Holiday Inn Newark Intl Airport, Nj

I booked this hotel because I was arriving late in Newark for an overnight layover, and it is advertised as being only one mile from the hotel and having a free shuttle. The free shuttle operates very infrequently (at least late a night) and first serves two other hotels that aren't close. From the time I arrived at the bus stop until got to the hotel was over an hour. Others waited significantly longer. If you want to get to bed soon after arriving at Newark Airport, don't go to this hotel. (Once you do finally arrive, however, the hotel is quite nice for an airport hotel.)

Overall great hotel. For the rate of $99/night had a huge king bed, very cleam room and bathroom, bath and body works toiletries! i was very pleasantly surprised. FYI, if you get the "complimentary breakfast" the room is $170 a night, but only $99 without it...pretty expensive breakfast!

Technically it's an average hotel.

Pros: Clean, no smoking, good beds, pillows, bath kits available, wi-fi internet, business center ($0.20 internet per minute), microwave in the ground floor, vending machines, coffee shop, souvenir shop and restaurant. Price was really good, check-out was fast.

Cons: The rooms facing airport was a little noise (from airport). Heating spreaded a terrible smell. Service rooms not the best (be carefull with your stuff). They don't keep your luggage after check-out. You can only cancell reservation prior 6 days in advance.

The hotel is way too far from airport (if using complimentary shuttle, otherwise by car is really fast). The shuttle takes ages to come from and to the airport and it's usually quite packed. One day I waited over 40 minutes, really the worst thing about Holiday Inn (and when they receive customers complains, they said they were on schedule and everybody got upset).

If you're visiting NY, just pick HInn if you're on an extremely low budget or if you intend to use car. Otherwise, NY is best seem by Subway, so good hotel shuttle service can makes all difference. Hilton, Marriot and Hampton Inn (by Hilton) offered the best shuttle services. I saw them going several times before I catch HInn Shuttle. HInn was $90, Hampton is $130, Marriott $200 and Hilton 110-150 (I guess Hilton is by far the best choice). Other great choice might be Hilton Newark Gateway at Penn Station for $130, it saves you money from airport to Newark Penn (about $7.50) and time (belive me, you will need lots of time once visiting nyc). Price comparisson according the date of my trip (October 2006).

Now adding some information about NY for those who are staying in Newark area: hotel prices are 50% below NY rates, but you may have great options in NYC if you plan ahead, because cheapest-and-good hotels usually get sold out pretty fast. NYC can be reached from Newark by following options: 1) car (beware of possible slow traffic) 2) Public ground transport ($2.75 - $1.25 for Bus #62 all terminals from NJ Airport to Newark Penn station and $1.50 from Penn to NY by Path - overall 1:30 duration to max 2hours) 3) NJ Transit ($14 - 25 minutes + waiting time max 30 minutes, resulting overall max time of 55 minutes) 4) NJ Transit and Path ($7.50 + $1.50) 5) Bus services CoachUSA ($14 - 25 minutes + waiting time, max total time 40 minutes, if you don't get traffic).

I tried every way to reach NY and I found Bus Services by CoachUSA the best. Confortable trip, not much waiting, leaving airport every 15 minutes and the same price as NJ Transit. I took NJ transit too, confortable trip but usually it took 30 minutes waiting, more 10 minutes to passangers get in.

So, if you're going to NY, I do not recommend Holiday Inn, cos I lost too much time of my trip waiting for the shuttle which was not worth the savings. (Other hotels that also took long time for shuttle: Ramada inn, Courtyard Elizabeth). I would rather recommend Hilton, Hampton Inn and Marriott, if you gonna depend on hotel shuttles.

This is an airport hotel, so the level of expectation wasn't high - the single night stay paradigm implicit in these places seems to mean that staff are more disinterested than at in-town locactions.

But even these low expectations weren't met.

The shuttle bus ride was a challenge, as it was a shared ride with other hotels, and the driver's knowledge of English was so limited that she was misdirecting passengers as to when to get off.

The reception staff on both checkin and checkout were almost surly; despite a "guaranteed" non-smoking room, obtaining it required the duty manager being summoned.

The dining option was in a rather smoky bar area.

And the internet access was dead.

This is a nice clean place to stay for a short visit. I would have liked it more, but the bed was very hard. They need softer beds, nicer sheets, duvet covers. But for the price, it was fine. Nice people. Great service, friendly.

