A favorite of celebrities and international travelers, this hotel is larger and more commercial than its neighbors, The Carlyle and The Lowell. Nonetheless, it is an excellent high-end hotel with an attractive medley of facilities, good service and some of the best, well-stocked guest rooms in the city. It sits a notch below the likes of the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton hotels, but rates here are also considerably less.
This is Loews' flagship, one that generally impresses with its fine dining and entertainment and larger-than-average accommodations. Maintenance continues to improve, and the renovations wrought a few years ago still look fresh.
Guests enter this 20-story hotel past a pair of sleeping lions. Inside, the aura is classic, and piped-in music reinforces the feel. To one side is a computer whence guests retrieve their e-mail. 540 Park, shimmering in jewel colors, draws outsiders as well as guests for breakfast and lunch. After dark, it metamorphoses into Feinsteins at the Regency, a brilliant cabaret room spotlighting top talent, such as Ertha Kitt and Steve Tyrell. The
elegant Library is the social heart of the hotel, appointed with handsome leather furniture and serving tea at twilight and light fare throughout the day and evening.
Guests use the fitness room, whirlpool and sauna in the lower-level health club free of charge. The spa and its growing list of treatments gives the hotel something of a resort edge.
For many guests, the heart of this hotel is the conference center. The largest of eight meeting rooms seats 250, and the full-service business center is well-staffed. Valets retrieve cars quickly, but the $56 charge, plus tip, is extravagantly priced. In a true test of its standings, the hotel has an exceptional pet policy that pampers your puss or puppy, and staff will even take them for a walk or off to the groomer.
Elegant corridors lead to guest rooms spruced up in sumptuous contemporary fashion. There are enough traditional touches to keep the look subtle and inviting, and even the small standard rooms provide top-notch 
touches. The rooms retain soothing color schemes, and silk and velvet are favored. Gone are the French provincial pieces, and moody, black-and-white photography adds updated elegance. Large desks for serious work, fax machines, data ports, armoires, safes, and two-poster queen or king beds are standard. High-speed Internet access (including the wireless variety), CD players, VCRs, video games and digital alarms are also in the mix. The small but beautiful baths feature tiny TVs, magnifying mirrors, phones, massaging showerheads and hair dryers. Superior rooms are large by NYC standards, but they suffer from dim interior views. Exceptionally spacious Luxe rooms offer mostly sunny Park Avenue exposures and pairs of closets sure to please long-stay guests. The favorite feature seems to be the deliciously soft throw pillows on the beds. Housekeeping sells them like hotcakes. Nearly one-quarter of the rooms are suites, with the palatial Grand Suites measuring up to 1,500 sq ft. Room service is always on call.
The coolly professional staff is the equal of those at other eastside power hotels.
