I spent 2 nights this past week at the Marquis. I was in NYC for a training and spent a Wednesday & Thursday night. I got a government rate due to my job so my rate was significantly cheaper than the going rate and I booked directly through Marriott.com.
I took Amtrak in to Penn Station and I am pretty comfortable traveling around NYC so I took the subway, 1 stop to Times Square and then a couple block walk to the hotel.
The check-in desk in on the 8th floor which was a bit odd, but no big deal. Check-in was far and away the worst part of the whole stay. 3 clerks were working when I arrived, each was busy. A line formed behind me as we waited for our turn. 2 of the 3 clerks were dealing with different problems with the guests. The 3rd clerk finally finished with their guest and told us to wait for someone else, and he walked away. That was really annoying. I proceeded to wait a total of 15 minutes before I was checked in. Too long to wait at 8pm at night after traveling and with luggage. (Frankly, too long to wait any time of the day!) The clerk who checked me in did not impress me with his customer service, but I wouldn't call him rude.
My room was on the 39th floor, 2 Queen Sized beds. The elevator was a little slow for me since I was on one of the top floors. Someone has to stay on those floors, though-right?
My room was impecably clean. The bath products were Bath & Body Works. There were 4 fluffy towels in my room. There was also a coffee maker which I didn't use.
Large flat screen LCD TV was great, got most channels I wanted except no Food Network or Comedy Central. Oh well, not there to watch TV but they are basic cable channels so I was disappointed.
The view was of Times Square and I didn't even shut the black out curtains at night. The view was great and the lights did not bother me at all.
The bed was comfortable, the pillows were a little bit mushy for my taste, but workable. There was an i-Pod docking station/alarm clock which I thought was a nice touch.
The internet was WIRED and cost $16.95/day-at least it should have been wireless at that price! What a rip-off. And it goes noon to noon not 24 hours from when you purchase. I was NOT impressed with that. I like to sit on my bed and do work when I travel as many others do, but that wasn't possible with wired access. I was able to pull it close enough to put my feet up on a bed but that was it. The connection speed was mediocre at best. Again for the price it should have been much better. So that was a little disappointing.
The AC was fine, I like the room pretty cool so it was hard for me to tell if the AC wasn't working well or it was me. The room was around 67 the whole time, I would have preferred 65.
With my TV on I couldn't hear anyone else in surrounding rooms.
There is a Starbucks on the 8th and 1st floors of this hotel as well as numerous restaurants. For $10 I was able to eat a decent Starbucks breakfast each day of my stay as compared to the hotel restaraunt buffet at $28pp plus tax and gratuity. (Welcome to New York my friends!) The cheapest thing on the a la carte breakfast menu was a $10 fruit cup! So Starbucks it is! The room service menu was as expensive as can be expected, but you are in NYC, in an expensive hotel and in the middle of Times Square. There is however a shop on the 8th floor of the hotel, honestly the prices were much more reasonable than I expected in the shop. Snacks, soft drinks and gift items. You can eat for less money in this area, but you really have to look for it. There is a deli on the corner of 49th/Broadway with great sandwiches-$10 for lunch...
So all in all the room was clean, I slept well. I don't think I would have stayed here at the $400+ a night rate, but for $210 a night it was fine. Very upscale for foreign tourists and high-end business class. With my little ol' government rate I didn't quite fit here, but that was ok. Very convenient to where I needed to be.
