Marriott Courtyard Jersey City Review

[138east]

My family of five stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in Jersey City for three nights last weekend to attend wedding festivities in Manhattan. Originally we had more people and had planned to stay at Candlewood Suites, but with only five people including an infant, we were able to switch to just one room at the Courtyard. It was an enormous room (partial view on the 8th floor with a direct view of the Freedom Tower) with two queen beds, a sofabed, a frig, and a bathroom with the sink separated from the bathtub and toilet. I thought we got a great deal - $240/night including tax.

 

The hotel really worked for us. Valet parking was $18/day (we had two cars). Even with tipping the parking attendants to retrieve and park one of the cars, it was reasonable. I had to pick up DD and DGD at EWR at 6 am. on Sat. and DH had to to drop her off again for a 9:30 am flight on Mon. We had a Sat night dinner and the Sun night wedding in NYC, so we drove into the city thru the Holland Tunnel. On Sun we drove to Liberty State Park to go out to Ellis Island and sail by the SOL. I was exhausted and just did the boat ride. To get back to the hotel I walked from the SOL Ferry to the Liberty Landing Ferry, rode across the channel for $2, walked four blocks to the light rail, and rode back to Newport/Pavonia for $1.05 (Sr.. Fare). This light rail stop is right at the Newport Mall and was an easy two block walk to the hotel.

 

The PATH station with service to 33rd & 6th and World Trade Center (weekend service to resume at the end of 2014) was literally next door to the hotel. We didn't use it because of the baby, but I did meet folks in the lobby who were using it twice a day to run in and out of the city. Our group was on crazy sleeping schedules (DD and DGD were on Pacific time), so the very nice lobby area was a good place to hang out. Hotel food was expensive, but there were lots of places in the area to get coffee and food. Starbucks was around the corner. The whole area is relatively new having been developed from scratch over the last 25 years.

 

Overall it's a great location for both exploring NYC and sailing from Cape Liberty. The light rail is close enough to the Courtyard to be a serious inexpensive option for going to Bayonne. PATH is a quick ride to both midtown and downtown. There's no comparison to the EWR hotel areas and the hotel prices are much less than Manhattan.

[EbayCruiser]

Thinking of using this hotel next March for our Quantum cruise and arriving the day before our cruise. How about transportation from hotel to cruise port, do they provide a shuttle or would we need a taxi? I saw it was approximately 9 miles - what would be the cost to the port if we use taxi?

 

We've never been to NY and I'm a little leery of travel in the NY area.

 

Are there nice hotels close to the cruise terminal?

[138east]

Thinking of using this hotel next March for our Quantum cruise and arriving the day before our cruise. How about transportation from hotel to cruise port, do they provide a shuttle or would we need a taxi? I saw it was approximately 9 miles - what would be the cost to the port if we use taxi?

 

We've never been to NY and I'm a little leery of travel in the NY area.

 

Are there nice hotels close to the cruise terminal?

 

 

IMO the nicest pool of hotels close to the port are in Jersey City. There are currently no hotels in Bayonne (except for one "no tell" motel). The airport hotels are fine and I have stayed in a number of them, but they are airport hotels catering to transient travelers. Newark is not a vacation destination. However, many folks fly in there to cruise from Cape Liberty and they are looking for the nicer less expensive hotels to cut down on their precruise expenses, so an extra cab ride and a more expensive hotel in Jersey City is not in their budget.

 

The Jersey City hotels require a cab from EWR for about $50 unless you take public transit which would be $22. A cab to Cape Liberty from Jersey City is about the same money, but there is an easy public transit and cab option on the light rail for about $15 if you can roll your luggage two blocks.

 

As I said the Courtyard is right next to the PATH station for quick and easy (and probably uncrowded) access to midtown or downtown Manhattan. The area has been totally redeveloped within the last 25 years and is now filled with office buildings, apartments, hotels, and shopping. It is also comfortable - I had to be out at 5 am to drive to EWR to pick up my DD and DGD and had no problem doing that.

 

Our focus that weekend was events in NYC. We lived in that area of Jersey City many years ago and knew it was the best location for us to be able to park two cars, access EWR, get a reasonably priced hotel for five people, and get to the wedding event venues with the least amount of hassle. It worked out perfectly for us - the wedding was at Chelsea Piers on the Hudson at 23rd St and it took us only 20 minutes by car.

 

Post Captain has taken some videos of the Westin and Hyatt areas. The views of Manhattan are spectacular.

 

PostCaptain

 

Here's a brief video showing a glimpse of of the Westin, which is located right across the street from a pleasant marina. (And there's a fancy restaurant on the marina property.)

 

 

And here's the Hyatt Regency and environs:

 

 

 

Another view of the Hyatt--as seen from the Hudson, starting at about 2:45 into this video: