Holiday Inn - The closest and most convenient hotel is the Holiday Inn in Clark, NJ, just off the Garden State Parkway, exit 135 (36 Valley Road, Clark, NJ). Don't worry, the Holiday Inn sounds bad, but Mark's parents happily stay there, and they like nice hotels! It's one of their newer concept hotels (renovated in the last year) so the interior is much nicer and more modern than you'd expect. See my pictures:
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| The Holiday Inn, Clark NJ hotel lobby |
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| The double/double room at the Holiday Inn, Clark, NJ. |
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| The king size room and bathroom at the Holiday Inn in Clark, NJ |
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| Junior Suite at the Holiday Inn. There's a pull-out bed and Jacuzzi tub, but no wall between the rooms. |
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| The Hub restaurant and bar at the Holiday Inn, Clark. They serve daily breakfast in the morning for $15/hot breakfast/buffet, or $10/cold breakfast. You can get lunch, dinner or drinks there as well. |
At the Holiday Inn, you'll get free parking, free wi-fi, free fitness room (it's new) and restaurant/bar. They have a coffee/snack bar by the front desk (fee) and a small store with convenience items open 24 hours a day. They have a pool, but it likely won't be open during the event weekend.
Rates: $99/king, $109/doubles, $279/junior suite, reserved May 9-11 (they'll accommodate those rates if you stay a night on either side). The rates are effective through April 9, 2014. If you reserve after that, they may or may not give you the lower price. You can cancel the room until about 6 p.m. on the day of check-in, without penalty (don't quote me on that). If you book a room outside the block, please let us know, because we're planning to drop off some directions and goodies and don't want you to go without!
Reserve your Holiday Inn room: by calling (732) 574-0100 and asking for the KAPLAN BAT MITZVAH group, code K59 or reserve here using that information. You can cancel until 6 p.m. on the day you're due, without penalty. If you have any problems booking, please let me know by calling me or emailing me at rsvp@kaplanink.com. A few guests have been told that the room block is sold out, which it is not. They also should be honoring these rates for Thursday night (and Sunday night) as well, so if they don't, please let me know so I can fix it. My hotel contact said they were having some problem syncing the computer system, whatever that means. So please let me know if you have an issue so we can fix it.
Homewood Suites - This Cranford hotel is conveniently located right off the Garden State Parkway, exit 136. It's a little bit confusing to get in and out of, but once you figure out the trick (I can help you), it's quite easy. Each room is a suite with a door that closes to the main bedroom. Woo hoo! You'll get a kitchenette (don't worry, we'll be providing you with plenty of food though), hide-a-bed and free breakfast bar every morning, with hot and cold foods. See the photo below.
They offer one or two bedroom suites, so it is convenient for families who want to pay for one room, but don't want to SHARE that room with the kiddos. And the large sink area is outside of the toilet/shower room.
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| The lobby of the Homewood Suites, in Cranford, NJ. |
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| A one room suite (double/double) at the Homewood Suites, Cranford, NJ. The couch in the sitting area is also a bed. That's my friend Rachel in the mirror. |
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| The breakfast bar and eating area in the Homewood Suites, Cranford, NJ. |
Rooms are $129/night for the king suite (one bed) and $139/night for the double/double bed suite. The rates are in force through April 11, though the website says through that date or until the block sells out (I don't think the block will sell out, but...). I tried booking to see what would happen with 2 adults and 2 kids, since it says on the website that there may be an extra charge for more than 1 person. It put me in a double/double room rather than a king (the sofa folds out, so perhaps the kids could share a bed). I couldn't change the room online, so if you prefer the king size bed and don't want to lie about how many people are staying there, you may want to try booking by phone. The group code appears to be DKB.
Reserve at this very special personalized link, and you won't need a code. Rates are good through April 11, 2014, and you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance without penalty. If you book outside this link, please let us know so we can still drop off a welcome bag for you.
Best Western - Oddly, there is only one hotel in our town of Westfield and it's a Best Western. Location, location, location. That's all it has going for it - it's in downtown Westfield. Well, the rooms are decent size, but Mark and I stayed there the night before we moved into our house, and I don't recommend it. It backs up to the train station and is outdated and not charming at all. And higher price than you should pay for a hotel of that standard. So I am not getting a block of rooms there, nor posting pictures.
For those of you who like staying at fancier hotels, I'm sorry that there aren't better options in very close proximity. My father-in-law likes the Short Hills Hilton, and you're welcome to stay there. It's at least a 20 minute drive to our event locations, and that's without traffic or getting lost.
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