Having guests?

Princeton area hotels offer a wide range of accommodations for the business traveler.

By: George Frey
   Business travel may be off, but companies still must play the host from time to time. Fortunately, the Princeton area offers numerous options for the man or woman who needs a place to stay, by the night, the month or more, including the convenience and service the business person requires.
   All the places we checked offer business services to some degree. The ability to ship something from a hotel or send a fax is expected by customers. Also, most provide some kind of meeting space, audiovisual or computer equipment. Most have a pool, Jacuzzi, fitness or sports facility of some sort, and beyond that may have a restaurant or provide transportation or concierge services.
   Many hotels have added other amenities for their business travel customers, from laundry services and "business service offices with complete secretarial assistance," to private lounges, food and beverage perks and incentive programs.
   Where will you send your business guests? You have many choices, so you may need to do some legwork to find the right match for your client, customer or consultant – and your pocketbook. Two advantages you’ll have in this market are that if your guest has specific needs, ask and someone will fill them; and if you aren’t sure about what you might be getting, you can check it out in person easily. Nothing is more than a few moments away.
   When PBJ went comparison shopping, checking into a sampling of area hotels, here’s some of what we were told area hotels offer:
Extended stay hotels
   The Courtyard Marriott, 3851 Route 1 near Mapleton Road, is a hotel that Marriott says was designed for business travelers, featuring "functionally superior rooms," an indoor pool and a restaurant open for breakfast. Other features offered are two-lined telephones, with voice mail and data ports in the rooms. Prices for Sunday through Thursday range from $189 to $159. Weekend prices, Friday and Saturday, range from $79 to $140. A nightly rate of $121 may be negotiated for a stay of over seven days and it may be possible to negotiate the rate even lower if staying for two to three months, hotel staff said.
   Meeting rooms can be rented, as can other services such as audiovisual equipment. A laser printer is available in the lounge at all hotels, and a fax and copy service is available at the front desk, according to the hotel.
   There are a number of Courtyard locations in the state, the next nearest being at 420 Forsgate Drive near exit 8A on the Turnpike. Prices quoted are from the Princeton location.
   Marriott Residence Inn, 4225 Route 1, Monmouth Junction, is more of an extended stay apartment complex. The facility offers three different apartment styles, a studio for $115, a penthouse, $145, and a two-bedroom suite for $155 nightly. The apartments offer full kitchens and living rooms, some with fireplaces. The room prices include a light breakfast and dinner. Rates are negotiable for regular customers.
   The hotel features an outdoor pool and Jacuzzi and a sports facility including basketball and volleyball courts.
   Another Residence Inn the company hopes to build in West Windsor is in the planning process. The facility would be near Market Fair in Carnegie Center West.
   Extended Stay America at 3450 Route 1 across from Wegmans in West Windsor offers rooms priced from $85 a night and $439 a week to $105 a night and $529 a week. Another location at 4230 Route 1 in South Brunswick offers rooms for $75 a night and $359 a week. The furnished efficiency studios have "fully equipped kitchens," free voice mail and computer data port, the company said. The hotel offers free local calls and a 24-hour coin operated laundry facility.
   AmeriSuites at 3565 Route 1 Carnegie Center West (Market Fair), an "all suites hotel," offers a rate of $179 a night Sunday through Thursday and a weekend rate of $99 a night. More than a month’s stay is priced at $109 nightly, and other rates per company are negotiable. Trisha Babij, a sales coordinator, said the hotel mainly serves businesses in Carnegie Center. Features include a pool, free breakfast and free local transportation. AmeriSuites also has a hotel and airline miles frequent guest incentive program.
   Summerfield Suites at 4375 Route 1 South offers one-bedroom rooms for $189 and two-bedroom suites for $219 for short-term travelers. The rate would drop about 10 percent for stays of more than five nights, and further for stays longer than a month, said Brett Fetter, general manager. He said Summerfield rooms have cordless phones; and copying, faxing and computer capabilities are available. The company has a personalization service called "By Request" that personalizes the rooms of customers before they arrive. Members of "By Request" get free local and domestic long distance and Internet access.
   Mr. Fetter said the location offers complimentary breakfast seven days a week, and complimentary beer and wine from 5:30 until 7 p.m.
Regular hotels

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Staff


photo by Frank Wojciechowski


The Hyatt regency in West Windsor offers "Business Plan Level of Service," in addition to a lovely setting.


