sxchan

Any recent stay at this hotel? Does it offer free shuttle to/from EWR? Is there an Air Train from EWR to downtown NYC? any info are welcome. THX.

number_6

Yes to both questions. Haven't stayed there but the 4Pts looks like maybe the best choice at EWR (out of a rather grim set of hotels). The train to Penn Station takes about 20 minutes (generally faster than the bus).

Shareholder

Well, the Sheraton often has rates better than the Four Pts. All EWR hotels run shuttle buses from the main Parking Garage, so you must take the airtrain to this central point to catch your shuttle.

Note, the train connections at the EWR railway station go to Penn Station in Newark, as well as into NYC and that Penn Station. Just watch this when you purchase your ticket, and board the correct train.

ozstamps

I am staying in a week or so at both this place and also the Sheraton Newark.

Is this still correct about where to wait for shuttle? I will be flying on UA.

anthonyanthony

I stayed at the Four Pts a couple months ago when my flight was late and I missed my connection. Thank goodness for Starwood points. The last-minute rates started at $169+ for the 4 Pts and the Sheraton, but I only needed 3000 points for the 4 Pts.

There's a free shuttle -- you have to take the Airtrain from the terminal to the Parking Lot P4 stop, go down the escalator, and the van picks you up right there. (You will be boarding the AirTrain in the opposite direction of the rental cars. In other words, don't board the train in the direction of the rental cars :-)

The place is acceptable for an overnight stay. The location is not convenient to anything since it's surrounded by highway. My room was well worn but I had no complaints. It was clean enough. The hotel staff basicly had a "just doing my job" attitude, except for the evening shuttle driver who was pleasant and eager to help during the pouring rain (same storm that caused my flight delay).

And if I recall, all phone calls were over a buck. The fancy Internet kiosks in the lobby weren't cheap. The restaurant looked OK but I can't comment on the food since I opted to get my breakfast at the airport.

Vulcan

I have stayed at both, more than I care to say. The 4 points is a notch above a Motel 6. The Sheraton is a fairly nice hotel. If costs are close, don't even think about staying at the 4 points.
Then there was the time the 4 points wanted to charge me $35 because I wanted to check in before noon (it was actually 11:35AM). Even though I was a Platinum. No matter what, that was my last stay ever at that hotel.

techgirl

I've stayed here a few times... run down, if you ask me. If given a choice, I go Hilton when it comes to EWR... both the Hilton and the Hampton Inn are many steps above the Four Points.

oliver2002

stayed there for a night this summer before going back to europe. It was dirt cheap for a 4P in that location. The shuttle didn't show up at the airport for some time, but a call using the hotel phone at the airtrain P4 station made them come quickly. They didn't remember the checkin/out timings that SPG gold members are allowed, but a gentle reminder and showing them the text on the gold folder they had handed me seconds before fixed that.

As far as the state of the hotel goes, well this is NJ and an airport hotel. It was old but well kept. Value for money.

LarryU

My philosophy when choosing to stay at this profoundly substandard property has always been that I will do so only if three prerequisites are met: a reasonable rate, checking in late and departing early. I am not inclined to relax these conditions based on a recently completed stay on the eve of the Freddies:

1. Although I had booked a room on line at a rate that included a breakfast buffet, the desk clerk refused to provide me with a voucher, advising me that the hotel never offers such rates. Since my reservation confirmation could not convince her otherwise, I was obliged to contact the platinum desk in order to resolve the dispute.

2. Breakfast is served until at least 10:00AM but at 7:45AM the hot food was gone, save for a tray of potatoes and one containing just the bread used to absorb bacon drippings. Despite requests from myself and many other guests over a 45 minute period, the staff did not restock the buffet.

3. There is still no high speed internet. When I last asked about their high speed plans nearly two months ago in early March, I was told they “might” deploy it within 1-2 months. When I asked about it again last Thursday, I was told again they might have it in two months.

4. My platinum amenities have never posted automatically at this property and I would think that the failure to reliably disburse amenity points must affect many other guests besides myself. I would bet that this hotel saves quite a few point disbursement dollars because some percentage of guests may ultimately fail to claim their missing points.

5. As has already been mentioned in other threads, hotel shuttle pickup at P4 can be very unreliable. It actually worked out fairly well on this trip but I have not been so lucky in the past. In early March, I waited approx 25 minutes before spotting the hotel van. The real problem was that that the driver never bothered to stop, instead zipping right by the pickup area to the utter amazement of myself and other guests. We were finally picked up nearly an hour after we had called the hotel when we first arrived at P4.

6. Housekeeping staff attempted to enter my room twice before 9:30AM (and without knocking), despite a clearly displayed do-not-disturb sign. Good thing I always keep the inner door latch closed as soon as I enter a room.

In my brief discussion with the platinum concierge regarding the breakfast voucher issue, he admitted that there have been numerous complaints about this hotel. I wonder why Starwood cannot exert at least a modicum of pressure to compel this property to resolve at least a few of its myriad shortcomings. For guests who may be less familiar with the benefits of the SPG program, I can’t imagine a stay at the Four Points Newark reflects well on Starwood properties as a whole.

As of late, I sometimes feel that I am often best served by skipping the room entirely and just using the hotel for the $7/day non-guest airport parking.

