Spotlight on TownePlace Suites New York Manhattan/Times Square
The opening of the TownePlace Suites New York Manhattan/Times Square on West 44th Street, off Eighth Avenue, in 2018, marked a milestone for both M&R Hospitality Management and Marriott International, the brand’s parent company. For M&R, it was the entry into the expanding extended-stay lodging category. For Marriott, it was the first TownePlace Suites in New York, the country’s largest hotel market.
While extended-stay brands will accept transient stays of a night or two, whether midpriced like TownePlace Suites or upscale like Marriott’s own Residence Inn, the emphasis is on appealing to the longer-stay guest, stays usually defined as five nights or longer. Accordingly, the TownePlace Suites guest room as well as the hotel’s public spaces and amenity package are tailored to the needs of that guest, whether the stay is for business or leisure.
The hotel features a full, hot American breakfast daily and is “pet-friendly,” welcoming animals up to 20 pounds. Guest rooms feature a complete kitchenette.
On display in the lobby is a brand standard known as a TowneMap, which helps guests orient themselves to Times Square. The hotel is a walk from the Broadway theaters, Madison Square Garden, Hudson Yards, the Empire State Building and three main transportation hubs: the Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York Penn Station and Amtrak’s recently opened Moynihan Train Hall.
Most of Marriott’s approximately 170 TownePlace Suites hotels around the country are in suburban locations, which facilitates the brand’s requirement to provide Weber grilling stations for guests who wish to barbecue. But lacking spacious grounds or even a lawn of its own, the TownePlace Suites New York Manhattan/Times Square had to get creative by creating a rooftop patio and providing Weber grills along with comfortable seating so guests can enjoy a picnic and beautiful view of the surrounding neighborhood.
In an effort to give M&R associates greater insight into their company’s portfolio, each issue of M&R Team News will shine a spotlight on an M&R-managed hotel that represents a different lodging industry segment.
