NJ Newark Country Inn and Suites Elizabeth

[actraveler]

For those of you wanting to stay near Newark Airport, this is a fine choice.

Most people will bid for the 3* Hilton or Doubletree, and they are very nice hotels. They are, however, on the busy highway (US1&9) and are next to nothing except a Budweiser plant (no tours and certainly no samples :-) Also, they charge for parking and internet and there is no access to public transportation unless you take the shuttle back to the airport.

Across the NJ Turnpike, to the East of the airport by 1 mile, a developer built a huge outlet mall called "Jersey Gardens" on reclaimed industrial wasteland. The mall has restaurants, a huge movie megaplex, outlet shopping, and public transportation.

As there is no room on the west side of the airport for hotel expansion, hotel companies had to go to the east side in Elizabeth NJ.

Four new hotels have been built across the street from the mall- The Country Inn & Suites, a Courtyard by Marriott, a Residence Inn and an Extended Stay America. They are all right next to each other, and at the front of the parking lot is a Ruby Tuesday's restaurant.

This is my 5th stay at the Country Inn. It has a very welcoming lobby and staff. Today, we arrived early (11:00AM), and when we got to the desk, they did not have any regular rooms to give out as the hotel was full last night and they were still cleaning. I said, "No problem, but when something opens up, my mother is disabled and can not walk far so please try to place us in a room near the elevator."

Well, her reaction was phenomenal as far as a positive customer service experience goes. She said that she could give us a Suite at no extra charge for the 5 nights if mom was tired now, and if I wouldn't have been relegated to pull-out, I would have accepted. When I said we would be happy to wait, she started on the phone to housekeeping and found us a room that had just finished being cleaned.

The room is very large with 2 queen beds, an armchair by the window, a desk, iron & board, in-room safe, huge bathroom, coffee maker, and 27 inch TV. This is not the Hilton or Doubletree, because the rooms are about 50% larger and extremely comfortable- overall for this airport a much better choice.

Free airport shuttle, free internet (wired AND wireless in the room), free local and 800 calls, 24-hour coffee in the lobby, and free continental breakfast with waffles and other fare, and free USA Todays in the lobby. Also free parking.

You can walk across the street to the mall for movies or dining, and you can catch a direct commuter bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC with the last departure at 11:55PM from NYC (NJ Transit routes 111 & 115).

For SAT/SUN, I bid $50 per night which was accepted, and for MON/TUE/WED, I bis $44 per night which was also accepted.

For this stay, I couldn't ask for better!