helvetic

I like Herald Sq. much better as an area. I try to avoid the mess at Times Sq when possible, and of course avoid that awful Macy's.

The AC is pretty nice and new. Moxy's isn't horrible either if you don't mind a tiny room.

tdrag97

helvetic

Or Platinum or Titanium or Ambassador members either, other than a decent breakfast.

Gold is pretty far down the totem pole, I would rarely expect anything special for that.

Graciecatt

Does anyone have any reviews of the Manhattan Fairfield Inn and Suites Springhill Inn and Suites or the new Towne Place Suites? I am thinking that these suite rooms might be a bit larger than the standard NYC room? I'm looking for something in Midtown or a bit lower that is super convenient to the Metro and will be easy to get to and from Brooklyn (without staying in Brooklyn lol) for a Sunday and Monday night in July. I am only looking to sleep there and will pay cash to earn and save points for another time. I'm only Gold so I have no lounge access but breakfast would be nice if Golds still have that opportunity.

Kacee

All guests get breakfast at Springhill Suites. The rooms are typical Manhattan sized. I stayed recently at Springhill Suites 5th Avenue and felt it was a convenient location and an excellent value.

And it's the subway.

Graciecatt

Lol thank you!

MasterGeek

flyingeph12

There are limited Cat 4 choices if you want to stay in or close to Manhattan, and none of them are full-service properties. I like the AC downtown, but breakfast (if you choose to use your Titanium welcome gift on breakfast) is really a continental breakfast. I would also recommend the Courtyard and Aloft in Long Island City (very near Queens Plaza subway stop)—but neither of those have great breakfast options either. Honestly, if I were in NYC during a weekend, I would be going to one of the numerous great brunch places, not eating breakfast in the hotel. Off the top of my head, I would say the only Marriott hotel where breakfast is maybe worth it is the Chatwal.

Finally, I'm not sure using points for a weekend stay is really worth it in New York, especially those in the Cat 4 realm. I would definitely check the cash rates before using points. Unless there's something going on, I would in general be surprised if the Cat 4 properties are much higher than $200/night (in which case you're only getting about 0.8˘/point in value).

MasterGeek

Here is the issue:

I have the choice of redeeming Canadian AMEX Membership Reward points at 1 Canadian cent per point against past travel purchases or transferring them to Bonvoy points at a 1:1.2 rate.

So: 20,833 Canadian AMEX MR points = 25,000 Bonvoy points

So, for category 4, a hotel needs to cost 208.33 Canadian dollars ($154 USD) after taxes per night for it to be worth it to me to pay for it cash rather than redeeming Marriott Bonvoy points.

For the May 31st to June 2nd weekend, I don't see such rates (will try BRG)

nygiants242

Any thoughts on the Moxy Chelsea?

flyingeph12

If your only choices are 1) redeem MR points at 1 Canadian cent per point toward travel purchases or 2) transfer points to Bonvoy, then I agree that it would make more sense to transfer points to Bonvoy if the cost of a night (including taxes) is over US$154. This, of course, assumes you value your MR points at 1 Canadian cent per MR (or .75 US cents per MR)—and if you think redeeming your points around that range is good value, then definitely you should do it. All I was trying to say before is that hotel prices in NYC (generally) are cheaper over the weekends (especially Friday and Sunday nights), and so it might be worth it to pay cash compared to points.

It looks like for your particular weekend, prices are at least $200/night. So it might be worth it to use points. But as I said before, I would consider anything in Cat 4 (that is in or close to Manhattan) no more than a decent place to sleep at night. My personal choice would be one of the FiDi hotels (probably the AC), but FiDi is super quiet over the weekend. The Aloft or Courtyard near Queens Plaza might be a better choice, since it would be two stops on the subway to Midtown. There's also a Fairfield Inn in the LES that's a Cat 4—I've never stayed there so can't say if it's good, but if the LES is your scene it might be worth looking into (plus it probably has free breakfast included).

MasterGeek

Do Manhattan hotels drop their prices on last minute reservations during weekends (especially the ones located in the Financial District) ?

Since the Marriott flexible cancellation policy requires cancellation 2 days before the check-in date, I'm wondering if I should cancel my reservation for this week-end, hoping hotels will dump their prices on Friday

Keyser

downtown hotels usually do but you also risk them being sold out....earlier this year i reached nyc a day earlier & got the four points downtown for $72 a night on the weekend....

sublunary

I'm deciding between the AC Times Square and the Westin Times Square for an overnight stay after a Broadway show. As a Platinum elite member my primary concerns are a good breakfast, potential for upgrade or early check-in, and overall quality of the property and rooms. Has anyone stayed at these properties recently and could recommend either one?

helvetic

AC is far far far better.