flyerwife

I'd be happy to respond.

I did leave this hotel for awhile....had many satisfactory stays at the JW Rihga Royal, but that has left the Marriott family, and had a stay or two (nothing fantastic, but not bad either) at the Renaissance. I've also had many, many stays at Starwood properties in NYC including, very often, the W Times Square. Additionally, I've logged a dozen or so stays at the Hilton New York. So it may seem that my stays are all at the Marquis, but I can assure you they are not. Also, I only live a short train ride from Manhattan so I certainly have opted, many times, to simply come home.

The Marriott Marquis used to employ a fantastic gal whom I will only refer to as "KC". She was the most fantastic hotel service employee I have ever seen and I surely chose the Marquis simply because my contact with her ensured a pleasurable stay. She was so good that I wrote to Mr. Marriott himself about her, and she was cited by him for excellent customer service.

I found out just a month ago that she is no longer working at the Marquis.

I also have been waiting- patiently waiting- for the Marriott Marquis to get their Miconic 10 elevator system completely and fully operational. That changeover has been going on for well over 3 years. Each visit, we were promised "the new system is on it's way". Upon learning that the new system had been fully implemented, I was anxious to finally see it in action. Now that I have, I see absolutely no improvement in the passenger flow. The fact that this is the best that the Marriott Marquis can do after 3 years is simply an embarrasment to the hotel itself and to Marriott in general.

Although I no longer have the JW option, I would certainly choose the Renaissance first, and having heard good reviews of the new Residence Inn in NYC, I will also consider that a very viable option.

To me, the Marriott Marquis has run out of excuses. The hotel had many vacant rooms this Saturday when I was a guest and yet their system was totally inefficient. They appear to be willing to settle for sub-par service as if to say 'the tourists won't know'.

SkiAdcock

How did it go downhill in 6 weeks? I mean I'm not exaggerating - there was zip waiting when I was there. Maybe I got it in the beta version when it was working? Anwyay, as mentioned I'll stay there again. Might have to allocate some extra minutes for elevator (I'm assuming flyerwife has never stayed at New York Hilton/Towers - talk about crap elevators...), but I liked everything about my last stay so the hotel still stays on my list....Cheers.

flyerwife

I've ALWAYS known Marriott likes you better than me!!

SkiAdcock

LOL!! I doubt it.

Actually one good thing about the update to the thread is I didn't realize the exec lounge wasn't open on the weekend. But besides the renovated lounge being great, like that it has free wi-fi...

Cheers.

LPCJr

Just got back from a one-night stay (1/14-1/15) at the Marquis.

I took the Mrs. up for a weekend in NYC, used MR rewards points.

We arrived at about 11:30 AM, and were given an early check-in without any hassle. Nice room facing Times Square on 42nd floor. Asked if they could provide breakfast coupons, but they declined. I certainly wasn't going to complain, as I know that I'm not entitled to them on the weekend. I just asked for the heck of it. I guess they figured I'd fork over the $27.95 for Sunday brunch...

Now, let's talk about the elevators. I wouldn't describe them as horrendous, but things were not running perfectly smooth either. First of all, it seemed like you'd have 20 people waiting, and it would be telling everyone to go to the same elevator. I thought that the point of this system was to make efficient use of all the elevators, but instead most of them were idle. Second, the little screen that showed what floors the car was stopping on was not always accurate. For example, from 42, to go down to 8, we got in a car that says it was stopping at 8 and 1, no other floors. But we made three or four stops between 42 and 8. Third, it amazes me that they have one keypad. You have all these people crowded in waiting, and you have to fight your way in to get to the keypad.

That said, we did not have any horrendous delays in getting an elevator.

We did have one minor issue that kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Last night, I made an 800 call from the room telephone. As most of us probably know, Marriott, as a general rule, does not charge for 800 calls (nor should they since it's a free call). So you can imagine my surprise when I got the bill this morning and there was a charge for the phone call of TWO DOLLARS.

