My wife and I stayed at this Marriott Vacation Club in Midtown Manhattan for the second time, this…read moretime for a 2 weeknight stay at the end of July. It was very similar to our stay before, except the room was a bit smaller (230 square feet) than the previous stay, but it was fine for the two of us for the short stay. It cost 1,050 points for the two nights ($1,083 comparable on the Marriott web site if paid in cash), and I booked it about 2 months before. It's all about the location here, being within walking distance to most of the theaters in the theater district and Madison Square Garden, both of which we took advantage of during our stay. Didn't need a car, so the nightly valet parking rate of $78 didn't apply for us. They still have the complementary guided walking tour, which sounds like a lot of fun if we had more time. Didn't have a chance to check out the upper rooftop or the small fitness center in the basement.
The room was fine. It's noisy (street noise and neighbors) so they provide eyemask and earplug kits. They had light blocking manual shades that worked well. The room had a decent size fridge, and there is a communal microwave in the basement. The TV had plenty of cable channels. As a basecamp to recover from the heat and lack of sleep, it was perfect.
I had gotten a phone call from the vacation club call center every day during the week before we came, asking to talk to me about how they could help us get ready for our visit. So finally picked up to get them to stop calling, listened to them explain the hotel benefits (which I knew since I had stayed there before), and then finally tell them politely no to a free, no obligation gift if attending a timeshare presentation (they call it a tour of the property). Something similar happened in person when we were checking in, where the concierge grabbed us before we got into the elevator. I listened politely and then declined, and told her I was really unhappy that they kept soliciting even though I had asked it to stop. She looked hurt, and said she would make sure that the property would put an opt-out to my name. Well, the next day when we were heading to lunch, a different concierge caught the attention of my wife, by offering a free gift. He didn't even know our name, which I guess is one way to claim why the opt-out didn't work. I got angry and loudly told my wife we needed to go for our appointment and that we weren't interested in a timeshare presentation. The same concierge later recognized me on the street, and gave me a derisive wave of recognition ("I see you")...have no idea a guy with that sort of fake, insincere personality can be in a job that is supposed to help people. Outside of the concierges, everybody else at the hotel was great...very friendly and genuinely trying to help.
We will stay here again...the location is too good and I need to use my points every year. Just need to be better at saying a firm 'no', and moving on.
