“Furnished Quarters”

I originally posted this in the NY forum but I have received several messages from other forum members enquiring about my stay so I thought I would post this as a review. My partner and I stayed at the Furnishedquarters apartment on 425 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City,( bang oppostite the Dou... more

I originally posted this in the NY forum but I have received several messages from other forum members enquiring about my stay so I thought I would post this as a review. My partner and I stayed at the Furnishedquarters apartment on 425 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City,( bang oppostite the Doubletree Hotel, the location of which has received excellent reviews elsewhere on this website) in June 2008. It is situated on the second floor of a 40 storey building (fear not..its not a walkup:))). We paid $1350 for our 7 night stay, which included $ 150 cleaning charges. Contrary to the highly critical comments about the company on certain other sites (all posted by one individual, as I noticed) we had a faboulous stay at the apartment. Everything about it was excellent- although a studio apartment, it was clean, extremely spacious (500 odd sf), with a decent kitchen area, bathroom with a bath(!) and even a utility room. The apartment is fairly new so the decor was very urban chic with stylish fittings etc. The apt has all modern appliances (i.e the usual bits and bobs one would expect to find in a kitchen) including washing machine/dryer and a powerful A/C (which was a blessing,given that it was touching 100 F whilst we were there). The place also had a decent flat screen telly with cable and a CD/DVD player.Although we didn`t try it, I believe one can also access wireless broadband for an extra $3/day.All local calls were included in the rent so we just bought a $ 5 phone card with a local access number and it gave us around 250 mins of talktime to the UK. Downstairs, there is a spacious lobby where the guests can help themselves to tea/coffee/cookies.It is also staffed 24/7 but the staff, although helpful, looked sligtly grumpy at all times. The building also has a 'club area' with a movie room, kitchen area, snooker table etc. There is a roof terrace and a good sized swimming pool on the 7th floor. The pool looked like it could do with a bit of cleaning but they'd just opened it the previous week so maybe they`ll get around to doing it at some point. There is also an adequately fitted out gym next to the pool. The location of the apartment is very convenient for NYC-PATH trains from Pavonia/Newport PATH station, which is only a 5 minute walk from the apt, takes one to World Trade Centre/33rd Street in under 15 mins. For those not fussed on walking, there is a NJ lightrail stop (Harsimus Cove) right next to the apt that takes you to the Exchange Place PATH in a couple of mins (the only downside being that you can occasionally hear the train going past if you have the apt windows open).There is also an hourly free shuttle service to the PATH stattion from the apt in the mornings. The area is also very clean and safe, even at night, unlike some of the less salubrious parts of Jersey City.It also has some fantastic views of Manhattan from across the Newport Marina.The location is handy for shopping as well as there is a fairly big mall with big department stores like Macy's(I think its called Newport Mall or something) across the street from the apartment . For cheap tat, there is a BJ's wholesale store and for groceries, a 'Shoprite' store nearby. Furnished Quarters had taken great care to ensure that we had everything we needed during the stay-for instance, they had even left stuff like washing up liquid, kitchen towels, dishwasher tablets, maps of NYC and NJ etc. There was no housekeeping (apparently there is a fortnightly housekeeping service)but they did leave an extra set of bedding for us. When contacted, the staff at Furnished Quarters were always very courteous and helpful(nothing like the comments left on other forums).Checkout was also smooth and hasslefree. In short, I give the apartment and furnished quarters an emphatic 10/10 and would not consider staying anywhere else during my next visit to NYC. Personally I think it is a cheaper and better option than spending $200+/night on some cr**py room with a shared bath in Manhattan.Infact, its actually easier and quicker (despite the $ 3.50 return on PATH) to get into Manhattan from the apt than from one of the boroughs so people looking at Brooklyn etc should definitely consider this place first.

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