NJ Newark Holiday Inn Harmon Meadow Secaucus

[actraveler]

I am formerly from this area, and I had to return for a funeral. I have used PL before for this area for 2.5-3* properties and have received The Courtyard or the AmeriSuites before.

I paid $54++, and according to the front desk---rock bottom bid for this hotel is $52, but they do not routinely give PL a lot of rooms. As this weekend was a holiday (Memorial Day), and they were empty as they mainly cater to business travelers, there were tons of PL rooms.

The room was large and decorated in tones of beige and brown. The room had a small refrigerator, microwave, and a 25" TV. the furniture was worn and the bed hard. There was a small work desk with an AC hookup for a Laptop, but no telephone. The only telephone was on the nightstand. The tiles in the bathroom had traces of mildew along the tub line, but the shower head and water temperature were phenomenal.

Hallways were bright and free parking was available but in a very difficult location relative to the hotel, and very dark at night- and potentially unsafe. The hotel does offer Valet parking at $8.00 per day. If you are disabled with a placard or plate, you can self park in the Valet lot at no charge.

The hotel has a restaurant, Bistro 300, which looked fine, but we did not dine there. There are several restaurants within walking distance including an Outback Steakhouse and Houlihan's. A multiplex and Wal-Mart are about 4 blocks away- easy and pleasant walking distance.

There is a bus stop in front of the hotel's driveway with busses to New York City (Port Authority Bus Terminal), to Penn Station in Newark, and to the Rail Station at Secaucus Junction. It is possible to take a train from Secaucus Junction to Newark Airport, but this is not practical if you have luggage as the bus to the train station is a local with no room for other than a rolling carry-on. For the busses to Newark Penn Station or Secaucus Junction, exact change is required. For the bus to NYC, they will make change. Buy a round-trip to save time when returning to NJ.

The bus to New York, NJ Transit Route 320, is a commuter line with busses every 10-30 minutes depending on the time of day. Schedules online at http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/bus/T0320.pdf There are schedules for the other lines at the same website, but I don't remember the Route numbers.

For my stay, unfortunately, there were large groups of 13-15 year olds on school trips from Quebec and Mass. in the hotel so sleeping was difficult due to the noise and the elevator had all the buttons lit on 3 occasions---kids. The elevators were scary and frequently jolted to stop at your arrival floor. That was unnerving.

In addition, the free internet was worth what I paid for it as the link to their server was down all weekend, and the manager who knew how to reset it wasn't working and was unavailable for a non-emergency by phone. I have had this problem with Holiday Inns before.

The place was great for location, but as is my experience with most regular Holiday Inns, this place, overall, was a dump- especially when compared to the other PL hotels in this area.

I was in town for a funeral and to break bread with relatives so the hotel did fine for what I paid, but at regular rates, I would have changed hotels. If you receive this place, it's great for location, but keep your expectations low so you're not disappointed.

[dahammer]

I ended up getting a large refurbished room on the 5th floor with two pillow topped double beds, a 32" flat panel TV, a refrigerator and microwave, a great work area and no problems with the HS internet. My only minor gripe about this hotel is parking; one must drive around the front of the Hyatt Place and up to the third level, walk down narrow steps which are not wide enough for two to pass when one has luggage in tow, then walk about a block to the hotel. I did not see a valet option here. The NJ tranist #320 bus to New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal stops about a block away and there are many chain restaurants within walking distance of the hotel: Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Chilis, Cheeseburger in Paradise. Breakfast at the Holiday Inn is a Continental Buffet for $14 or full Buffet for $15. Not worth it in my opinion, but the coffee is great and better that the weak swill served at Dunkin Donuts or the over-roasted Starbucks. This location is far better than the Sheraton Meadowlands and the Holiday Inn is becoming one of my favorites when in the area.