NYC’s Four Seasons poised to reopen this week — and restore claim as city’s priciest hotel

The Four Seasons in Midtown Manhattan will finally reopen on Friday after a four-year, pandemic-induced hiatus — and it’s also poised to restore its claim as New York City’s priciest hotel, The Post has learned.

The swanky tower at 57 E. 57th St. — whose billionaire owner Ty Warner had reportedly tangled over fees with the Four Seasons management company, extending its shutdown for years beyond those of rival luxury hotels — revealed pricing for its fancy rooms that looked loftier than ever.

After it first opened in the 1990s, the Four Seasons was the first hotel to charge $1,000 per night, earning it the reputation as the most expensive in the city. Now, its least expensive room is more than double that amount.

A Park Avenue Junior Suite with a king bed and separate sitting area, for example, goes for $2,295 a night. That’s $650 more than what the Mandarin Oriental charges for a comparable, entry-level suite. It’s also $550 more than what the St. Regis charges for a reservation on Nov. 22, according to the hotels’ websites.

In a statement to The Post, the Four Seasons claimed its entry-level rooms are “some of the largest in Manhattan” — spanning 550 square feet. That’s at least 150 square feet larger than those of the competition, the hotel told The Post in a written statement.

The 368 rooms at the marble-clad, Art Deco tower designed by IM Pei boast “much more space (in addition to privacy and unrivaled views of Central Park)” the hotel added.

According to industry experts, the Four Seasons’ key Midtown rivals include the nearby Mandarin Oriental, St. Regis, Lotte New York Palace, The Mark and Baccarat.

“The Four Seasons has long enjoyed a position as the most expensive hotel in New York and I’m sure it’s eager to regain that position, making a big splash out of the box,” said Sean Hennessey, a professor at New York University’s Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality.

Historically, its room rates have been about 10% higher than its competitors’ prices, Hennessey said.

The most striking price hike is for the Ty Warner Penthouse on the 52nd floor, which soared to $80,000 a night from the previous rate of $50,000. As such, it looks poised to become the priciest hotel room in the Big Apple, eclipsing the Mark Hotel’s Penthouse that goes for $75,000, according to according to Quartz.

Asked about the massive upcharge for the stunning, 4,300 square-foot suite, management said it believes luxury travelers are “increasingly willing to pay a premium for privacy, space and bespoke one-of-a-kind stay accommodations.”

“The hotel made the decision to increase the nightly rate… in response to this rise in demand by high net worth & ultra high net-worth travelers,” the Four Seasons added.

Luxury hotel rates in New York City were up 2.6% to $904 per room per night year to date through September, according to CoStar’s survey of seven elite competitors to Four Seasons. A broader CoStar survey of luxury hotels in the city shows that the average room rate was $507 year to date through September compared with $401 over the same period in 2019.

Still, some industry experts are skeptical about the Ty Warner Penthouse pricing.

“Being closed for that long there might be some intrigue, but let’s see if they get the $80,000,” said New York-based hospitality consultant Arthur Backal. “They want to test the market, but I don’t know any other suites at that price in NYC.”

The biggest suite at the Aman Hotel, which opened in 2022 at 730 Fifth Ave., is slightly more spacious at 4,468 square feet and costs $40,000 per night, a rep told The Post. 

Owned by Soviet-born billionaire Vladislav Doronin – the Aman’s priciest room has three bedrooms, a media lounge, fireplace, balconies and views of Central Park. It comes with “butler service, roundtrip airport transfers, use of our house car within a 20-block radius, and a complimentary private bar,” a spokesperson for the hotel said.

The 31-year-old Four Seasons had made earlier promises to reopen, in 2022 and 2023, but each time delays were blamed on renovations that were taking longer than expected.

The Four Seasons didn’t elaborate on upgrades it completed while the property was closed except to note that the rooms have enhanced “lighting, technology, and other modernized room enhancements.”

It told The Post’s ‘Gimme Shelter’ that its revamped luxury rooms are on the 20th to 52nd floors and that new “extended stay” residential rentals will be unveiled on the fifth to 19th floors.

About 50 rooms were converted into rental units, as The Post first reported.