As a break in our journey to San Antonio, and to see the sights of New York the HI Newark was ideal. It seemed such a better idea to stay there so we could come out of the airport and drop our bags. By using the bus shuttle (back to the airport) and then the monorail (skytrain) we had easy access to the main rail station, and on into NY.

Our room was on the 9th floor, great view, great big bed, clean and well-stocked bathroom, TV could do with updating, maid service good, check in good.

As others have said, you can only get in and out of this place by car or shuttle, there is a nightmare of roadways in front and it would take a seasoned traveller to navigate them!

Sports bar was OK, the bufalow wings were pants, never tasted anything like it, give them a miss, the rest was OK.

Guess the only real problem is with this place you can't walk out anywhere to other restaurants, or even a McDonalds.

If you want easy access to EWR airport it's good.

We recently stayed overnight at this hotel so we could catch an early morning flight to Aruba. Thank goodness for Trip Advisor to point us in the right direction for staying in a decent place - we have never been disappointed.

Our room was fine, it was very clean, it had two queen sized beds, and we had a great view of the airport and New York City. All the usual toiletries were provided. The tv worked great, the bathroom was spotless.

We ate in the "fancy" restaurant at the hotel, not the sports bar, and the meal was excellent, along with a wonderful professional waiter who catered to our every need. It was nice to enjoy a bit of elegance before our flight the next day.

Wake up call was promptly on time. The hotel shuttle runs about every 20 minutes or so right to your terminal. The shuttle does get very crowded and you may have to stand but its a short drive.

We did park our car here for the entire time we were gone, very expensive at $15 a day, but we thought that it would be a breeze to get the shuttle back to the hotel when we returned from our vacation, and we were afraid to park our car in one of the lots surrounding the airport itself, after reading so many negative things about it. It is a big hassle to get the shuttle back to the hotel when you return from your trip. You have to take an airbus (a monorail) to the very end, to the shuttle bus area, and then wait and wait.

Next time we will park at the long term parking right at the airport, there is a toll free number you can call to see if there is space available, and then use the shuttle to get to the hotel for the night. We would absolutely stay here again next time we fly out of Newark Airport. A clean and safe hotel.

For the price, this is the best hotel I've found in Newark. Couple of things to watch for - as another reviewer pointed out, you can't get there from here. Even teh cab driver from downtown couldn't find it. And the only way to get downtown is to use the extortionate local limo ($35 in the limo, $8 in a cab). The choice of fancyish restaurant or sports bar is great, too which is a good thing as there are no restaurants within walking distance.

We found this hotel easy to find from the directions given despite the maze of roads around the airport. We had a comfortable room on the 9th floor overlooking the airport (but no noise from it). We ate well at the bar/grill and found the staff very helpful. The hotel has a courtesy bus which links in with the Sky Train, which connects all three terminals. The journey from the hotel took 10 minutes. Parking at the hotel is $15 per night, so get rid of your rental car immediately you arrive! (You can return to the hotel on the same courtesy bus from stop P4 on the Sky Train).

The Holiday Inn North was the location for a business meeting I attended recently. What I noticed first, is that it's very difficult to find. I was with a friend who was from New Jersey, and we still ended up driving around for at least an hour. Once inside, check-in was easy, and people in general seemed helpful. That was until I tried to order something to eat. The lady, and I use the term loosely, who was taking orders downstairs was as rude as she could possibly be. She fit the typical "rude New Yorker" stereotype. I stayed a few days, and what I discovered was that this person was the exception, not the rule. The gym in the hotel was feeble at best, but at least it was free. In the room, the water ran constantly from the toilet; not on the floor, mind you, but it took the small tank half an hour to fill itself. The television reception was terrible. The flip over metal door lock broke off on the first night, luckily there's a dead bolt as a back up. The telephone reception was worst than the T.V. I have to say though, that the housekeeping staff was excellent. As is my nature, I often left money laying around. These people would pick up the money, dust underneath, and then put it back. I was very impressed because I haven't been as lucky at other, more posh, hotels. The shuttle service to and from the airport was very punctual. At check-out, a very nice lady named Mara helped me arrange my bill so as to make it easier on my finance department. Reimbursements are always a headache anyway, and Mara took the time to break down my bill per day, and print out every day on a separate page. She was wonderful, polite and very professional. All in all, my stay could have been worse, but I think with a little work on the management's part, any future stays could be made better.