Last week I did some hotel hopping in Parsippany NJ because I’m trying to rack up the USAir Grand Slam points before the promotion ends. It gave me a great opportunity to check out 3 local hotels.
Hampton Inn and Suites Parsippany North
3737 Route 46 East, Parsippany, New Jersey, USA 0705
Don’t let the façade of the Hampton Inn and Suites Parsippany North scare you away. The hotel interior is modern, clean, and comfortable. The Hampton Inn on Route 46 East has 87 rooms, all of which have been somewhat recently renovated. They offer the standard Hampton Inn breakfast and free wifi. The breakfast left me a little disappointed, not much variety, but they did have the breakfast to go bags (a nice touch.) The rooms are clean and nicely decorated. The bathrooms have also been redone and are bright and fresh.
As a Silver Hilton Honors Member, I was offered absolutely no benefits at the hotel. Not even a free bottle of water. In fact, at check-in my HHonors membership wasn’t even mentioned.
The wireless connection was very, very slow in the rooms, but okay in the lobby. If you have any chance of being productive in your room, it’s going to mean going hard wired. My only complaint was the lack of plugs in the room near the beds and desk. I unplugged the bedside lamp to get my iPad plugged in. I would have needed an extension cord (and who travels with that) to get everything plugged in.
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Parsippany
3535 US Highway 46 East at Cherry Hill Road, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054
From the exterior, the Fairfield Inn and Suites look like an old hotel. The interior on the lobby level is updated and offers areas to work, eat and meet others. The hotel offers breakfast and it the variety was very impressive. I preferred the Fairfield breakfast to the Hampton Inn Breakfast. The hotel offers free wifi in the rooms and lobby. I found the wifi connection to be very fast and reliable even in my room! I never had to try the wired room connection and I watched live streaming video for over 4 hours that night.
I am a gold member of Marriott Rewards and at check-in was thanked for my membership and offered two bottles of water and a full size candy bar.
The room didn’t look like it had been renovated recently. It had dark carpet that looked like it needed some TLC and the bathroom was clean, but run down. The layout of the room was convenient for working, but the lack of plugs made it a challenge to get my iPad, iPhone, Blackberry and laptop charged for the next day. I use my iPad as my alarm clock and there wasn’t an outlet anywhere near the bed that I could access.
Sheraton Parsippany
199 Smith Road, Parsippany NJ 07054
I have a love hate relationship with the Sheraton Parsippany. I’ve spent over 6 weeks at the Sheraton this year alone and sometimes feel like I’m a glutton for punishment. The hotel is finally undergoing an very long overdue $15 million dollar renovation. Until the renovation of the guest rooms is complete, the hotel will be at a disadvantage to any other hotel in the area. The lobby and gym have been revamped and look great.
The hotel offers a full service restaurant and bar serving breakfast, lunch and dinner – a huge advantage over Hampton and Fairfield Inns. However, there’s no free breakfast unless you have Club Lounge Access. The hotel offers wifi in the rooms and lobby and wired access in the rooms. The wifi works well, but there are certainly times when it slows down.
I am a Platinum Starwood Preferred Guest and was recognized as one at check-in. I was offered my choice of check-in amenities and of course, I chose points because the rooms offer free water.
I’m not going to comment on the rooms again until the renovation is complete. My previous two posts about the rooms at the Sheraton Parsippany were enough. However, I will say that even in their current state, there are plenty of plugs in the room and they are conveniently located near the bed and desk.
Very Good Points –
If I was to return to the area, I would definitely stay at the Hampton Inn again. Once the renovations are done at the Sheraton, I will go back. The Fairfield would be my third choice when returning to the area.
Interesting, because the reason I’m giving up Hilton Diamond after 6-7 years and going Marriott is because of the consistently slow and often useless Internet at Hilton properties. Your experience between the Hampton and Fairfield mirrors mine in Ann Arbor, MI, but I would make the opposite choice for my stay. I’ve been tempted to check out Starwood but I’ve yet to get a good feel about their Internet experience.
@Denny- Starwood hotels range in terns of internet access. Some have really great and reliable internet and others don’t. I think it all varies based on who manages the hotels – no matter what the brand.