Doubletree Hotel in Jersey City, NJ: Hotel Review

We recently stayed at the Doubletree Hotel located at 455 Washington Boulevard in Jersey City, NJ. Phone: 201-499-2406. This is a review of the hotel and staff.

We wanted a good view of the New York City skyline so we booked a "junior suite" corner room on a high floor. The hotel has 14 floors and we ended up being on floor 11. Not too bad ... and the view was quite nice. We could see the New York skyline across the Hudson from both of the large windows in the bedroom.

When we made the reservation we were informed that all of the rooms had recently been remodeled and they hotel itself was still doing some renovations. We were assured our room was on the side where the updates and renovations were complete and that we would not be disturbed by construction noises. Upon arrival the first thing we see is that there is no sidewalk in front of the hotel - it was ripped due to the construction for the hotel expansion. So there was no front entry from the street and no signs telling you how or where to enter. We trudged around to the back of the hotel and crossed some light rail tracks, dragging our heavy luggage behind us, and finally found a side entrance.

Once inside, we are cheerfully greeted by the staff at the check-in desk and given some of the best tasting home made chocolate chip cookies I've ever eaten in my life! We were then informed there was a small glitch and the room wasn't quite ready. Seems there was a problem with one of the bedside lights and maintenance was working on it. We were very travel weary by this point, having trekked our way from the New Jersey airport and using public transportation to get to the hotel since they didn't have a shuttle service. I asked if we could be moved to a different room because all we wanted to do was collapse, but was told they were booked up. The concierge was very apologetic and gave up free reign to the gift shop and snack area. It took less than 15 minutes for the repair to be made.

We get up to the room and crash for a while before walking across the street to the grocery store. There was a microwave and fridge in the room so we decided to stock up on food to save some money on eating out. Luckily we checked the fridge before trekking to the store because it didn't work. The room and furnishing had been updated ... all except for the fridge. It was definitely a relic from yesteryear! We called the front desk and they had a replacement for us within 30 minutes.

The staff was excellent and went out of their way to help with whatever we needed. They were all very friendly and met our every need with a smile, no matter how many times we asked for directions, places to eat, extra towels, or whatever else we needed.

The room itself had a few minor glitches and I'm sure they would have fixed them had we complained, but they were minor nuisances that we didn't feel like hassling them about. I will go ahead and list them under the "cons" section because this is a hotel review after all.

Pros:

Bedding is phenomenal and is trademarked as Sweet Dreams by Doubletree. It includes a plush pillow top mattress with 5 jumbo hypo-allergenic down pillows per bed, a triple sheeted down blanket with coverlet. Talk about comfortable! I wanted to take the mattress and pillows home with me!

We got a non-smoking room and it was clean and smelled fresh.

Maid service was friendly and thorough.

Heating and air condition units worked very well. There was a unit the living room area and the bedroom area. Both were operated by a climate control switch on the wall for consistent room temperature.

Plenty of seating and work space in the living room area. Furnished with a chair, large sofa that makes into a bed if needed and large work desk and chair. TV stand also had storage areas underneath it.

French doors separated the living room area from the bedroom for privacy and noise control.

Located within walking distance to a grocery store and a nice sized shopping mall.

View of New York from the bedroom windows was excellent.

Hotel is about two blocks from the PATH train for commuting back and forth into Manhattan using public transportation.

Jersey Light Rail system for commuting in and around New Jersey runs directly behind the hotel.

27" flat screen TV in both the living room area and the bedroom.

Wolfgang Puck brand coffee pods and Numi brand teas were complimentary in the room. The coffee maker made two individual cups so you could easily make decaf and regular at the same time. The cups with the maker were portable cups with lids for easy carry along travel.

Complimentary high quality Neutrogena brand bath products. Other expected amenities such as hair dryer, iron, ironing board, etc were in place and well maintained.

Ice maker and vending machines were conveniently located and in good working order.

Full length mirrored doors on closet in bedroom area came in handy.

Nice sized combo shower/tub. Shower nozzle had plenty of pressure and there was instant hot water in the shower and sink.

Lack of noise from other rooms was excellent. All we ever heard was the shower from the room right next to our and a few voices in the hall occasionally. There was construction with heavy machinery going on at street level right beneath us but we never heard any noise. We didn't hear any traffic noise either. We were on the 11th floor so I can't comment on the noise level on the lower floors.

Cons:

No safe in the room. We were told there was one but discovered they hadn't actually gotten them installed in all of the room yet as part of the remodeling project. They did have free security lockers at the front desk though.

Towel bar in bathroom was coming loose from the wall on one side. I know they would have repaired it but we didn't want another maintenance worker coming in. Had it fallen completely off we would have gotten them to fix it.

There was no exhaust vent in the bathroom so the mirrors got steamed up when taking a hot shower.

Not enough electric plugs or counter space in the bathroom.

Only one side of the sliding closet doors worked. The other door was off the rails and would not move. I feel certain the management would have fixed it if we would have asked but it wasn't that big of a problem for us.

Lighting in bedroom and bathroom was not sufficient for putting on makeup. There was only one tiny little lamp light in the bedroom and the bulb in the bathroom was not very bright.

Had to pay $12.95 a day for high speed internet in the room. I think it should have been complimentary. There was free wifi in the lobby and bar area, but I feel internet access should have been free in the room.

Bottom Line:

In my opinion, the pros definitely outweighed the cons. I give the Doubletree Hotel in Jersey City, New Jersey 4 out of 5 stars and the staff 5 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this establishment to anyone traveling in the area and would not hesitate to stay there again.