Naturally, I checked the Guest Services Directory, which indeed confirmed that 800 calls are free. So, at checkout, I tell the clerk this, and I'm told, oh, we're charging for them now, the book should've been changed. I remarked that I didn't see why since the call costs them nothing. She proceeds to feed me a line of BS about how AT&T charges them for me to make an 800 call. That would be like AT&T charging me for 800 calls that I make for calls from my home phone. Since Marriott as a rule doesn't normally charge, I think it's fair to say that this particular property is simply trying to gouge people since it's a tourist trap in Times Square. She removed the charges, so I didn't press the issue any further, but I don't feel that this practice fits into the philosophy of "The Marriott Way." It's obviously fair for them to make a profit, but charging me for something that's generally accepted as being free just isn't right, IMO.

All in all though, we were pleased with our stay.

Marcell

Glad you enjoyed your stay. I never stayed there before. Were the rooms huge or average sized? What was the layout of the room? Any special anemities?

SkiAdcock

Rooms are TS Marriott are better sized than some of the other Marriotts in NYC since I think the building is newer than others. I found them average to big depending on which room you got. I've been in some miniscule rooms at a variety of hotel chains in NYC over the years because of the buildings they were located in. Cheers.

orfflyer

The Renaissance Times Square is really great property. And I agree about the breakfast - quiet but with a great view! ^

Cindi89

The Marriott Marquis is a very nice hotel and very convenient to Time Square. The rooms are a nice size and we had a nice view of Time Square. I stayed there Jan 4 - 8. But I would agree with another poster that the elevator situation is ridiculous. We waited for over 30 minutes to catch an elevator down from the 42 floor. Several people who were waiting with us took the stairs down as they were going to miss the opening of their shows.

And catching an elevator up at night after a show is just "laughable". The area by the elevator is packed with people and it takes over 15 minutes for an elevator to show up and then everyone tries to get into that one elevator.

SkiAdcock

You know we're giving the Marriott a hard time about this (some of it justified), but I've been to plenty of hotels in a variety of chains in a variety of cities that when a major event or conference or show ends, it's a total zoo waiting for/getting on the elevator.

Doesn't excuse the new system not working properly, but folks some of this such as start/end of show is going to be 'rush hour' & so the same wait times don't apply. 15-30 minutes is too long, but to expect just a few minutes at rush hour isn't probably realistic either. I've been to hotels where 800 & 2,000 people are let out at the same time & even w/ a lot of elevator banks there's a queue (same for bathrooms, but that's a different topic .

I think everyone who is boycotting the Marquis should write Bill Marriott. If he gets enough letters it might get fixed. Easy to complain here amongst ourselves, but none of us can solve this.

I would HOPE that Chris would be providing feedback on this to WHQ, but not knowing what if any authority/input he actually has, writing the big guy would probably have a bigger effect.

Cheers.

fritz1

I hit NYC probably 2 times a month. Most of the time I am heads down in work and come up for air once in a while to eat. This time I have a chance to take the family with me this time and wondered if anyone had a ideas...

Good way to start a list...

psychephylax

My favorite eateries:

Virgil's Famous BBQ: 152 West 44th Street, New York City Phone: 212 921-9494 Fax: 212-921-9631

Joe's Ginger (although I have never been to the Chinatown location, the Flushing Queens and Midtown ones are great, Midtown is more expensive than Flushing and probably Chinatown) 113 Mott St. (Chinatown/Lower Manhattan)
between Hester and Canal Sts.
212-966-6613

Lombardi's Pizza: Little Italy, 32 Spring St. (SoHo/NoHo/Little Italy)
between Mulberry and Mott Sts.
212-941-7994

Penang Malaysian: http://www.newyorkmetro.com/pages/details/9179.htm

For things to do...
Take the SI Ferry to get some great views of the NYC Skyline and Statue of
Liberty
South Street Seaport
Visit Museum Mile: http://www.ny.com/museums/mile.html
Go to a Broadway show
The Intrepid Museum
International Center of Photography
Madame Tussaud's

There's a boatload more, you can help by narrowing down what your family is interested in

ohmark

Family consists of what?

Ambassador

Check out the New Victory Theater on 42nd st. They are a family theater that has shows everyone will enjoy.

http://www.newvictory.org/shows.m

UpgradeMe

Marriott Rewards?