bmwe92fan

FYI -- Many of the old Marriotts in midtown will be reopening -- but as Sonestas -- I walk by them every day to get to our office -- it's a shame Marriott lost so many properties in midtown....

rubey419

Does anyone know if any of the NYC luxury hotels (formally category 8) still offer a complimentary town car service?

Last time I stayed at St Regis their Bentley was out of service so wasn’t able to take advantage. The Chantel had a red Mercedes E-class with their branded logo on the door. However those stays were a few years ago so not sure if any of the luxury brands kept their town cars and are continuing service post-Pandemic.

Polytonic

NY Edition has a car service as of September or so, last time I was there (some kind of big, black SUV, Suburban maybe?). I believe it's up to 10 block radius.

Mr. BoH

The St Regis Bentley is gone permanently (despite it still being pictured prominently on their homepage). They are still doing a house car, but it is like an Escalade or similar. It's also pretty hard to get in the evenings as it is first come first served.

andrewstahl

With traffic back to pre pandemic levels, it may be faster to either walk or take the subway instead of car service

dcmike

What's the best high-end option in lower Manhattan/the financial district? I've been trying to figure it out, but it seems like there are not a lot of choices.

oopsz

probably one of the thompsons tbh. I've been staying at the beekman if I have to be downtown.

Stay at the W hoboken and take the ferry? Or suck it up and stay at the marriott or AC downtown.

stimpy

Traffic is actually beyond pre-pandemic levels because a lot of people still don't want to take the subway. More than 100% of pre-pandemic on the bridges and tunnels into Manhattan.

Personally I prefer the Citibike. But if it is raining, I'll take the subway.

GW McLintock

This has been my experience as well. Sometimes I will check Google Maps to see if driving or public transit is quicker, and I'd say lately it's been 50-50; this is for short distances within Manhattan, but also longer trips to Queens.

-J.

Ryno1234

Totally agree. I am in NYC several times a month. I miss the old Marriott East on Lexington. Really enjoyed that property. Great M club. Always upgraded to a large room. Rooftop gym was not too shabby.

DutchessPDX

Heading to NYC in December for a few days and we have tickets to several shows and a performance at Carnegie Hall. Dates are 12/1-12/4. I'm doing an award stay and have about 120k points to spend and 3 SNA's to apply. I'm trying to decide between the W Hotel Times Square, Sheraton Times Square, or Westin Times Square.

My preference is someplace with SNA availability as a Titanium and decent breakfast offerings and a lounge. Both Sheraton and Westin have full buffet available in the morning (which my partner likes) but W's breakfast options seems lackluster and slow. Sheraton is the only one of the three with a lounge. The Westin and the W look a lot nicer though and are slightly higher points wise. The Westin seems to have better upgrade potential based on current available rooms.

Any experience with these properties? Recommendations. WWYD?

I'm open to other options if they're similar points wise.

Thanks!!

ElevatorEnthusiast

Go with the Westin. Direct experience. It's not amazing, but it's decently good - biggest issue is friendliness of the staff, but that's a New York thing.

jaejaez

I'd pick either the Sheraton or the Westin… actually Sheraton as I’d rate it rougly the same as the Westin but is often cheaper (both cash & points).

The W Times Square really has nothing going for them except for the fact that they’re smack dab in the middle of Times Sq. If you think you’ll enjoy walking out of the hotel to the heart of Times Sq (some ppl do like this) – then W is worth considering. Housekeeping is their weakest link. I won’t go into details…………

Sheraton is a zoo but it has a decent lounge at street level with decent breakfast and is often significantly cheaper than the rest. The last time I stayed the destination fee could be used for evening drinks (beer, alcohol) in the lounge at night which I did enjoy doing to close off my day. Watching the throngs of tourists wander around Times Sq from the comfort of the lounge with a drink in your hand can be an experience in itself.

Mr. BoH

If you are really looking to be in Times Square (there are pros and cons to this), the W is the only one that is. The Sheraton and Westin, despite having Times Square in the name, are not in TS by any reasonable definition, "Times Square adjacent", at best.

The Sheraton has a terrible rep, partially deserved, but if you go in with modest expectations you'll be fine. The W is nice enough, but not really a luxury property any more (if it ever was). The Westin is fine, pretty meh overall.

None of these properties will blow your socks off, I would just go for whichever one gives you the best rate.

DutchessPDX

Thanks for the detailed reply. I actually prefer that the Sheraton and Westin are not in Times Square proper. I mainly wanted to be close to the Carnegie hall as that's the main purpose of our visit.
I really liked the W when I was younger but you're right it's glitz has faded a bit. I have the Sheraton booked, as it's the least amount of points for our stay and closest to our venue.

Thanks for all the replies!