porciuscato

Has anyone stayed in one of the "Hospitality Suites" here? I once got an executive suite that was quite lame -- it was just a large room with a weird TV in the middle that swivelled around. No bedroom with a door. The Hospitaliy Suites are described as 1 bedroom, so I'm presuming they have bedrooms with doors.....

SkiAdcock

Is the lounge open on the weekend? If not, what do they do for brekkie for Plats? Please post & I'll update the exec lounge sticky. Thx.

Cheers.

rogo

There are dozens -- literally -- of Marriotts in NYC and Times Square is a fairly abominable choice for where to stay.

Why is anyone staying here?

I've been at >10 Brooklyn or Manhattan Marriotts/Starwoods in the past few years, and none have anywhere near the problems reported in this thread.

christianj

Likely because they got a good rate, made a redemption under the old SPG award cost or the now lowered 35k cost, need to be in the area, like the area, want a place with a lounge, attending an event at the hotel, maybe the only hotel available for the days they needed, etc., etc.,etc..... Everyone has different reasons/criteria of why they stay somewhere even if you (or I) don't agree.

Score8

Sometimes we have to stay here due to per diem limits and location. On my last stay, they didn't have my room type available (booked King High Floor) and they offered me 5K. I said that was below the service failure compensation level. He mentioned that I could take the 5K or he would go in the back room and get a King reallocated to me. I was exhausted and just took the 5k points. However, the whole process was not warm and welcoming for sure.

TravelinSperry

At 35,000 per night, I'm fine with staying here (stayed lots in the past when the club lounge was on the higher floor). I like(d) this hotel back then and find the rooms to be of decent size compared to some others in Cat 5 in NYC. The high level club lounge was terrible so the ground floor one can't be any worse (assuming I can get in past the lines, lol).

But this resort fee is annoying: Hotel Alert USD25 destination fee added to room rate includes USD30 restaurant credit, enhanced internet, NYC experience and more.

As Titanium Elite, I get enhanced internet... so basically I'm paying $125 for a 5 night stay for a 1 time $30 credit. Uh vey.

dgreen12

Post 351 said in February 2018 that the restaurant credit was daily. Has there been a change?

jaejaez

If you set your expectations right (like I do), this hotel isn't bad at all. I quite enjoy my stays here.
Decent room size and shower and great location (1 minute walk to Halal guys for that late night hunger fix).
You can use the $25 destination fee at the lounge for your cold bottle of beer or glass of wine before crashing for the night, which I did every night.
Something about watching the tourists go about in times square with your bottle of beer from the club lounge (which sits on the ground floor) that helps me wrap up my new york days.

One thing to note though, is that you should always allow for more time to check-out (if you do plan on checking out in person as opposed to express) because:
1. You never know how long the lines will be esp if there's a large group of flight attendants and captains checking out and;
2. You need to take a moment to make sure that they did Credit the $25 destination fee against your consumption at the lounge. They were incorrectly applied half the time (no really) I checked. When you point it out they did apologize profoundly and fixed it as quickly as they could, but that still took a good 15 minutes or so of them going back and forth, checking with mgr, and reprinting stuff etc.

EuropeanPete

jaejaez

two drinks
it wouldn't be a highlight in any other city of course.

TravelinSperry

That's good to know

Betelgeuse451

My wife and I stayed at this hotel for a week for our anniversary. I am Titanium Elite. I booked a King room on points, requested a high floor and mentioned that this was my anniversary trip. When I arrived I was given a King room on the 32nd floor, not even in the top 3rd of the hotel. The front desk clerk insisted that was all they had. No acknowledgement of the anniversary at all (though she did keep thanking me for my loyalty). The room was small but adequate – well laid out but showing its age, the hotel does need a refresh in the near future. I was surprised that the tv does not have Netflix, which I have been able to access at all the other Marriott/Sheraton hotels I have stayed at for over a year now.

We talked to Mickayla in the club lounge (a great, cheerful and helpful person) and she confirmed that the hotel was overbooked for the first 2 days of our stay, but said that she would see what she could do for the 3rd day on. Somehow she managed to wrangle an upgrade to the Club Suite on the 48th floor for us. This suite is massive, with 2 bathrooms (though no tub) and views in 3 directions. Again it was showing its age, but was spacious and comfortable.

Speaking of the club lounge, this place is an absolute zoo. It is larger than most of the lounges I have experienced, but always felt extremely crowded during breakfast and appetizer times. I suspect that they upsell the lounge to everyone. The saving grace in the lounge was the staff, who regularly went out of their way to be as helpful as they possibly could. Mohammed cheerfully found us a seat each morning and supplied us with anything we requested. Tommy was there morning and evening every day, working tirelessly to ensure that everything was going smoothly and doing his best to fulfil any special requests.

The food situation at the hotel is disappointing. The main restaurant is not open for dinner, and has a limited and expensive menu and slow, mostly uncaring service. We did find the food delicious though. The Library Bar is open until late, has most of the same items, at the same prices, but has limited and poor seating. The food in the lounge is mostly disappointing, breakfast is underwhelming and appetizers are luck of the draw – had wonderful lamb chops one night (which lasted literally 10 minutes before they ran out and had pizza rolls for the rest of the evening), and had “Asian Tofu” as the choice on another night.

The hotel charges a $25 (plus taxes) daily “destination fee”. You can apply $30 against any food and beverage expenses each day, and the amount does stack. At the end of our week we got a flat $210 credit on our final bill, which offset all of our meals, drinks and even the room service charge.

If you are in NY for sightseeing, the destination fee also entitles you to a 24 hour, 1 route Citysightseeing Hop On Hop Off bus pass from the travel desk each day. For $10 extra they will upgrade the pass to a 48 hour unlimited pass that covers all the routes. Thus, if you are a couple staying for a few days, go get 1 pass the day you check in and get a second one the following morning, and you can have 48 hours of sightseeing together. The 48 hours starts when the pass is first used, within a year of issue.

TravelinSperry

Good to know we can use the $30 against room service charges and drinks. Thanks.

Mr. BoH

I feel like this hotel gets a bad rap. I find myself staying here a lot after comparing to other nearby Marriott properties (and I have stayed in just about all).

Pros:
Gym is fantastic (compared to most NYC hotel gyms that are an afterthought crammed into a corner)
Restaurant is pretty good (albeit typically Manhattan-overpriced)
Lounge is always well stocked, even when crowded
Rates tend to be a lot more reasonable than other full service Marriott properties in midtown
Decent sized rooms for NY
They are very good with early checkin - I typically arrive at 9am and they can almost always get me a room right away
Location is good - convenient to subways and far enough off Times Square that it is not total madness outside
I've never had any service issues

Cons:
Property is dated and needs a facelift & room refurb
Lobby can turn in to a zoo at times when tour buses are dropping off or picking up
I guess the destination fee, but everyone in NY has that these days. Restaurant credit is daily (not 1x per stay)
I've stayed here over a dozen times as Titanium and never gotten a suite upgrade (they almost always honor high floor though)
Food in lounge is not very good
Would be nice if they upgraded to smart/Netflix Tvs like most properties have

gregv

Back to Category 6 .