Newark: Newark Airport Marriott (December 2010)

My spouse and I stayed at the Newark Airport Marriott for one night in late December prior to a holiday vacation. We booked a “park, stay, and fly” package that include one night’s lodging and parking for seven days. The package rate at this Marriott property was a little more expensive than other associated properties a few miles away from the airport; however, we felt that being able to see the airport from the hotel provided us with a level of mental comfort was worth a few more dollars, as well as the fact that this is a full-service property with on-site restaurants. (We have also stayed at the Courtyard and the Springhill Suites near the airport in the past.) There was plenty of parking, and the lot was gated and required a key card to enter and exit. (You have in and out parking privileges.)

Although this hotel is technically on-site at Newark Liberty International Airport, you cannot legally walk to the airport from the hotel. (It might be possible to walk – it is extremely close - but you would need to cross airport traffic and an airport parking lot.) The hotel provides 24-hour transportation, and we were told that the shuttles leave every 10 to 15 minutes, although not on any set schedule like on the hour, quarter hour, half hour, etc. 

The lobby is attractive, as are the on-site restaurants, which included JW’s Steakhouse [this didn’t appear to be open when we were there, but maybe I didn’t look closely enough], Mangia di Casa [Italian], and Chatfield’s [English pub]. We had drinks late at night at Chatfield’s, which was had ample seating, a decent menu (“bar food”, although we didn’t order any), and good service. There is an indoor/outdoor pool and a gym, but we neither used them nor saw them. There is a flight status board in the lobby, so you can keep informed of departures and arrivals even if you don’t have your computer with you (I don’t think internet access was free, but I didn’t use it so I can’t say for sure). I remember seeing an ATM in the lobby, as well as one of those Marriott pantry areas where you could buy a snack or drink. (There was what looked to be an empty storefront, though, that might have once housed a tiny gift/sundries shop.)
The night we arrived (approximately 5:00 pm), they had a table set up in the lobby where they were serving hot chocolate – complete with big bowls of whipped cream and marshmallows. I had planned to partake of the refreshments the next morning before my flight, but it wasn’t available. I’m not sure if it was a holiday treat, or whether they do it during the winter months, but I thought that it was a nice cozy touch to welcome guests.

We drove into Manhattan for dinner on the night of our stay – even though it’s only about 16 miles, it took about one hour to drive there because there was traffic (around 6:00 pm), but only 30 minutes to return (no traffic at 10:00 pm). We’ve talked about doing this “dinner run” previously before embarking on other trips (when we’ve stayed at the other Newark Marriott properties) and wondered how easy it would be, and it was easy enough that we plan to do it again. (We fancy ourselves as “foodies”, though, so driving for an hour for a great meal is not unheard of for us.) We checked out the other transportation options before deciding to drive ourselves, but they weren’t any less expensive (I think the PATH and AMTRAK trains were both $15 per person each way, a taxi was $50 each way, even a shared van service was $30 each way [for us and up to nine of our closest “friends”]) and seemed to require more effort (transferring from the Air Train to the regular train at Newark Station, then getting at cab at Penn Station in NYC, or pin-pointing our schedule enough to set times for the car service to pick us up).

We would stay here again if the price was right and the parking package suited us (sometimes the package only includes four nights free parking, and additional days are exorbitantly priced).