   The Radisson at Route 1 and Ridge Road says its rooms offer a large workstation with two two-line speaker phones and data ports. The hotel has an on site fitness center and an indoor pool, dry cleaning service and coin operated washers and dryers. It also offers business services such as word processing, Internet, fax service, copying and shipping, and a frequent traveler points incentive program. "Complete meeting facilities and planning packages" are available. Room rates are $169 a night and $99 on weekends. Hotel staff said for a full week’s stay the rate would drop to $129.
   Nassau Inn on Palmer Square offers a business traveler package with rooms with all the regular amenities such as phones, DSL Internet hook-ups, copier availability, meeting rooms and a valet laundry service. The hotel is newly offering a business person’s rate of $159 a night, down from the regular rate of $199, based on stays between Sunday and Thursday. Rates drop on the weekends and would be negotiable for groups. Perhaps the hotel’s greatest feature and advantage is that it is the only hotel in downtown Princeton.
   The Marriott at Forrestal Village in Plainsboro will become a Westin on Sept. 28. The property is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. of White Plains, N.Y., the parent company of Westin Hotels and about five other brands, including Sheraton and St. Regis hotels.
   John Crouch, the general manager of the future Westin, said many of the current amenities for business travelers will remain, such as the hotel’s office services, offering computers and speakerphone set-ups in a multi-purpose room, and "smart-rooms," featuring bigger desks and fax machines. He also said Westins are known for their more comfortable beds, known as Westin’s "Heavenly Beds" in the industry.
   Another feature is its rewards program. The Starwood "Preferred Guest System" has no real blackout dates, according to Mr. Crouch. As a preferred guest, members can take advantage of a club lounge with free meals, drinks and snacks depending on member level. The lounge also will have computers and fax machines, he said. Rooms are expected to go for about $195 a night. He said the company does give volume and corporate discounted prices depending on the expected amount of business.
   The Hyatt Regency in West Windsor doesn’t offer a weekly rate, said Geraldine Solarte, the hotel’s sales manager, but there are some negotiable pricing options. For instance, the hotel has a rate for 14 consecutive nights of $129 a night, down from the regular $220. Group rates — as with most hotels — also would be negotiable, Ms. Solarte said.
   Ms. Solarte said the hotel offers what’s called "Business Plan Level Service," which upgrades services for about $20 over the nightly rate. The business plan level offers more concierge service upgrades, access to a private lounge with breakfast and hors d’oeuvres in the afternoon Mondays through Fridays, and access to a private office with phones, fax machines and computers. The plan also waives a $1 telephone access charge.
   The hotel has ample meeting space and can tailor accommodations with meeting plans if need be, Ms. Solarte said.
   The hotel also offers a full fitness center, including a pool and sauna, and a competitive incentive program. An Executive Express office can provide "full service production resources for all your business, convention and meeting needs," Executive Express said.
   The Merrill Lynch Conference and Training Center in Plainsboro offers full hotel accommodations for the business traveler in addition to having a conference center available for corporate retreats and meetings. The center, run by Aramark-Harrison of Philadelphia, has a room rate of $119 to $149 nightly that includes breakfast and is negotiable. Hotel officials said complete meeting packages with meals, accommodation and conference arrangements are available and very popular. They said the hotel has full office services and spacious recreation facilities.
   The Doral Forrestal, also in Plainsboro, says it offers a full line of business services, including an audio-visual department for the business traveler. The hotel also has ample conference space and recreation facilities. Room rates are about $195 to $249 nightly.
   Other hotels, like the Days Inn and the Red Roof Inn, offer rates that depend on availability, hotel staff said. Generally, the rates are higher in the summer, or during major area events like Princeton graduation.
   The Days Inn at 4191 Route 1 offers a business king room for $89 a night (about $80 a night for AAA members). The room offers features including a king-size bed, a bigger desk, microwave and refrigerator. A light breakfast is included with the room. Officials said the hotel does offer a weekly (seven-night) rate.
   Prices at the Red Roof Inn are $60 to $70 a night now until about the first of the year, when they drop to $50 to $60 a night. Both the Lawrenceville and Monmouth Junction locations offer a business king room for between $62 and $70 nightly, depending on availability. The business rooms offer a king-size bed, a large desk with an enhanced workspace, overhead lighting, a dataport and a speakerphone. A manager at the Monmouth Junction location said weekly rates are negotiable on some rooms.