ajamieson
Apr 12, 10, 4:14 am
Stayed at the Crowne Plaza EWR Newark Airport the other week because I got stuck in New York following a misconnection, arriving very late at night and paying $103 all in as a walk up rate.
Had a strange feeling of deja vu when the shuttle bus creaked its way up to the entrance, then I remembered: this used to be a very grim (but also very cheap) Four Points (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starwood-preferred-guest/173129-gone-four-points-sheraton-newark-ewr-airport-master-thread-2.html).
Little has improved: the place has been partially refurbished to cover up the worst of the decor, the restaurant still has a tolerable $14 buffet breakfast that is worth about half as much, there is still food left uncollected outside rooms for more than 12 hours and there are still fast food leaflets slipped under the doors of the rooms (which makes one wonder about security).
As a Platinum I got...the points. Late checkout denied, no other amenity here. I think there was meant to be free internet but it wasn't working.
Shuttle was pretty reliable, which I suppose is the only thing that really matters.
The 'highlight' was entering the room: the very first thing I saw was this giant, revolting stain:
[/url]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2745/4441943248_f1c68dde27.jpg
I wonder what happened here. Did someone die? It looks too big to be anything sexual. Perhaps someone slipped on a pizza menu and cracked their head? Either way, what sort of hotel judges an item of furniture looking like this good enough to remain in a room?
The clue to your answer is in the state of the lobby ceiling:
[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22107055@N06/4441942762/"] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22107055@N06/4441943248/)http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4441942762_32bf73d3f2.jpg
Had a strange feeling of deja vu when the shuttle bus creaked its way up to the entrance, then I remembered: this used to be a very grim (but also very cheap) Four Points (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starwood-preferred-guest/173129-gone-four-points-sheraton-newark-ewr-airport-master-thread-2.html).
Little has improved: the place has been partially refurbished to cover up the worst of the decor, the restaurant still has a tolerable $14 buffet breakfast that is worth about half as much, there is still food left uncollected outside rooms for more than 12 hours and there are still fast food leaflets slipped under the doors of the rooms (which makes one wonder about security).
As a Platinum I got...the points. Late checkout denied, no other amenity here. I think there was meant to be free internet but it wasn't working.
Shuttle was pretty reliable, which I suppose is the only thing that really matters.
The 'highlight' was entering the room: the very first thing I saw was this giant, revolting stain:
[/url]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2745/4441943248_f1c68dde27.jpg
I wonder what happened here. Did someone die? It looks too big to be anything sexual. Perhaps someone slipped on a pizza menu and cracked their head? Either way, what sort of hotel judges an item of furniture looking like this good enough to remain in a room?
The clue to your answer is in the state of the lobby ceiling:
[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22107055@N06/4441942762/"] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22107055@N06/4441943248/)http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4441942762_32bf73d3f2.jpg