Disney’s Hotel New York: The Art of Marvel Review
At park closure you are swept down Main Street USA carried along by a current of wired children, Goofy cosplayers and heavy hearted last day people. Guests staying at a resort hotel are swept through the the Disney Village as hungry Elsas and thirsty Mickeys drift off into the eddies that become the various queues outside the village restaurants and bars. When you get to your Hotel there are yet more people vying to get in to one of the onsite restaurants. I’ve always found that whichever hotel you’ve chosen its not until you close your room door and drop your rucksack that you get that “aaaand relax” feeling. That is my experience until I stayed at Disney’s Hotel New York: The Art of Marvel. A welcome shorter walk than any other hotel currently available, the very second you walk past the swooshing automatic door you are met with the unmistakable scent of the hotel and an overwhelming sense of calm. Despite the kinetic Marvel heroes that form the basis of the Hotel’s theming, calmness, grace and serenity would be the key adjectives for me when summing up the HNY experience.
From the second you arrive at HNY the white glove service kicks in with Cast Members taking your bags from the car boot and later depositing them in your room, it’s a magical efficiency that means you only actually handle your bags inside your room. Check in was similarly well managed, I have witnessed and taken part in the squealing, weary, snaking Conga that is the check in queue so many times in the other hotels. I didn’t see this once in HNY, maybe it was luck? But this was a busy week and we took a mid day hotel pit stop every day.
The Hotel itself is an elegant and sleek tribute to art deco whilst also boasting some incredible Marvel Artwork and props. What is less obvious are the decorative touches like the etched metal panelling in the hotel lobby there are special touches everywhere. Each floor is themed to a different character, the ground floor is Spiderman, the first floor is Captain America and so on, its worth exploring the hotel just to check out these huge and yet intricate art pieces. The room is a continuation of the hotel, a pocket of gentle luxury with the impressive mirror/TV ready to welcome guests to the room – and surprisingly easy to stream to! There are lots of useful extras an ironing board, iron (insert an Iron Man joke here), safe, coffee maker, kettle and fridge are all present and ready to make your stay more comfortable. The bed is huge the light fittings are beautiful and the bathroom is a contemporary wet room that feels like its been exported from a spa hotel. Every morning we almost regretted leaving our room to go into the park, and as I said previously, we went back to the hotel most days just to decompress and enjoy a change of pace.
The Hotel dining is great with the Manhattan restaurant being a highpoint of the whole resort with beautiful food served in an amazing dining room with the Asgard themed chandelier. Downtown offers a buffet experience with 3 themes American, Italian and Chinese. There is plenty of choice and the mini sliders and stir fry pork were memorable high points as were the avengers themed desserts, this is not the adult dining experience you get in the Manhatten restaurant, we were very tired when we went and we would definitely give it another go on a non travel day! The Skyline bar has a stunning view of New York and the Avengers Tower with popular heroes making an appearance if you are paying attention. The cocktails are brilliant, the snacks we had there were really nice including chicken wings and roast potatoes but this isn’t really a dinner option, however we did try a Doctor Strange dessert and it was amazing! The Bleecker Street Bar was open for seating but wasn’t serving food or drinks.
The Hotel extras include a Super Hero training area where we enjoyed playing basketball, there are indoor and outdoor gyms and a swimming pool with staff on hand to loan you a ball, or point you to the swimwear vending machine. There is an outdoor pool which I am sure is well used during the warmer months. There is an art class aimed at the younger guests and there is an exclusive Superhero Station which includes Spiderman meet and greet with an official Disney photographer (when Avengers Campus opens presumably the Spiderman stuntronic and meet and greet will be available there?) after you meet Spidey there are several scenes and props to take pictures with, these are areas where you use your own camera, however there are clear instructions and guides to help you take the perfect shot. These scenes include the mirror dimension, Peter Parker’s bedroom, Mjolnir, the final battle from Endgame, the Quantum Tunnel, the Hall of Armour, the Collector’s dungeon and even a scene in space so whoever your favourite hero is you have your chance to be them for a moment or two.
You have to book the Superhero Station via the Disneyland Paris App once you have linked your Marvel Hotel booking bookings can be made 7 days in advance, you can only book one experience, until that experience has happened, and then you can book another. We did the Superhero Station at 11am and we had the place to ourselves, we also saw it at 930am and it was very crowded and full of parents who hadn’t made reservations but were ‘making the case’ that their child was desperate to meet his/her favourite hero. This particular time and place was probably the only bit of chaos we witnessed. The cast members were doing their best to manage the timed online reservations and the begging and persuading of others. I would expect the hotel to learn lessons from this and either operate a standby line, or be more forward in supporting people with the app at check in.
The only, very minor, gripe I would have is that the hotel shop is probably the smallest hotel shop I have seen and it doesn’t have much exclusive merchandise. The Hotel is so fantastic you just want to take a piece of it home with you and besides a handful of exclusive items the shop is pretty generic Marvel Merchandise available in the park or in most retail outlets. However they do sell the Hotel New York scent which, for any guest, is probably a must purchase just so you can shut your eyes and transport yourself back to that lobby for a brief moment whilst standing in your own home.
Overall I would say that Hotel New York The Art of Marvel is a fantastic experience, a feast for the eyes. Its not only the best Disney Hotel I’ve stayed at (sorry New Port Bay) but its one of the best hotels I’ve stayed at full stop. It’s the first Disney Hotel that made me regret being in the park. I would encourage any guests here to spend time exploring and enjoying this hotel and all its amenities. The hotel doesn’t pretend to be part of a story or get you larping as a hero for the week, its just a beautifully themed building and a unique experience within the resort.
Disney Parklife 