Catman

Keep this "advisory" in mind:

(from the SPG.com website)

Special Condition

From April 3, 2003 through December 31, 2003, there are no pool or pajama parties allowed in any of the guest rooms.

I found it laugh out funny.

But for a more serious question... has anyone stayed here recently? Curious on how this hotel is doing. Thanks!

Shareholder

What a short memory you have, Catman. I stayed there on my way back from Valencia, and met you for lunch and a tour of Hoboken.

It is a pretty standard airport property, with the pool forming part of the atrium/lobby/lounge space. Rooms are well appointed, in good shape, and as a Platinum, I was upgraded to the Club Floor which offered the standard continental breakfast spread. Got in too late to see how they handle the evening hors d'oeuvres: i.e. free drinks ala PDX, or honour bar ala ORD.

Anyone flying into EWR should know the signage is pretty poor vis a vis hotel/rental car shuttles, which leads one to think they can be flagged down at curbside from all terminals. However, one must take the monorail to the main Parking Garage where all such shuttles operate. This tends to add a good 20-minutes or more to the ride getting to any hotel at the airport.

zakami

As Shareholder mentioned, this is a standard airport hotel. I liked it. Good service and was upgraded to a suite. In fact, it was here that I first heard about the Sheraton Promise (and no, I did not have to make use of it). The lounge had plentiful snacks in the evening although my flight left too early to try breakfast. Room service was excellent as well. They were featuring a special menu then which was very reasonably priced. I had no problem finding the shuttle to the hotel. All in all, had a good stay.

Catman

The last time I stayed at this hotel was over 3 years ago. It was one of the worst hotel experiences I ever had (late shuttle, sour staff, no air conditioning in the room.)

The hotel has made a dramatic improvement since.

Friendly staff at check-in noticed a Platinum checking in and changed my room to the Club level floor (it was a Friday and the club is only open Monday thru THursday.) Got a welcome bag of a bag of Lays, an organge and a bottle of water.

I told the manager the SPG website said shuttle service to EWR was "limited." He said it runs 24 hours and made a note to call Starwood to ask them about this.

The room was large, top floor, clean comfortable bed and another bottle of water in there. I dined at the restaurant and had a nice Chicken Piccada with salad included. A very friendly server who kept trying to encourage people to order desert. The strawberry shortcake was immense and yummy but I passed.

Sadly, the restaurant was mostly empty. THe bar next door had a few more customers. The steakhouse at the hotel was closed because of "economic conditions."

With the "Let's Spend the Night Together" promo and better rates this is another Starwood option at EWR. (with the Four Points.)

A very big improvemetn. I will stay here again.

RTWSTARALLIANCE

Upon arrival at EWR I call the hotel for shuttle service. Told to take the Airtrain (believe that is correct spelling) to P4. Upon arrival at P4 take escalator down to hotel courtesy pick-up. Once down I wait 25 minutes for the shuttle having to call twice. When we arrive at the hotel it is evident why. There is a huge convention going on. The streets are crowded with cars and the hotel lot is full. Just a mass of people and cars.

Check-in is fairly smooth. No pre-printed registration card. Hand written and no rate noted. The lobby is a zoo. It takes ten minutes to get a elevator. As P put on 12th floor. No Executive Lounge on weekends. You get a voucher with a $ amount limit for a lobby restaurant. The room on Executive Floor is very standard. Nothing special and nothing to write about. When I go down to check-out it is freezing. Apparently the party has just cleared out and they are trying to get the smoking smell out. The lobby is a mess with trash bins full and running over.

The shuttle from the hotel runs every 15 minutes back to EWR 24/7. The shuttle will NOT drop you at P4. They will take you directly to your airlines terminal door. So you can sleep an extra 15. Wish I did. All in all uneventful, not memorable and reminds me why Sheraton is only Sheraton especially at airports. FYI

1K_From_SNA

I stayed there three weeks ago. I took the red-eye from LAX and got to P4 around 7am Sat morning. I had to wait 45 minutes and made several calls. "He should be there any minute" was the response after the first 15 minutes. Wait a while longer, call again, same answer. Again and again. I finally got the Bell Captain on the phone and said I'm not hanging up until the Van shows up here; I don't want to hear "any minute" one more time. I was livid when I got to the Front Desk especially after flying all night.

