Just completed a 3 night stay over New Year's Weekend.
Booked a King bedded traditional room using points. I called the hotel a couple of days in advance and requested a quiet room with either 1K or 2Qs. We were given room 434 which was a Deluxe King room overlooking the spa building and Mt. Equinox. The room was very quiet, which was very impressive considering it was New Years.
The bed was very comfortable and the furnishings in the room very nice. The shower and toilet were in a separate vestibule than the sink, which I always like. The hot water for the shower would occasionally cool off, but other than that, a enjoyable shower.
On my reservation, the room description states "Windows that open". The windows in our room opened less that 6 inches. Why would they advertise something like this? I was really hoping to open the window completely, since it was such a lovely weekend up there.
Valet here was always jammed. It could fit only about 5 cars, and by 5 cars I mean 5 massive SUV's that everyone seems to drive to the Equinox. You could probably fit about 10 Prii' there. If all the spots were taken they told you to leave the car blocking the driveway with your keys in it. Somehow this all seemed to work. If I called down to get my car from valet, it would be there in under 10 minutes everytime. The valet never seemed to expect a tip either.
Checkin was uneventful except that there was no mention of the resort fee. A little card in your key envelope explained the $25 resort charge. As a platinum, the only alternative amenity I got was 500 points for my entire stay. Not for each night. Very lame in my opinion.
We ate at the Marsh Tavern one night. The place was very crowded and they were understaffed. The service was excellent anyway, but the food wasn't very good. The burger was very salty, the charcuterie consisted of three tiny pieces each of three meats and a cheese and the turkey panini was extremely dry. The duck drumsticks were pretty good though.
The Falcon bar was a nice place to drink some wine with a chocolate pairing. The beer list here was not as good as the Marsh Tavern.
There were many, many kids at the resort. We don't know if this was because of New Year's or not. There seemed to be plenty of activities for kids to do. They had a separate room for them to play games, watch movies and they even have a full arcade. 90% of the parents were well-behaved. Of course there were always some bad ones that let their kids run around the restaurant screaming continually or let the kids in the adult only hot tub.
The place is also very dog friendly. 100% of the dog owners were well-behaved.
The indoor pool area was very nice and well kept. We used the outside hot tub which was enjoyable in 40 degree weather. My wife got a massage which she said was very good but five minutes shorter than it was supposed to be.
The $27.50 daily resort fee includes: wifi, valet parking, gym, pool, morning newspaper and coffee in the lobby, business center, faxing and local calls, sleds/bikes if available and shuttle service until 11pm in the immediate area.
Although resort fees are a big scam and should be included in the room price, at least at the Equinox the fee at least seems reasonable for all that you get. We used the shuttle into town quite frequently every driver we had was very friendly.
Every person that worked there was extremely friendly and helpful. They all seemed to actually enjoy their jobs which was a nice change of pace to see.
We would definitely stay there again if the price was right.
Rich