Nice Bar but what's the deal with no parking?
That's gonna be a major problem.
They aren't validating for mall parking either.

My fave amenity with the hotel is the way it is built right to the sidewalk with zero setback...just straight up umpteen stories.
Real Class, ala Jersey City...perhaps there will be a DOLLAR store in the lobby, maybe a Dunkin' Donuts!

It looks nice and I do plan to visit. I'm just saying its not luxurious.

If everything is luxurious, then nothing is luxurious is my motto.

anyone know if there is a rooftop bar?

Quote:

Don't judge a book by it's cover, go in and have a drink and enjoy the sights....

Is it really a luxury hotel, or is it just average or premium. I've walked by there and to me it seems nice, but not luxurious.

Mayor: High hopes for Newport hotel

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A new Westin hotel in Jersey City's Newport section opened for business yesterday with 40 guests signed up for the first night and about half its rooms still awaiting their final touches.

The new 23-story luxury hotel is likely to soon be bustling with guests since it fills a need for hotel rooms in Jersey City, where four pre-existing hotels are often packed to the gills.

"There is definitely a need for it," said William La Rosa, Hudson County's director of tourism. Hudson County hotels have an occupancy rate of 85 to 90 percent 20 points above the national average, officials said.

The Westin Jersey City Newport has 429 guest rooms and 20,500 square feet of event space. The opening increases Jersey City's inventory of hotel rooms by 38 percent, according to Bob McIntosh, the hotel's director of sales and marketing.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said the hotel's opening "bodes well" for Jersey City's future. "I think it's great. You don't see things opening anyplace else," he said. "We're going to see jobs here, we're going to see tax dollars here."

Many of the new hotel's 220 employees are Jersey City residents, McIntosh said, although he didn't have exact numbers. "We didn't run a single newspaper ad. We wanted to reach local foot traffic," he said. "We were extraordinarily impressed with the caliber of the people we were able to hire."

The Westin also features artwork by Jersey artists Barbara Anne Landes and Nancy Cohen in its public spaces. McIntosh expects 80 percent of the hotel's guests to be business travelers.

The hotel has already negotiated special rates with several corporations, he said. The remainder will be filled by leisure travelers lured by rooms that are 25 to 35 percent less expensive than rooms in Manhattan, McIntosh said.

Daily rates for the hotel run between $179 to $299 compared to $189 to $429 for the Westin Times Square, he said.

An official ribbon cutting ceremony for the hotel is planned for Feb. 9.