closure and reopening The Grand Hyatt New York was closed indefinitely in early 2020 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. The hotel was supposed to have been closed permanently, but Hyatt officials decided to reopen the Grand Hyatt after the New York City Council passed legislation in September 2021. The legislation required hotels that closed due to the pandemic to pay severance to their employees if they did not reopen with at least 25 percent of their pre-pandemic staff. The hotel reopened on November 1, 2021, and was rebranded as Hyatt Grand Central New York. Upon its reopening, the Hyatt Grand Central largely served visitors from Europe, particularly those from the United Kingdom. The Hyatt Grand Central offered limited services, as its meeting facilities/function rooms, restaurants and bars remained closed. The hotel's permanent closure date was postponed to at least 2023. Critical reception Original hotel When the original Commodore Hotel opened, multiple media sources described the Commodore as one of the world's largest hotels. The American Architect magazine wrote that the Commodore "adds a very important architectural feature to a location that is bound to become one of New York's busiest civic centers". The New-York Tribune said the hotel "undoubtedly adds strength and decorum to the group of high-class hotels in the vicinity of Grand Central Terminal", while The New York Times wrote that the Commodore's completion made the surrounding area "the greatest hotel centre in the world". The Washington Post considered it to be "equal from the standpoint of architectural design" to the nearby Hotel Pennsylvania, which had opened the same week. Grand Hyatt Before the renovation of the Grand Hyatt New York began, Paul Goldberger of The New York Times said, "it is too bad that there was no willingness to consider a design in some material other than glass." Nonetheless, Goldberger praised some elements of the design, including the cantilevered restaurant, the large lobby, and an expanded ballroom. By the time the renovation was complete, Goldberger wrote: "It is the sort of flashy hotel one would expect in Atlanta or Houston, but certainly not in New York." The Architectural Guidebook to New York City referred to the facade as a "mirror box" and an "utter and inexcusable outrage". The Guidebook continued:Conversely, Ada Louise Huxtable wrote that the Grand Hyatt's atrium had been adapted to the existing steel frame "with ingenuity and elegance,