In 2019, we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott New York Manhattan/Central Park. We found the hotel acceptable and a great deal at the time for a rate of under $200 a night.
In 2022, hotel rates in New York are now significantly higher. Cash rates for the same hotel were over $300 a night but I was able to find an award rate at Residence Inn in the same tower for 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points a night. I used the 50,000-point free night from the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card and 100,000 points for our three-night stay.
Residence Inn New York Manhattan/Central Park
1717 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
The 216 rooms of the Residence Inn hotel, built in 2013, occupy the 33rd to 68th floors of the 68-story building (the other floors are home to a Courtyard by Marriott hotel). When opened, this was New York’s largest single-use hotel building. From the outside, the building’s metallic blue sheen has a striking appearance against the surrounding skyline.
Check-In
Every email we received from the hotel made sure to tell us that while the street address of the hotel is on Broadway, the entrance of the hotel is located on W 54th St. Due to flight delays, we didn’t arrive at the hotel until 3 AM.
The check-in desk does double duty, handling guests for both the Courtyard and the Residence Inn. While the hotel has over 630 rooms combined, we never found the lobby too crowded, nor did we have a long wait to check in or to ask any questions during our stay.
After checking in, the elevators on the left, by the grab and go store, are for the Residence Inn and the ones located to the right (not pictured) are for the Courtyard rooms. One thing you’ll notice in many pictures from the property is the three elongated human-like figures with teeny tiny heads. They’re everywhere. In the lobby, the elevators, the restaurant. These are the creation of artist William DeBlizan and it’s quite a bold statement by the hotel to spread these images everywhere. I mean with art you either love it or you don’t and this one just left me asking “I wonder why they chose this theme for the entire hotel?”
Rooms
We headed up to our room. Instead of letting them go to waste, I used three Suite Night Award upgrades to get us a room with a better view. Even thought it was 3 AM, Times Square was still glowing.
Compared to the Courtyard by Marriott rooms on the lower floors, this was much nicer.
Entering the room, we were in the kitchen area.
The cabinets have a decent selection of dishes and plates.
The bathroom was exactly what I’d expect from a hotel in New York. Small, but sufficient.
The bedroom had a king-size bed.
There was also a desk area with drawers and a TV.
If you need two places in the room to work or eat, there’s an additional chair and table.
The next evening, we got the see the sunset over New Jersey.
Amenities
The hotel amenities hadn’t changed since 2019.
We found the Wi-Fi in the room to be suitable for our needs, such as updating the blog and streaming music and Netflix. As Platinum members, we do get Premium internet for free so I’m not sure how good the basic package would be.
Be careful if you want to park your car here because the parking fees for 24 hours cost $60. That’s why we hardly ever rent a car when traveling in Manhattan.
For a big city hotel, they have some amenities that would come in handy for those traveling on a long trip, or with kids. On the 34th floor, guests of both hotels have access to a fitness center (there was an additional room filled with stationary bikes, treadmills, yoga mats, weight balls, and dumbells but it was almost full and I don’t want to take pictures of other people working out).
Also on the same floor was the (surprisingly large) guest laundry.
Food
Guests of the Residence Inn portion of the hotel have access to a complimentary buffet breakfast at the nosh! restaurant/bar/coffee stand on the fourth floor.
After breakfast, the lounge seems to be used mostly by guests waiting to check in or by guests waiting to leave for their flights to the airport. In other words, plenty of people sleeping on the chairs and couches.
Final Thoughts
With the Bonvoy Brilliant card, I break even if I use the 50,000-point free night certificate at a hotel costing over $150. I doubled the value with this stay. In addition, it wasn’t the best way to use 50,000 Bonvoy Points per night but it wasn’t the worst either.
The hotel has a great location to explore New York. It’s close to several subway lines and within walking distance of many of the major sites.
Both the Courtyard and Residence Inn are on the list of places we’d visit again, but I’d rate the Residence Inn a bit higher than the Courtyard.
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