than OKW. Last summer we went back there and paid cash - the price was very reasonable and the staff and accomodations were still nice.

 

[PamOKW]

The Regency consistently ranks among the top NYC hotels. Of course the downside is that makes it a much more expensive hotel than hotels options like the local chain the Shelburne belongs to.

Most hotel rooms in NYC are very small -- even those that are very expensive.

I've always thought the Shelburne was an "iffy" choice but many people reported they enjoyed stays there. Maybe once it's been rehabbed it will get back on Disney's list.