11201 Travel Guide
Tags: Deal or No Deal / Marriott Hotels / Hotel Packages / Brooklyn Hotels / → All Tags
'Explorer Passes' Aren't Worth It at The Marriott New York Brooklyn Bridge
Marriot Hotels have been very good lately about alerting us hotel guests to their newest hotel deals and packages via Facebook, Twitter and even the individual Marriott hotels' websites. However, just because Marriott advertises it as a deal doesn't necessarily mean it's a good one. The other week we expressed some disappointment with a New Orleans package which, based on its marketing and pricing, made less than zero sense.
Now it's the Explore Your New York package deal from the New York Marriott At The Brooklyn Bridge. Room rates range from $274-$524 per room, per night, plus tax. The ostensible bonus is that rooms come bundled with two Explorer Passes that have three discount coupons for 40 different shops, tours, or attractions. Breakfast for two is also thrown in.
We'll get into the mechanics of this non-deal after the jump, but before we highlight the specifics: there's no way this is ever going to be a deal. The rules never change. Deeply discounted resorts and cruises are sometimes bargains because you're purchasing a unique experience. Not so much hotels in major cities, which are functionally interchangeable. Tourist coupon books are worse than useless, locking you into events for which you'd be better off picking and choosing deals.
Tags: Brooklyn Hotels / NYT Reviews / → All Tags
NYT Retreats to Brooklyn to Check Out the Nu Hotel
We know it’s unflattering to be too smug, but we could have saved the New York Times the hassle of retreating to Brooklyn — if only they had read our coverage of the outer borough’s Nu Hotel.
But alas, such was not the case, and this past weekend the NYT checked in to the downtown Brooklyn boutique hotel, which you might remember opened last August. The experience produced obvious results (well, obvious if you’ve been eyeing the place as closely as we have been): bright, modern rooms; cork floors and hammocks (in three of the rooms); views of the Brooklyn House of Detention across the street; a fantastic location but noisy traffic from Atlantic Avenue.
Tags: Brooklyn Hotels / New York City Hotels / Hotel Openings / TripAdvisor / → All Tags
Checking In On Brooklyn's Nu Hotel :: Big, Clean, White and Bright
We listed Brooklyn's Nu Hotel as one of the top five hotels in Brooklyn and ever since it opened, we have felt like it could be a place we wouldn't mind stashing our visiting parents, whether we lived in Manhattan or right around the corner.
Since our parents (or friends) haven't had a chance to check it out for themselves -- hammocks in the rooms and all -- we dropped into TripAdvisor to see what reviewers had to say.
Feedback was mostly positive -- a couple "teething problems," but nothing out of the ordinary for any recently-opened hotel. But what really jumped out to us were the number of reviewers who commented on the differences between Manhattan hotels and the Nu: Nu's rooms are apparently bigger, brighter and cheaper than their counterparts over the bridge.
A couple of our fave comments after the jump.
Tags: Brooklyn Hotels / New York Hotels / Hotel Opening Rates / → All Tags
Brooklyn's "Nu"-est Hotel Gets Thumbs Up From Neighborhood Blog
The Brownstoner blog checked out Brooklyn's newest hotel, The Nu Hotel, and was "positively surprised" by what they saw.
They didn't try to get too cute with the design, keeping it light and modern, made the room sizes decent (helped by the fact that the building was originally designed as a condo) and priced it right; it's also in the best location of any hotel in the borough that we can think of, with Smith Street at its doorstep.
Speaking of pricing, the introductory room rates are so reasonable, at $199 during the week and $149 on the weekends. Let's just hope this hotel wisely chooses to forgo obnoxious gaming advertecture.
[Photo: Brownstoner]
Tags: Hotel News / Brooklyn Hotels / Hotel Construction / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
The New Nu Hotel Offers a Room With a Hammock and a (Serial) Killer View
Imagine yourself chillin' in your hammock this summer, breathing in the fresh air and checking out the great views around you.
Then imagine that hammock is indoors, and those great views happen to be of the jail. Also? You're in Brooklyn.
Sounds appealing, right?
We know, we know: not so much. But despite the strikes against it, we think Brooklyn's upcoming Nu Hotel sounds kind of cool and can't wait to check it out when it opens, er, "this summer."
Tags: Homewood Suites / Hilton Garden Inns / Brooklyn Hotels / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
Hilton's Homewood Suites and Garden Inn Coming to Brooklyn
Hilton's Homewood Suites is coming to New York City for the first time and it's just five miles from midtown Manhattan! Wait, what?....Yeah, that's what it says on the press release but these peeps are actually talking about Brooklyn. Still, nice try. We're sure someone in Fargo bought that.
Anyways, the 100-suite property at 313 Gold Street, is in Downtown Brooklyn near Manhattan Bridge, likely affording guests some killer views of the city's famed skyline.
The groundbreaking, which will be part of a joint new build with a Hilton Garden Inn, is expected to start this September and be completed a year later. The hotel will sport all of the amenities Homewood Suites is known for, like the Suite Start breakfast, Welcome Home Reception and free Internet.
We're guessing the hotel will appeal to cost-conscious travelers who aren't afraid to navigate New York's subways, because anyone who's attempted to go to Brooklyn from Manhattan via taxi knows how often cab drivers refuse to go there.
One suggestion to Homewood Suites Brooklyn: Don't put an advert for Grand Theft Auto on the side of your building. Or pictures of the Twin Towers on your website for that matter either.
[Photo via Brooklyn Eagle]
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