Embassy Suites by Hilton Newark Airport — Hotel in Elizabeth

This is a modern, decently priced suite with moderate amenities. The room itself is the highlight of the experience, which may or may not be what you look for in a hotel, depending on how long you plan to stay in the room versus be outside. This review will address the following: room, staff, food, and location.

The room is a spacious mix of tile and carpet, with a very open concept. Always with a mini fridge, microwave, and a dining room like table, you can feel comfortable eating leftovers the next day in your room as if it were your own house.

Check in is odd. There are often many people behind the desk, but all of them are answering phones - this should be expected in an international airport area. It has usually taken a very long time to check in (upwards of 10 minutes, even if I'm the 2nd in line), but while being helped, the staff has such an inviting feel, you forget all about it by the time you get your room key. Housekeeping is thorough, and if if you find yourself in need of some maintenance on your room, engineers are surprisingly quick to respond, even later in the evening. The same staff has been here for over a year, so they clearly are good at what they do, and enjoy it.

Food is where this place falls flat. The breakfast buffet has been included in my room, but the quality has not matches what I would expect. Breakfast meats are clearly prepackaged and reheated in the microwave, and the eggs are rubbery. The omelet station, while good, has a filmy aftertaste, but this cannot be blamed on the chefs. The ingredients themselves have a subpar quality. The complimentary snacks (and drink, for the adult crowd) from 5:30-7:30, while enticing and of good quality, forces the staff to work over and above for an expectant crowd, often leaving them impatient, impersonable, and understocked for anyone looking to unwind later in the evening with a simple beer. This also creates more of a party vibe, which is fine, if this is the scene you want. It is almost daily at the bar, very energetic. If, however, you want a more peaceful time at a hotel bar, I would recommend the Courtyard Marriott next door.

So the food fails, but this is where the location thrives. You are only a couple miles from the airport, but also about 300 steps from Jersey Mills mall, which has a few decent restaurants and obviously many stores for shopping. There is also a Ruby Tuesday's 50 feet from the front of the hotel nearby, as well. If you're looking for a local flavor, Eli's Pizza Pasta is a great local spot for food (delivers to the area as well), and as long as they're still open, Minho Verde is a great local Portuguese restaurant with great fish dishes and huge portions just a couple of miles away.

I can recommend this place, as it suits me for what I am looking for. I cannot, however, give it the full five for the areas discussed above. Come with a moderate expectation, and you will likely...

I had an early flight so I paid for 1 night extra (large king suite) so I could be assured of early check in. After booking on the website I called the hotel to let them know I would not be checking in that day but would be there early the next morning to freshen up to go to a funeral. Man answering (Lamar or Jamar I think was his name) said that was fine, my room would not be given away. Got there 10am the next morning (flight delayed) & unpacked noticed no water bottles so I went back downstairs & purchased 4 waters from same clerk I talked to the previous day. Went back up, got ready for a shower...no water from shower, bath nor kitchen sink. I called downstairs, same man as previous day's call & morning clerk, and he stated they had a PRE-PLANNED water outage until 5 or 6pm that night. He KNEW I was there to freshen up & head out to a funeral. He stated that if I had gotten there earlier I would have had time to shower!! REALLY??? I asked why he didn't tell me, he said I should have checked in with him upon arrival instead of using the virtual key. REALLY???? I asked why there was no notice on the doors upon entering since virtual key IS permitted...he said again that I should have checked in with him. REALLY?????? Then I asked why he didn't tell me when I called the previous day & spoke with him about my plans, he said I should have gotten there earlier. THANK GOODNESS the Hampton across the street took my in, even gave me a discounted rate for the pathetic customer service I recv'd from this guy. No time for a shower but I got all my stuff moved out. Now I smell like air travel....thanks for that! HORRIBLE customer service!!! THEN this guy charged me for the night I did not stay! Had I been told about the PRE-PLANNED water outage, I would have cancelled & found another hotel. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!! Will NEVER stay here again even though I travel thru Newark 1-3x a year. Called to complain to the customer care number, they were appalled! They escalated the complaint but neither them nor myself recv'd a response from this hotel. HORRIBLE!!!! The customer care line apologized profusely & claimed they are mailing me a check for PARTIAL refund. UNACCEPTABLE!!!!! When I called about my credit card being charged a lady named Teresa kept talking over me. I FINALLY got my story out & she put me on hold. Came back to the phone & was SO rude!! She said that SOMEONE needed to pay for the night!! Ummm, if I had known they pre arranged no water for 7-8+ hours I never would have made the reservation for these people to be horribly rude to me!!! Reviewing all the negative reviews, WHERE IS...

For the price that you pay for this location...stay somewhere else...This was the worst HILTON stay ever... for lack of service, guest safety, management, professionalism. ...Parking, food, and guest service get a grade of a D. You pay $18 a day for a hunting licence for parking (parking gate broke, no parkimg for guest if they have an event, no one monitoring the handicap spaces). 2. The food was way too salty and served cold. 3. The staff seemed to be lacking knowledge, skill, and professionalism and little consideration for guest safety. My story... I arrived at the hotel as a disabled guest on Oct 1st. needing to park my car in a handicap parking space due to my back and knee issue. First there were no Handicap parking spaces..that was fine. But then due to a Hotel event there were no spaces in the lot at all. Except for a grassy area that I was not going to navigate with my bad knees in the rain... and two...there was a car blocking the entrance to this grassy area where I saw one spot. I ALSO saw that there was plenty of parking behind the hotel, but it was roped off with an Amazon trcks parked inside. When I went to the front desk to inform them of the situation, and that many of the cars parked in the handicap spots had no lic plate or handicap tag. They said there was nothing they could do...the gate was broken and they had no one to assist with parking, further I could not park on the yellow painted curb areas where others were parked..a front desk staff person said she could not find parking either and parked in the yellow, she told other gueat to park in the fire zone..and argument ensued between the two front desk staff as the other staff member told her and myself you could not park om the yellow. When I complained that as a Hilton Guest, I was paying $18 a day for parking...were the event people paying for parking too? ...there was still no response until another Front desk person said they would take the parking off my bill. Well, I waited 30mins for a park to open up that evening on the grass where I was now risking falling in the night rain. And as luck would have it, 2 days of parking showed up upon check out. I went to the front desk, they removed the parking fees again, and was told some one would call me about my bad experience... and they might offer me Hilton points....really? Still...