Review: Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

May 4, 2017

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New York is one of the more expensive major cities in the world when it comes to hotel accommodation so I often find that even the more rudimentary properties in the city cost quite a bit. If I’m traveling with Joanna I don’t mind spending a bit more on accommodation but when I’m traveling solo, as I was on this occasion, I resent paying anymore than I have to for a reasonable quality room.

I only needed a single night’s accommodation in NYC as I was only stopping over in between reviews of Air France’s Business Class product on the 777 and Delta’s Business Class product (Delta One) on the 767 – I really didn’t need anything upmarket or fancy.

Despite my reasonably low rent needs most 3* properties in New York were pricing up at over $250 + taxes for the Saturday night I would be in the city….but then I spotted the Courtyard by Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan.

The property has a very good location in the centre of Manhattan just below Midtown:

It’s a 2 minute walk from the hotel to Penn Station and sights like the High-Line, Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building and the Flatiron Building are all within an easy walk too:

Not only is the Courtyard in a nice central location but the room rate was good (for New York) too…especially considering it was a flexible rate which would allow me to cancel up to 24hrs before check-in.

I made this booking around 6 weeks before my check-in date – which was a lot closer-in than I normally book – so I was pleased to find a reasonable looking hotel under $200 before taxes.

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

Courtyard properties are not “full service” hotels so you don’t get a lot of the frills that you associate with a regular properties (like room service and expansive public areas), guests don’t benefit from as many elite status perks and they also don’t earn as many rewards points as they would at full service properties.

Guests at Marriott’s Courtyard properties only earn Marriott Rewards Points on the room rate (10 points/dollar) and not on any other costs charged to the room. Marriott Platinum status holders (of which I am one) don’t get complimentary breakfast at Courtyard properties, upgrades are limited (but, as most rooms are often pretty similar, this generally isn’t a big issue) and the “welcome gift” of 500 points is only 400 points.

But, for a one night stay at a reasonable rate, I really don’t care too much about the limitations of Marriott’s Courtyards – they’re fine for me.

The Courtyard New York Chelsea/Manhattan has a small reception desk immediately inside the front entrance, a 24hr snack area (“The Market”) right next to it…..

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

…..and, to one side of the reception desk, there is a computer station where guests can print out boarding passes before departing for the airport:

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

My check-in was swift and, as well as my welcome gift of 400 points, I was invited to pick up a snack from the Market or a coffee at any point during my stay.

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

There was no room upgrade offered and, frankly, I was too tired to even bother asking for one. I was there for one night, it was already gone 10pm and I really just wanted to get some rest before I took my second transatlantic flight in 24 hours the next day.

Past the snack area is the only major public area I noticed in the hotel and this is where breakfast can be purchased from a smallish “Bistro” called Table 135:

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

As you can see from the picture I took of the menu board, Table 135 is open from 6:00 am through 11:30 am daily and offers a reasonable breakfast selection for those not wishing to venture out in search of food – I don’t particularly like this type of hotel food so I didn’t try it out.

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

The rest of the public area offered a variety of seating options…..

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

…and a few of the seats were in view of the 2-3 large screen TVs that were dotted around:

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

Lastly, in one corner of this area were 3 iMacs and a printer:

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

The property offers free internet to all guests (not just elite tier members) and guests can connect in the rooms, the lobby and the communal area I’ve just described.

While there is nothing amazing or fantastic about the communal area at the Courtyard (there wouldn’t be…it’s a Courtyard!) it was clean, functional and appeared to offer enough room for the number of people I saw come in and out – not really much more you can expect or ask of a non-full service property.

After a quick look around the communal area I headed on up to my room on the 19th floor of the building.

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

The room wasn’t exactly large but it was still a pretty good size for New York city – I’ve had smaller rooms at considerably more expensive properties in the city.

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

The king size bed took up a good part of the room…..

….but there was still a little room for a small chair, desk & chair pairing…..

….and a wardrobe, a set of drawers and a cupboard housing a mini-fridge:

And above this was a large flat screen TV:

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

The wardrobe wasn’t of the sturdiest construction (flimsy would probably describe it pretty well) but it offer a pretty economic hanging system and a safe:

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

There was also a basic filter coffee machine, and ice bucket and some coffee sachets on the set of drawers.

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

One of my big bugbears about a lot of hotels is that they’re not very good at providing guests with enough power outlets for all the electronics that we carry around nowadays – this wasn’t an issue at the Courtyard.

The desk came equipped with a strip of 3 power outlets and an ethernet socket:

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

The desk lamp had two of it’s own power outlets:

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

On top of the set of drawers there was a further strip of power outlets of which one was in use by the coffee maker:

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

And even the light fittings on either side of the bed had a power port each:

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

If that’s not enough power outlets you know you’ve brought along too many electrical items 🙂

The bathroom was a good size and, rather sensibly, the property hasn’t wasted space by installing a bath (which I suspect most guests wouldn’t use) and, instead, fitted a very nice shower.

Courtyard By Marriott New York Chelsea/Manhattan

The limestone (or limestone effect) in the bathroom gave it a nice light feel and gave the room a more upmarket feel than a lot of similar properties I’ve stayed in.

Lastly comes the view. The property is surrounded on all sides by high-rise buildings so it’s unlikely there are too many rooms with anything but average views….which is what I had:

Not exactly scenic (although the church looked nice) but it could have been a lot worse – I normally get a view of air conditioning units when I’m in NYC 🙂

Bottom Line

Bearing in mind that this is a Courtyard property and not a full service Marriott I think the property stands up well to scrutiny.

Pros:

Good central Manhattan location within easy walk to transport and a number of sights of interest.
Can be booked for a reasonable rate (by NYC standards)
Staff are friendly
Room is a good size for a short stay
Bed was a nice size and comfortable
Bathroom and, in particular, the shower are very good
Lots of power outlets for guests traveling with a lot of devices
Free WiFi for all guests and the speeds seeped fine for surfing/checking emails.

Cons:

Room may feel a little cramped for longer stays if you’re traveling as a couple
Furniture felt a bit flimsy
This isn’t a full service property so there’s no proper restaurant

Ultimately what I’m reviewing here is a 3* mid-tier property and by those benchmarks this is a perfectly good place to spend a few nights in NYC – I’d happily return on business or on a solo trip but I’d choose something a little more upscale if traveling with Joanna on a trip of more than one night.