Marriott New York City Brooklyn Bridge

Service with a snarl, and a cost

by TripAdvisor Member fenwayman

I stayed at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott at the request of a client who has a negotiated rate with the hotel. It felt like the staff had been given instructions to sqeeeze money out of guests. Every interaction with a staff member outside of the housekeeping staff resulted in a discussion over money.

At check-in, they refused to honor the negotiated rate and increased my price $125 per night. They said that if I came back with an ID from the client, they'd return to the lower rate, but nothing I brought them would get them to lower the rate and my client is still fighting them on this. But of course, since I was on a negotiated lower rate, I was only allowed to have a room across from the ice machine, even thought I am an elite status holder with Marriott.

Same thing at the restaurant. I had the cold buffet breakfast, but was charged for the hot buffet. Why? Because I had the lox. So I pointed out that lox are cold, and on the cold buffet table. They said "yes, but it's not listed on the menu". I did manage to get them to reverse this charge.

At checkout, there was an extra day of charge for the internet (I used it three of the four days I was there) and they insisted that I must have used it all four, because there was no reason I could have only used it for three. This charge I got removed because I told them I would be writing a report on tripadvisor.

The hotel is huge, and my room was a good one minute walk within the hotel from the elevator (not a complaint: just an observation). It was clean and nicely laid out, and the sound insulation to keep street noise out was very good.

The hotel has a full service gym in it. I see it as a plus that the gym sets time aside for adult lap swimming in the pool, so that you can actually use the pool for exercise.

Not as good as we expected

by TripAdvisor Member JakeIreland

This was our first time in New York and as we are holders of a Marriott Reward card we chose this hotel. The reviews were very good and research on various websites seemed to confirm that the Marriott at Brooklyn Bridge is a classy hotel.
This hotel is more of business class hotel in my opinion, clean, comfortable,efficient and uninspired.
We stayed in a junior suite which was well appointed, with a large bathroom, very comfotable bed, leather recliner, sofa, writing desk - but no bathrobes, trouser press or shower gel!!!.
We ate in Archives restaurant on one night only and found the food to be very nice but not what you would expect of a 5 star hotel - no "wow" factor, and no table cloths. Breakfast was quite good with plenty of choice but quite expensive. The hotel is located on a busy street close to Fulton Mall, plenty of shops here including Macy's, and also the Atlantic Mall with Old Navy, Target and Marshalls (Not exactly 5th Ave.) On the opposite side of the street is the supreme court and behind that is Montague Street which continues on down to the promenade with spectacular views of Manhattan.
We dined in the River Cafe on Water Street with its magnificent views of the Manhattan skyline (spectacular at night). River Cafe is very expensive but across the road from it is an Italian restaurant call Joe's of Downtown which is much more reasonable.We ate there also and would highly recommend it.

A mixed bag

by A TripAdvisor Member

I've stayed twice and had a fairly average experience both times. There's nothing special about this place except the price. Obviously if you dont mind the trip accross the bridge you'll get more here for the price than you will in Manhattan. The first time we asked for non-smoking and walked into a smoking room. They tried to argue the point with us until we pointed out that there was an ashtray on the coffeetable! They moved us to a larger room.

The rooms are large and clean. The bathrrom is large and the tub was great for soaking in after a hard day on my feet. Easy walking distance to subway stations and Starbucks, Barnes and Noble etc.

Staff are geberally friendly. Better suited for budget concious or business traveller or large family gathering.

Great weekend getaway

by TripAdvisor Member jLawrencem

My wife and I spent an extended weekend in Brooklyn, branching out by foot in every direction from the Marriott. We antiqued on Atlantic Ave; dined on Smith St and Montague St; an evening at BAM; and extraordinary strolls in Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, the Promenade overlooking Manhattan and, of course the Brooklyn Bridge...ALL within several blocks. The hotel has very large, immaculate rooms with the most pleasant and attentive staff of any New York City hotel. Great lounge, swimming pool and gym, inexpensive parking... a wonderful experience.

Marriott at Brooklyn Bridge

by A TripAdvisor Member

Awesome! Got an air/hotel package from bestfares(-)
and Marriott upgraded us to a suite! Hughmongous, bed/bath/&beyond toiletries, 2 tvs, couch, loveseat, desk, two queen beds. Beds had down comforters. The beds and pillows were sooooooo comfortable. Lobby staff were very good about hailing cabs for us. Shopping in Brooklyn was nothing but we were strategically close to Manhattan and were taking cabs. Had trouble hailing cabs in Brooklyn unless I was in front of the hotel. There are tons of buses tho. It was nice to see cars driving around--not just taxis. It is like 15 minutes away from LGA airport. Junior's cheesecakes and Grimaldi's pizza are both in Brooklyn. Both are very well recommended. We ate at Monty about 4 blocks away and were pleased with the pizza, cheesecake, soup, and ambience. The cheesecake was unbelieveably good. Authentic, not too dense, I think it had almond extract in it. The hotel had a lap pool, dry sauna and work out room. Their Starbucks was only open from 6:30-10:30 am. The soda pop in the vending machines was $2.75 so take your own 2 liter. Really the only down side other than the soda prices was that most pizza places won't deliver in brooklyn past 10 pm so keep that in mind. WOuld stay there again in a heartbeat but probably wouldn't be ordering room service due to the prices. Our room did not have a view of the Brooklyn bridge. Pool is on the 4th floor.

Pool policy sucks

by TripAdvisor Member Ian_Jersey

Stayed here as a large family group using multiple rooms. Hotel is good value and minutes from Manhattan via MTA or cab, (anti-bush demos permitting), in-house dining exceptional, given large family group every morning for breakfast with staggered times, resulting in up to 4 hours occupancy of restaurant. However small kids banned from pool at convenient times, only available mid-morning (when kids sightseeing) or late at night (when kids in bed). Kids complained in person to managenment but complaint not acknowledged. Apparently leisure facilities independent from hotel but this is not clear on hotel website. Would stay here again, given good value compared to east village/murray hill hotels which are quite grotty in comparison. Kids want silly pool rules changed.

2008 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

by JoeBrin

"Tournament Location: Brooklyn Marriott"

This was the first year since its inception in 1978 that the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament was held in a place other than the Marriott Hotel in Stamford CT. There were 699 registered competitors, up from a record 457 in 2007. The growth in poularity is directly attributable to the Will Shortz documentary, "Wordplay".