Diane

Hello. Can anyone suggest a good hotel right in Times Square for the 2001 New Year's Eve celebration? I would like to be able to look out my hotel window and see the ball drop. I appreciate any advice you can offer. Thanks!

Mike

Marriott Marquis

rqf

There are four hotels in Times Square. The hotel that has one side facing the place where the ball drops is the Renaissance located between 47th and 48th Streets and between Broadway and 7th Avenue. That side, however, for the most part, restricts the view due to signs in front of that side. A corner room on either side may provide an unrestricted view of the ball. Some rooms on the south side of the Marriott Marquis (45th and Broaodway) located close to Broadway may provide a clear view of the ball. The same goes for the Crowne Plaza (48th and Broadway). I don't know that you can see the ball drop from rooms facing Broadway unless you can open the windows and look out - don't know if opening windows is possible. The fourth is the Doubletree on 47th and Broadway. I never looked to see if they have rooms facing south - will check this when I drive by tomorrow morning.

Howard

I'm not sure how many, if any, rooms face the ball, but you can be sure of two things if they exist:
1. They'll be very expensive.
2. They might be all gone already for this year!
In response to rqf's comment, the windows in the Marriott Marquis do not open

rqf

The Doubletree does have rooms facing south. The ones on the upper floors, closest to Broadway, would provide a clear view of the ball. Rooms on the lower floors have the view blocked by an adjoining building.

Diane

Thanks everyone for your replies! I will call some of the hotels today!

Cheryl

Several years ago my husband and I got a room at Marriott Marquis which was great to watch the Times Square ball drop from .... It was about half way between the top of the ball and the crowds on the street. I think that the Marriott only has a limited number of rooms that have this view ... Also the windows do not open. It may be too late for reservations for this year. (I think we made ours in February of that year for New Years.) Also, be prepared for a very, very high room rate for those rooms. I recall that they charged us about $500/night for that room for New Years Eve night (about 10 years ago), however I was able to get a deal for only $99 for the other 4 nights of our stay so the total bill was not too outrageous. (Also, don't forget all the high room taxes that will be added on.) We had originally planned to go to the show that was playing at the Marriott Marquis Theater earlier in the evening and then return to our room to watch the events. The show was canceled so we ended up going out earlier in the evening and then tried to make our way back to the hotel about 10:00 pm ... big mistake! It was difficult, but we finally got back ... If you go there and want to watch from your room, then I would advise staying at the hotel that evening or very close in the vicinity. All in all, it was a great experience. We had room service deliver a dinner at 11:30, opened the curtains, and also had it on the TV ... We really enjoyed it and still talk about this experience!