Location, location, location
Written: Mar 31 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: location, availability, service
Cons: annoying waits at elevators, expense
The Bottom Line: The location is amazing for a New York theater trip experience. Clean and comfortable, our stay was a pleasure.
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| dameblanche's Full Review: Marriott Marquis New York |
It was a lovely day to spend in New York City. My friend and I had booked a room at the Marriott New York Marquis over an internet special. Having only the address (1535 Broadway), we weren't sure what to expect or where exactly to find our hotel. We assumed that we'd find it easily, though, because we knew: a) it is on Broadway, and b) it was 50 stories tall.
Exciting Location
We had taken a bus into the city, so we did a lot of walking. One of our priorities for the afternoon was to wait in line in Duffy Square (right next to Times Square) at the TKTS booth for discount theater tickets. By the time we'd waited an hour, though, our feet weren't prepared to walk a long distance to check in to the hotel. What a lovely surprise when we looked up and saw that the Marriott New York Marquis is located right in the heart of the exciting theater district, easily visible from Times Square, the TKTS booth, and the MTV studios where people were gathered to watch TRL. It was a hop and a skip from the TKTS booth to the hotel lobby.
The location was especially nice since we planned to go to a show in the area (Les Miserables of course!) and didn't want to walk in the city at night or take an expensive cab.
Hotel Lobby and Registration
The entry level was a bit barren, which confused us at first. After looking around for a bit, we saw some signs that directed us to the 8th floor for registration. We approached the circular center of the building where there were about 12 glass elevators in a circle. We waited for a few minutes and realized it would take a while. We'd just waited in a long line at the TKTS booth so we were impatient. We found the escalators instead (which go up only as far as the 8th floor) and used them to reach the registration line.
The registration desk was well-staffed. We were probably checking in at a relatively quiet time (around 4:30 PM), but still, there was no waiting. There was a separate line for Marriott "Elite" members, but I didn't notice anything lacking in the "regular guy" line. The service was polite, and although they didn't have the non-smoking room with two beds that we preferred, we got a non-smoking room with a king-sized bed that also had a nice view. We got our key cards and prepared to find our room.
Other Services on the 8th floor
The 8th floor had a few other attractions, which kept us entertained for a few minutes before we went to our room. The theater desk was the first place we stopped, because we hadn't gotten the tickets we wanted at the TKTS booth. The lady there was helpful and had all of the information that we needed. (We still didn't get the tickets we wanted, but that wasn't her fault.... that's a different story!)
Next to the theater desk there was a transportation and entertainment desk where the staff could arrange tours and transportation. We didn't visit this desk since we were on a "walking/public transportation" kind of budget, but it would be helpful for those who have a bit more cash flow.
Also on the 8th floor was a glitzy gift shop with expensive items such as lamps and jewelry, plus another gift shop with a department-store kind of feel. Again, because of the cash-flow restrictions, we visited neither of these locations. Our room was calling.
Comfortable and Classy Room
I would have expected nothing less from the Marriott New York Marquis. A clean, cozy room, tastefully decorated and furnished with a couch, bench, 2 chairs, armoire-concealed television and mini-bar, and an "almost too comfortable" King sized bed with 6 pillows or more. The bathroom was large and clean. A girl appreciates things like the coffee maker, free coffee and tea in the room, hair dryer, iron and ironing board, great shower pressure, and plenty of towels. The view was great from the 40th floor - except for one little interesting experience involving a room in the building next door and a realistic looking cardboard figure of a naked woman... I was scared for a minute but realized after a bit that it was fake.
In addition to the mini-bar and available room-service and private dining, (we only got a bottled water, but anyone with money to burn would have appreciated the menu!), we received a USA today at our door.
Restaurants
The hotel has a coffee shop called Oh la la, a four-star restaurant called The View, and some other dining options in the hotel. It is also located directly across the street from Planet Hollywood, TGI Friday's, and some relatively inexpensive and fun dining options, as well as the more pricey Times Square/Theater district restaurants.
Oh, and by the way, not far away is a little bagel shop that had EXCELLENT deals on bagels and breakfast foods - we went there twice in one day!
Going up? Not anytime soon!
As I mentioned before, the only way past the 8th floor was by glass elevator. (there were two non-glass elevators as well). Now I realize that this is a 50 story building, so elevators are liable to take a long time to get to any particular floor. The set-up was a bit ridiculous, in my opinion. At any given time there could be 100 people waiting to take an elevator up to their floor. An elevator would come about once every eight minutes (a disgruntled man behind me was timing them) and a person would just be lucky if it wasn't already full. You basically had to pick an elevator to stand in front of and hope that was the one that would open in the next 30 minutes or so... everyone would rush to whatever elevator opened, they would be too full, and you'd end up waiting longer because you lost your place in front of the other elevators. (Unless you were really patient like we were, this could be really annoying!!)
I felt that there wasn't much that could be done about the number of elevators, but it would have been better to have an employee monitor the waiting areas to ensure that people who weren't pushy would still get a ride to their floor. There was a convention of teenagers who would cut in front of everyone else... this could have been an oversight on the part of the hotel, but I would think that a better system could be applied here.
Suited for business travelers
The hotel offered many perks for the business traveler. A quiet room to work, a desk with a rolling chair, high speed internet access available in the room, a keyboard that worked with the television, and a "keep in touch" package for around $13 a day that offered unlimited phone, internet, and fax services.
Price
I booked my room through Priceline, but I was curious, so I called and found that a regular room with double-occupancy on a Thursday night ran about $300. Considering the location in Manhattan, I still think this is really expensive, but cost is more of an issue for me than for some travelers. The price I paid was worth it, especially when split between two friends, but I doubt if the Marriott New York Marquis could have done anything else to make the room worth full-price for me.
Did I mention the location was excellent?
A nice place in the Big Apple!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dameblanche
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Location: Houghton, NY, USA
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Young Middle School Teacher, loves teenagers and life experiences.
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