[NYguy]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/park-hy...te-11573051084

Park Hyatt Aims to Attract Big Spenders with $50,000-a-Night Suite
Exclusive unit at One57 comes with postcard views, a butler, chef and closet styled by Nordstrom with clothes for purchase

By Keiko Morris
Nov. 6, 2019

A hotel on Manhattan’s Billionaires’ Row is trying to lure royal families, billionaire financiers and other ultrawealthy customers with a new expansive suite in the sky that charges $50,000 a night.

The Park Hyatt New York hotel on West 57th street has converted a three-bedroom apartment at the tower it shares with luxury condo residents into a marquee suite. The 4,200 square-foot accommodation comes with a butler and chef, a walk-in closet styled by Nordstrom with clothes for purchase, and 11-foot-high ceilings. Suite guests can take helicopter rides to and from the airport.

The postcard views stretch from the southern tip of Central Park to the George Washington Bridge and Yankee Stadium.

Hotel representatives said they are seizing an opportunity to expand its reach in this small but profitable niche of specialty suites. The new suite is about twice the size of the hotel’s second-biggest suite and costs about $15,000 more a night.

Unlike other suites in the Park Hyatt, the new palatial lodging on the 59 floor requires a seven-day stay, said Gus Pitkethley, director of sales and marketing for the Park Hyatt New York. The hotel said it would begin taking reservations on Wednesday.

With suites making up almost half of the hotel’s rooms, the Park Hyatt has experienced a growing demand for these larger lavish suites, especially from big groups traveling together, according to Mr. Pitkethley.

“In order for us to grow that suite market and target international [customer] markets coming to New York, we were seeking the opportunity to have a larger specialty suite,” he said.

The Park Hyatt can thank Manhattan’s high-end condo glut for the opportunity. The hotel sits at the base of Extell Development Co.’s 90-story residential skyscraper known as One57, where about 15% of its units are unsold including the apartment that Park Hyatt is turning into a suite, the developer’s spokeswoman said.

The hotel signed a yearlong lease with Extell for the apartment and has the possibility of extending that lease for multiple years.

Extell is hoping that guests of the suite take a shine to the building. “We anticipate many of their guests will fall in love with everything One57 has to offer and return as buyers," a spokeswoman said.

While suites often represent a tiny fraction of a hotel’s room count, they can account for a disproportionately high percentage of a property’s revenue. Luxury hotels draw customers who travel with extended family members, nannies, security guards and other staff. These guests tend to fill other hotel rooms and can run up large room-service tabs and other bills at the property.

“This isn’t for the 1%,” said Patrick Scholes, senior lodging and leisure analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc. “This is for the one-tenth of 1% or even more exclusive than that.”

The Park Hyatt New York’s other 92 suites have done well with customers from Russia, the Middle East, South American countries such as Brazil and in Asian markets like China, Mr. Pitkethley said.

Park Hyatt is taking aim at the city’s other opulent suites, including the Four Seasons’ Ty Warner Penthouse, which comes with a 360-degree view of the city, four glass balconies, a ceiling to floor waterfall and a chauffeured Rolls-Royce. The midtown Baccarat’s premium suite, meanwhile, is adorned with crystal sconces, marble countertops and works of art from the Baccarat collection.