Hotwire Hotel: 3.5* Newark (Secaucus-Meadowlands) Sheraton Meadowlands

[reid77]

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[thereuare]

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[reid77]

OK, here's a capsule review of the Sheraton Meadowlands, now that I'm back from the trip.

First of all, if headed there, DON'T do what I did and follow the signs to the "sports complex" off the Turnpike or you'll find yourself hopeless wandering around between Giants Stadium and the Izod Center, trying to find a road back to the Sheraton looming above. The Sheraton is actually on the access road to Route 3 East, across a limited-access highway from the sports complex, so bear to the right after coming through the Toll Plaza to get there.

As for the property itself, it's a fairly typical high-rise Sheraton, with the clientele being businesspeople, conventions and meetings. (There was an Au Pair Training conference cranking up just as we left.) So the quality of your stay may vary depending on who you're sharing the hotel with. We had no problems.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the parking was free. That close to NYC, it's not something I took for granted. Even during events at the sports complex (our stay coincided with a Giants Monday night preseason game) hotel guests park free, even if game-bound users get charged $25. (Just show your room key.)

We arrived fairly early (around 3 pm) so I requested a city view room (which comprise maybe only 15% of all the rooms in the hotel, which largely faces north and south) and was rewarded with a large-ish 15th-floor room overlooking Manhattan's skyscrapers on one end, and wrapping around the bathroom, which allowed us to create some separation between our toddler (in a crib) and the rest of us. The bed was fine, and the TV was an old-school non-HDTV model. (You don't come to to Metro NYC to watch TV though, right?) Maddeningly, wireless Internet was $9.95 a night, or $15.95 for two nights. (Counting the days until this archaic practice goes away -- why is HBO free, but Internet $9.95? And why do lower-end properties give you Internet for free??) And even though we paid for the Internet, the service was SLOW and unreliable (we had a few hours where we got nothing at all). Ugh. In addition, one of the elevators was out of service (for no reason I could determine -- I couldn't see any mechanics working on it) and we routinely faced long waits to get up and down between room and lobby.

Don't plan on relying on the hotel shuttle to get you to and from the Secaucus Junction rail station for trains to/from Manhattan unless you have lots of time or are able to coordinate transportation schedules flawlessly. I thought it ran on demand, or at least fairly often, but found it out it only ran once an hour. Ugh. Fortunately, once I figured out the directions (involving back streets through a low-slung office/warehouse area) to the rail station, it was easy to manage -- 10 minutes from door to door, and a 15-minute train ride to Penn Station. A park-and-ride lot at the station costs $5 on weekends and $10 during the week. Still cheaper than paying the Lincoln Tunnel toll THEN paying for a Manhattan garage.

The hotel is on an island in terms of nearby restaurants and shops. There's definitely nothing in walking distance. So you'll either be paying inflated on-property prices or hopping in your car to go two exits down Route 3 to the Harmon Plaza, which houses a selection of chain restaurants and a few unremarkable chain stores (Kohl's, Wal Mart, Toys R Us).

So while there were some obvious drawbacks (and a hotel in midtown would definitely be my preference, given unlimited cash) this property was at least worth the price I paid. If you don't mind trekking in from NJ and dealing with a few inconveniences, it's a decent budget option.