December 18
...serving up your daily dish.
Hoboken's getting a new hotel, a posh "W" no less. From the New York Times:
With 225 first-class rooms, 40 elegant hotel residences and a signature array of amenities, the W Hoboken is expected to zoom to the four-star status now enjoyed by only one other hotel in New Jersey, the Short Hills Hilton - and add new credibility to Hoboken's claim to cutting-edge cachet.
It all begs the question -- will Montclair ever get its "hotel?" We'd be happy with an X, Y or Z.
Hoboken's "W" Hotel is highly unpopular with the preservation crowd. It is a very tall structure planned for a piece of waterfront land, threatening to destroy water views for many. Opponents also claim the city has given numerous and, in their view, unwarranted, concessions to the developer. According to others, the height and other design features profoundly disrupt the character of the city.
Makes it kind of hard to get excited to think what Montclair's municipal government will approve, and how that will affect the character of *our* town.
Posted by: ginger | Dec 18, 2005 4:24:21 PM
W Hotel is too uber, contemporary and progressive for Montclair. Hilton and Marriot are fine brands for Montclair. It would be nice to have a comfy and classy hotel in town for guests. As well as the added benefit of a lounge and restaurant, spa, and indoor/outdoor pool.
Posted by: Jim | Dec 18, 2005 10:23:03 PM
" As well as the added benefit of a lounge and restaurant, spa, and indoor/outdoor pool."
and how about the added benefit of offsetting our crippling property taxes? that would be the best benefit of all, as far as i am concerned.
Posted by: fran | Dec 19, 2005 12:09:04 AM
does anyone know whether the "Wilshire Grand Hotel" in West Orange is actually open for business? there are listings for it online but no photos and iffy assurance that rooms can be booked. yeah, I know, I could call, but I'd rather ask here.
Posted by: neenah | Dec 19, 2005 7:13:11 AM
Who stays in Montclair to justify any hotel? I don't mean that as a quip, only that I doubt there's enough trade here to warrant a hotel of any type. If there were, we'd still have the Marlborough, right?
Posted by: todd | Dec 19, 2005 9:48:44 AM
Yes, the Wilshire Grand is open. To just to walk through its halls is, well, weird. Footsteps carry, clatter seems magnified. I kept wondering if Barry Nelson was the GM, and if Scatman Crothers was still back in the kitchen. A very odd thing to rehab and reopen the old Town & Country. Who ever stays in West Orange, right? Still, you can walk to both a Burger King and a Dunkin' Donuts. The night I stopped there, the on-premises Italian restaurant seemed fairly busy. (And we know how NJ desperately needs another one of those.)
Posted by: cathar | Dec 19, 2005 10:23:39 AM