SWG

I am in complete agreement on the shuttle reliability - my main complaint about this place. For instance, the shuttle was out of service on Feb 16 2005. They sent an unmarked minivan from some car service instead. Oh wait . . . according to management the shuttle WAS well marked. Upon further investigation (and an hour spent looking for the thing in COLD weather and repeatedly calling the hotel, who never mentioned a substitute vehicle), I found the minivan with an 8.5x11 inch sheet of plain paper printed with 14-point font mounted on the inside of tinted glass (at night, nonetheless) that said “Four Points Shuttle”. Glad we got that one cleared up.

In the morning, there were barely enough seats in the substitute minivan compared to the usual shuttle. Some annoying family took up 6 seats with 5 passengers (3 of them small girls) and told everyone else to shove it because mommy had a sprained ankle and they were "waiting longer". Needless to say, I took a seat on the shuttle (as did another guy, once he had daddy put one of the girls on his lap). I wanted OUT of that place and I would have sat on daddy’s lap if I had to.

I was also ripped off on the "bed & breakfast" rate with no breakfast. At least the drinks in the bar were reasonable in price (with a friendly bartender to go with them) - I needed it after that night!

craz

LarryU that $7 for parking is history its now $9. So said the sign when I passed the other day heading to pick someone up @EWR. Hilton went up a $1 to $10.

The only good thing is that lately the guy whose been the counter inside (I pay w/my CC to do so must go to the front desk), charged per night and not per day or 24hr period, which meant saving on 1 day of charges. As parking on 5/1 and returning on 5/8 is 7 nights but falls into 8 24 hr periods unless one gets there before the time he left it.


SWG tell me about it. Waited also close to an hour for what turned out to be a Red Mini Van, it passed by 3 or 4 times. OK it was FREZZING COLD out but no way was I looking for that van when the reg shuttle dropped me off 4 days ago. After calling and using words that would be edited over here did they say didnt you see a Red Van, I said yes why, they said then why didnt you take it, me why should I, them cause that was our van, me why didnt someone say something 1 1/2 hrs ago and this must be my 10th time calling. Then the next time it passes theres a crew that wants to go also, the driver says he has to take them I said let them wait or squeeze into the back as I jumped into the front seat. Those MVs are bad even with just carry-ons thetre were some people who packed so many bags I thought they were moving or something.

Catman

There are only a few reasons why I would stay at this Four points:

*The nicer Sheraton is priced out of my budget for airport hotels.

*There's a bonus points offer (like the 4000 points for 3 stays thing currently.) I can put up with a few hours there for a better stay elsewhere later.

The Sheraton is the better value from better customer service to more modern rooms to a more frequent shuttle.

My issues with this hotel:

*The front desk staff really needs work on knowing the SPG program and other things. I have stayed here four times in the past year. Four times I had to call SPG to get my platinum amenity credited.

*The staff's customer service stills are mixed to poor at best. One staff member did not know what a third party credit card authorization form was. Another did not know what Wi Fi was. One time they claimed I did not have a reservation (why it pays to print a copy of the reservation form.)They also must be short staffed. The bartender had to wait on tables as well as the bar!

*One time I did not get a wakeup call. Luckily the intoxicated singing trio in the room next door at 4 in the morning woke me up.

*The hotel really needs to invest in a bigger shuttle, not the microbus! (even Dan Hammer probably had a bigger bus than this one!) Last hotel stay it filled up with a tour group. There was one seat left... the one next to the driver. I went to get it and the driver said "sorry no one can sit there." I said "Sorry I have to flight to catch in 90 minutes and you can move your newspaper." During rush hours (early mornings and early evenings) they really need two shuttles or more frequent service.

*The hotel needs an upgrade. Maybe the Four Points beds will help.

*$1.25 for a CAN of Coca Cola????? NOT EVEN PEPSI!

I will be there one more time before the Four POints bonus deadline with one more stay.

If you are despirate for a cheap SPG stay... this four points can work. Barely.

One weak Paw up and a few hairballs thrown in.

Globehopper

All this talk about the 4P EWR shuttle service has me concerned about the reliability of their van at 05:00 Sat to catch a 06:00 flight. The post about the missing wakeup calls do not help either.

According to the hotel, they run the shuttle every 30 mins Sat mornings, and drop off at P4, which means that one drives past Terminal A to be dropped off at Station P4, only to have to backtrack via the monorail to Terminal A.

Anyone have luck being dropped off elsewhere on the airport, such as the Avis lot (which is within walking distance to P4)?

LarryU

The shuttle typically drops off at each terminal and only stops by P4 on its way back to the hotel.

I do not know whether the driver would be willing to dropoff elsewhere in the airport, especially given the fact that its been difficult enough at times to get picked up at one of the scheduled locations.

On the other hand, on my last shuttle trip, the driver seemed to have no problem whatsoever dropping off a buddy of his somewhere in the inner reaches of Elizabeth prior to returning to the hotel. This was well after midnight and I did not much appreciate the extra stop.

SWG

Just keep in mind that you could get the shaft if there are a lot of people waiting for the shuttle, especially if they use a minivan or other vehicle without many seats. Don't expect them to call in an extra shuttle.

I have been dropped off the terminals before, I believe that it is just pickups that must be made at P4. Not sure if they would take you to Avis lot or not, probably depends on the driver.