Essence Hotel Meadowlands- NYC — Hotel in North Bergen

1, Problem: They give out very inaccurate information regarding the shuttle service. One of the appeals of this hotel was the shuttle to the hotel. The trip was planned months in advance, including multiple calls confirming times of when the shuttle departed from the hotel and arrived in NY. We even gave the date of when we would be using the shuttle service, in case weekends ran on different hours. But we were told the shuttle left every 15 minutes. Experience: When we arrived, we were then told the shuttle left every hour and a half. Which would make us late for our paid ticketed events. When we questioned this, they told us that those were always the correct, and we were misinformed. So, we reconfirmed the time for the night shuttle pick up time and pick up location. We then had to Uber to the city, instead of the cheaper shuttle option, Problem: The shuttle back to the hotel. Experience: We arrived at the shuttle pick up location by 9:10 that night. We presented our tickets and got our seats. Another group arrived saying that they were waiting for a few members of their group. They asked the driver if there were still 8 seats on the bus, seeing there had bought 8 tickets for the 9:30 departure. At that time there were plenty of seats, but by 9:20 the bus filled, by then there were a lot of people wanting to get on the bus, seeing they had purchased tickets. The driver told them that were late (they weren't late) so them not having a seat was their fault, He said that another bus would be around soon, and to wait at the pickup location, the driver said the buss was full and he would be leaving. He left them there and drove like a manic back to the hotel. So, they over sell the tickets, then tell the customers that they were late so it not a hotel issue. Also, they must drop off at another hotel because some people were stating that this wasn't their hotel, but the driver did check everyone's ticket. 3.Problem: The check-in, front desk management, and the room. Experience : We walked to the front desk to check in there was someone waiting there already, and no one from the hotel manning the desk. So, we wait finally after about 10 minutes Josh S graces us with his presence, but he is on his cell phone. He is talking to someone about a dog being left in the bathroom, and giving it a toy, We are all staring at him and I interject "Is this really happening" because we have been waiting total of over 20 minutes, He finally gets off his cell phone helps the guy in front, then starts to help us. But then the company phone rings and he answer. But is talking to the customer on the other end telling him there isn't anything he can do, that he understands there is a dog barking, no he can't call management, and the hotel is completely booked. He then surprises us with a deposit requirement, now when we called and then booked no one told us about a deposit. Josh S also refused to provide us a document or a receipt proving we paid a deposit, So we were asking are we guaranteed to get our money back seeing there is no proof we paid anything, He told us that as long as there is no room damage it will be reimbursed back to the card. Then a customer came down very upset, so Vanessa helped him. The customer was clearly upset because there was a dog that was continuously barking. He needed to sleep and couldn't. He wanted to switch rooms but was told it was full. The guy stated then that he needed to talk to manager, they refused to contact one. Their excuse was the manager just left after working a long shift, and they did not want to disturb the manager. They told the guy that they tried calling the room and no one answered. So that is the most they could do, So my group leaves and goes to our room. We were planning to record the room because we had no proof of getting that deposit back. But when we entered none of the lights worked, except the one in the bathroom. In that moment we decided we...

Horrible place..2 bus loads of High School students arrived at midnight. All of which seemed to be placed on my floor (9).. The high school boys were running up and down the hallways like animals , screaming obscenities and banging on each other's doors..At around 1230am, I called the front desk to complain..I believe it was Jose who stated that he would send some one up and he basically hung up on me as if I were bothering him. No one showed , and the running , yelling and banging on doors continued. I called a second time,name Jose said he would send someone up..The noise continued. I got dressed and dealt with them myself and explained to theses boys that other people were staying in the hotel. They apologized and stated that they were very excited and they just needed to settle down.. Seems that I was able to handle it and hotel staff apparently could not. I continued to go down to the front desk to address the lack of handing the situation. The Chapparones were at the front desk eating pizza ,totally oblivious to the fact that they let their high school students loose in a hotel at 1am in the morning. I explained to them how inconsiderate it was and they agreed, as they continued to stuff their faces with Pizza. I asked the front desk why no one came up to the 9th floor to address the issue. Jose said that they just needed time to settle down..SERIOUSLY..That's what you tell an irate customer that has to get up at 5 am for business in NYC! Apparently they have their so called security guy JOSH , who also looks like a High school student ,who said he had gone up..If he had gone up, why didn't the noise stop and what was he doing in lobby instaed of addressing the issue...Josh was condescending and got in my face , acting like a tough guy..But tough guy apparently couldn't handle a bunch of HIgh school age kids. I was able to calm them down with no problem.

