tarheelnj

Thanks. Instead of the CY hotels, now looking at the two nearby Fairfield Inn properties. Any experience with the Penn Station vs Times Square South FI hotels? The Penn Station one would be the tie breaker all things equal given location slightly closer to the office.

Schnit

I did a mattress run at the FI on 37/5 back in February. I was targeted for stay one night and get one night, and the night was only $89, and I used the FNC for a $300 a night hotel.

I was only in the room for a couple hours but the staff I interacted with was really nice and the room was clean. Felt a bit bad that they upgraded me to a high floor. The room was extremely small, but its Manhattan so expected.

Ken C

Have you looked at the Westin on 42nd?, it could be a 10 min walk to your office but same price point and will have elite benefits. Did approx 300 nights all over Manhattan from 2017-19, midtown west is tough. I spent New Years Eve one yr at the FI TS, I remember the beds being a disappointment after being in my feet for like 10 hrs.

tarheelnj

I'd definitely prefer that option, but it's currently about $60 more per night than the FI for the target dates. So the decision now is down to which FI - Penn Station or Times Square.

NowBoarding2020

Heading to the city the weekend before Christmas (12/17 for 2 nights) with my girlfriend, as she has never been to NY during the holidays, and wants to take in all the sights and sounds. Originally looking at the W - Times Square, however open to other suggestions. Going to check out a Broadway show, perhaps a Knicks game, and all the normal Christmas festivities.

Eujeanie

Be sure to take her to the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall.

I have no idea what post-Covid NY is like, but we always enjoyed the department store window diplays.

Any hotel in Midtown would work.

andrewstahl

if you like Times Square, the W is fine. I prefer to stay away from Times Square. The St Regis, the Ritz Central Park, the JW Essex House & the Chatwal are all midtown but not in the middle of Times Square.

NYC hotels get very expensive during the holiday season.

AdeAhmed

suggestion for a hotel for 5 nights in late August/early September? Likely on points.

My wife and I along with our 3 small boys are driving from Toronto, so we'd want to be doing the touristy things during our stay.

My wife is a platinum so we'd be booking under her account...the StR and Essex are expensive and i've heard good and bad about both. We like our suite upgrades and lounge access (though it seems most Marriott brands in NYC dont have lounges?) and she has 5 SNAs that expire by the end of the year.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

ElevatorEnthusiast

If on points, I'd consider the Marriott Downtown. I got it for less than 40K and there is a nice lounge (for a lounge). I heard Marquis has an open lounge, too (guess touristy means Midtown - though the best attraction I've been to is the 9/11 Museum - truly impactful).

AdeAhmed

is the marriott downtown the property which you wrote about a few months back? where you got the upgrade to VP suite? howd you manage that LOL

Seems like for the time I am travelling no suites are available =(

WillBarrett_68

I would absolutely not want to stay downtown for a touristy visit, particularly with little kids. Maybe take the subway down there one afternoon or something but it's a terrible location for tourists IMO.

Personally I would avoid Times Square but a lot of people are into it.

The Renaissance by MSG has a great location and a lounge (haven't been there since right before Covid, though).

Schnit

I worked downtown for the better part of a decade, so I know it fairly well. I would guess half a day is more than enough to cover what you want to see. As a tourist you will probably want to see Wall St (absolutely nothing to see but its a thing tourists decide to do). Check out the 9/11 memorial and walk through the Oculus to Brookfield Place, just because its a cool mall. After that you are probably done. Go to the Comedy Cellar in the village but its not really downtown.

Times Square area is the touristy stuff. I stayed at the Marriott Marquee many times over the years (but not in the last 10 years that I have worked in NYC) and always been very happy with it.

Keep in mind that downtown will be a lot cheaper, since you are not near the good stuff. If you take the 1/2/3 train uptown is only about 20-30 minutes, so up to you if thats worth the savings. IMO if you want to save money/points and stay somewhere cheaper look at NJ. The PATH makes it just as easy to get in as the MTA from downtown, but much cheaper, just not as nice of hotels.

ElevatorEnthusiast

You're correct - and I frankly have no idea why I received that upgrade as it just showed up the morning of my stay - very nice, though. Regardless of the suite upgrade, I still found the Marriott Downtown to be quite nicely renovated and comfortable. The above posters are correct in their analysis of the location, but my perspective is that the non-luxury full service options in Midtown are rarely worth the points compared to the cash rates and offerings. Using points for the St. Regis or RC is another story, but I wouldn't spend 70K a night for the Westin Times Square, for example (though, I would pay cash - look forward to a review from me on this soon in the master thread).

I've had good stays at both Marriott Marquis and Westin Times Square so could recommend them as hotels (but would strongly think about using points vs. cash from a valuation perspective).

AdeAhmed

I'll look into the Reniassance (believe full name is Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel?). Any other thoughts? I frankly have no idea where things are relative to each other...I assumed times square was downtown but seems that its midtown.

Suggestions for places to stay midtown? Or NJ for that matter. NJ may work on multiple levels since parking in NYC is crazy expensive!

Marquis and Westin you like on points or cash?

ElevatorEnthusiast

For Midtown, it's probably best on cash, but it's going to be situational. Historically, Manhattan hotels that aren't Downtown have had high points costs that don't necessarily match the cash price. Of course, depending on when you are going, the cash prices could also be quite high. I would figure out where you want to stay and then compare cash vs. points to see if you can get at or over your desired points value (making sure to take out destination fees that are common as you will have to pay these regardless).

The Midtown hotels that are generally well-reviewed (understanding that NYC hotel standards are lower than anything you'll find in Canada) are the Marquis, Westin TS (though bad on TripAdvisor - I enjoyed my stay last night), EDITION (understanding that there isn't breakfast and the rooms are small), and Renaissance Midtown. I've stayed at all of those except Ren Midtown. One point - if you care about room size, you should go with the Marquis as the rooms there are "normal-sized" or "big for New York City".