I told them if you advertise every 15 minutes then be there. I'm reasonable, so if its 20 then fine. But 45 minutes isn't even close to being reasonable. If your going to be 45 minutes then say so, and I'll know what to expect. Or say ever hour on the hour, or whatever. It's all about meeting expectations and when you say every 15 minutes that's what I expect. Anyway they made good on the Sheraton Service Promise with 2500 points but at the time I just wanted to see the Van there.

The sad thing is that apparently they never fixed the Shuttle issue if it is still happening. Apparently either the Manager doesn't know, or doesn't care. Hopefully he doesn't know.

Other than that I though the place was fine, no suite, but the room was Ok on the Club level. I used 3K points and stayed there rather than spend 7K someplace else so my expectations were probably lower (except on the Shuttle thing)

005flyer

I can't stand this hotel!!! I stayed there 2 times earlier this year and had all kinds of problems. Couldn't get points posted, loud room got switched to another but key on second didn't work. At least 10 minutes each way for the elevator so that was 30 minutes of wasted time. Shuttle did take forever as well. Checked the book in the room to see what time the restaurant closed. Still had an hour so I went down to find that the "new hours" posted on the restaurant door had it closing an hour earlier (they never changed the times in the book) I asked if they could re-open the gift shop because it closed early - was told "not my problem, the gift shop is run by another company" Asked for the location of a vending machine and the guy didn't remember what floor it was on. Told me it would probably be easier for me to go the hotel next door. Grrrr...

I called the franchise office the next day and they could have cared less. Called the Starwood Consumer Affairs group and they took the time to listen but didn't offer much assistance. I didn't want any freebies, I just wanted them to fix the problems!

I get mad thinking about it!!!

Rod222

Thoughts on this property? Am gold. Is club floor available to golds? Also, is it close to mass transit for traveling into Manhattan? Is 4pm checkout available without hassle and do you know if they allow for early checkin? Thanks,

Rod.

RunawayNFly

I have stayed at this property three times, always arrived late at night, and left the next day on an early morning flight. I don't have anay answers for you BUT.....


1) This is a difficult property to find and many people, including myself, get lost trying to get there.

2) The staff is super! Very friendly! As a Platinum, I have always been upgraded and given a welcome gift. It included a box with bottled water, cookies, snack bar, and candy. Very nice! This was IN ADDITION to my 500 Starwood Points Platinum Amenity.

3) The complimentary breakfast buffet was very nice.

I plan to stay here again over Labor Day weekend.

Nevsky

EZ transport to Manhattan. Take the hotel shuttle to the Airport and take the AirTrain (Monorail) to the Rail Link stop and then NJ Transit to Manhattan, Penn Station. Frequent Service. $11 each way. On the return, make sure you take a NJ Transit train that stops at EWR.

Shanghai

I agree with the previous poster's. It is a nice hotel with nice staff. By car, it is somewhat difficult to find, just follow signs. The travel via the airport to Manhattan is good, although at certain times of the day can take a couple of hours. Good Luck.

rubbernyc

Ditto to the above about finding it by car. However, if you are somewhat familiar with NJ driving ( ie. jughandles and spaghetti-like access ramps )) you'll be ok.

As a gold I always get upgraded to a club floor room and access to club.

Staff is great and friendly.

Big indoor, heated pool, although in the center of the hotel surrounded by rooms.

Sweet Willie

agree with the above about staff and location, but this hotel should be a 4 points, not a Sheraton.

Bed was not heavenly. Buffet was ok, nothing special.

yevlesh2

Might need to stay at this hotel next week and have a few quick questions.
How much do they charge for parking?
Do they have high-speed internet?

Thanks

Ally

Parking: USD 5.00 plus tax
Internet: USD 9.95