Staff is rude to customers and obviously can not handle situation like this. I traveled for many years with Travel Hockey players and our boys have NEVER been allowed to act like this. Not only did the hotels have rules ( APPARENTLY meadowlands HAS NONE FOR LARGE GROUPS), but we as coaches and the parents had rules and would never allow our kids to disrupt others in the hotel. I reached out to management and of course NEVER heard back..So apparently their lack of customer service is across the board. I just called them again, and the person I spoke to , Dominique, said that she knew of the situation and that they had a completely different story from staff ..Shocking I know. Since I had to be in NYC at 7 am the next morning, I didn't get a lot of sleep..I will NEVER EVER STAY at this place again..Staff needs to learn how to treat customers and hire security who don't look like High School kids....but, I guess they made a lot more money on bus trips versus someone just occupying a single room..They need to implement rules that large groups must sign to keep control of...

Here on a stay at hotel (days inn, North Bergen) and it's my second time here. I only came back because I got a better deal on the room that i requested. The front desk staff was 50/50 as far as customer service goes. The guy I had the first time didnt seem as though he wanted to be there but he was courteous. He didnt smile at all. The lady I had the second time was a friendly. Ive read the posts about bed bugs, and I havent had any problems with that so far. The full size beds are very firm and seem as though they are a few inches shorter than the standard size. The queen size bed is a lot more comfortable in firmness and normal as far as size goes. My blanket(underneath comforter) has a cigarette burn hole in it. And my friends blanket in his room appeared as though it had been drycleaned a little too long and too hot, because the texture of it was almost rubbery as if the fibers had been melted slightly or like the thing was made from a type of foam. The room smells of smoke when we first entered although they said it's a nonsmoking room. The internet is intermittent but when it's constant, its very fast. I found that i have to get to a certain area in the room to have a better wifi signal strength. The room did seem a little damp as someone stated in an earlier comment. All of the appliances were operable. Lights (including heating lamp in bathroom), AC although a little loud at first but got quieter with use(or maybe I had gotten use to the sound of it), Plumbing was good, Tv was good, Floor had many stains and didnt seem very clean(I wouldnt walk on it barefoot), comforter wasnt very fresh but i couldnt find any stains on it, They do not answer the phone at front desk the first 4-5 times you call them. ,,,the rooms did appear to be very neat though. I like the styling although the hallways are exposed to the outside air and the carpet there has a smell to to it. The building could use some updating. The breakfast area is not really a breakfast area. There is no breakfast here. If you call very unappetizing cereal and cheap bagels breakfast, then by all means have at it. The coffee is the cheapest also and that machine doesnt appear to be that clean. The hotel doesnt seem very busy and there are only a handful of cars parked outside, maybe 12 including mine, so I wouldnt understand why the front desk doesnt answer calls from the rooms in a timely manner. One of my hand towels had a reddish stain on it. I didnt use that one. The vending machines seem to work fine but the products are a overpriced and have a collection of dust on them. There is a bus stop that is about 2-3 blocks away. Overall I think I got what I paid for. I would have paid more (within reason of course) for a better room if any were available at another hotel for the time that i needed. But that's the catch...not many other places have availability on short notice and the ones that do...I dont think you'd want to...