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Which hotel is best, Ritz-Carlton vs. JW Marriott Essex House vs. St Regis New York? We have already reviewed whether Ritz-Carlton vs. JW Marriott is best overall. Generally, Ritz-Carltons are better hotels, but there are exceptions to this rule.
Now, we specifically review these four properties in New York. There are two Ritz-Carltons in New York, along with a St Regis and a JW Marriott, so you are spoiled for choice. All have excellent facilities, so which is best for you?
We have outlined the best JW Marriott hotels, best St. Regis hotels and best Ritz-Carlton hotels in case you want to delve further into each hotel brand.
1. Loyalty
Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and JW Marriott are all high-end brands under the Marriott umbrella. They share this elite spot with BVLGARI, EDITION, and The Luxury Collection. These brands occupy a 5-star luxury category, with room quality and size, service, restaurants, and the hotel as a whole offering an ultra-luxurious setting. Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and JW Marriott are both part of the Marriott Bonvoy brand loyalty program.
It’s worth mentioning that these loyalty benefits are nowhere near as good as the benefits you get by booking via luxury travel concierge agents. If you book with our concierge agents, you will also get all your usual Marriott Bonvoy points during your stay.
Our travel agency Stars partnership with Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and JW Marriott hotels means you will also get brilliant free benefits, usually including breakfast for two, prioritized room upgrades (subject to availability), hotel credit, and more if you book with one of our agents. Our deals are almost always better than booking directly on the hotel website for all these brands.
2. Style
Our experience with Ritz-Carlton hotels is that they often offer a more traditional and generic finish, more in tune with the brand than the local area. There are some magnificent features of certain Ritz-Carlton hotels, such as the roof terrace at the Ritz-Carlton Vienna and the rooms and club lounge at the excellent and newly refurbished Ritz-Carlton Maui, Hawaii.
Particularly great Ritz-Carltons also include the new Ritz-Carlton Nomad in New York, which has exceptional views. We have compared the Ritz-Carlton Nomad vs. Ritz-Carlton Central Park if you are debating where to stay in New York. We would probably pick the Ritz-Carlton Nomad as our first choice.
By contrast, the JW Marriott Essex House is not a particularly luxurious property in New York, although it has historic aspects that are interesting, such as its lifts. If you are looking for an alternative to the Ritz-Carlton hotels in New York, the St. Regis NY is also worth considering and has a very good breakfast.
3. Location
As a general rule, all three brands, Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and JW Marriott hotels, are centrally located in cities. In New York, the original Ritz-Carlton and the JW Marriott are a three-minute walk from each other up the same sidewalk to one side of Central Park.
Ritz-Carlton New York Nomad is well located, steps away from Madison Square Park and the Flatiron Building and a short walk to the Highline. The original, older Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, and the JW Marriott are slightly better located, being on the southern edge of Central Park.
You really can’t get a better location for both leisure walks through Central Park and also being within walking distance of all the tourist sights like the Empire State Building than this Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott.
The St. Regis is about a 5-minute walk further south and in the jungle of concrete buildings. While the location of the St. Regis is still good for the sights, it doesn’t have the gorgeous views of Central Park offered by the Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, and the JW Marriott Essex House.
4. Size
JW Marriott hotels tend to be larger than Ritz-Carlton hotels. The Ritz-Carlton New York has 253 rooms, and the Ritz-Carlton Nomad has 219 rooms. JW Marriott has 426 rooms, so these larger hotels are often used for conferences. The St. Regis New York is a small, intimate hotel with just 171 rooms.
5. Rooms
Rooms at JW Marriott hotels tend to be similarly large to those at Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis hotels. Some JW Marriott rooms are particularly good, such as those in the JW Marriott Venice. We particularly love the rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Nomad in New York as their baths sit by a huge window with fantastic views. The rooms at the St. Regis in New York are a little dated in style.
6. Pool and Gym
Whether there is a pool and gym is very property dependent, but as a general rule, Ritz-Carlton hotels and JW Marriott hotels have similarly good facilities.
St. Regis hotels, being smaller, often have less facilities. In New York, none of these hotels offer a pool. If you want a pool near Central Park, try the Park Hyatt, which is an excellent property. We detail this hotel in our comparison of Ritz-Carlton vs. Park Hyatt.
7. Club Lounge
Ritz-Carlton club lounges are some of the best club lounges in any city. We have outlined the best Ritz-Carlton club lounges. These club lounges cannot be accessed with high loyalty status. At Ritz-Carlton hotels, you must book a club room to get access to their club lounges.
Most JW Marriott hotels also have club lounges, and if you have top-tier Marriott Bonvoy status, you get access to JW Marriott club lounges for free, but they are not as good as the Ritz-Carlton club lounges.
Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador Elite Marriott Bonvoy members have access to Concierge/Executive/Club/Signature Club/M Club lounges at Marriott properties, including JW Marriott, Marriott, Renaissance, or Sheraton hotels, and they can also bring one guest to the lounge as long as the guest is staying in the same room. At the time of writing, you get Platinum Elite status after staying 50 nights a year at a Marriott property. To get Titanium Elite, you need to stay 75 nights each year.
This is a great free benefit, although some JW Marriotts, like JW Marriott Venice, don’t have club lounges. Some club lounges, like the JW Marriott Essex House in New York, are not overly appealing. The lounge here has a decent breakfast, in fact it’s the same extensive breakfast as is offered in the main restaurant, but is a windowless room on the ground floor, so it is not a particularly attractive place to hang out.
St. Regis hotels don’t usually have club lounges, as is the case in their New York property.
We loved the club lounge at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London and would book this hotel based on its brilliant club lounge. We think this is one of the best Marriott club lounges. In New York, we prefer the Ritz-Carlton Club lounges even though you have to pay for them.
8. Family Facilities
JW Marriott, St. Regis, and Ritz-Carlton hotel rooms are similarly family-friendly. But as a general rule, Ritz-Carlton hotels tend to be the most family-friendly due to their facilities, excellent club lounges, and skew towards leisure travelers.
Some JW Marriotts are used as conference hotels that can be noisy and boisterous with complementary alcohol at corporate events. This is particularly true for JW Marriott hotels in cities, so do check whether there is a conference planned before choosing to stay at a JW Marriott with your family.
Both the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott Club lounges are brilliant for young and older children due to the snacks that are provided throughout the day and the extra space to escape.
If you want the best brand for family-friendly luxury hotels, it is usually best at Four Seasons or some Belmond properties like the Hotel Cipriani.
9. Price
Ritz-Carlton tends to be some of the most expensive hotels in a city, but you tend to get what you pay for with large rooms and a higher level of luxury.
JW Marriott and St. Regis hotels tend to be cheaper than Ritz-Carlton hotels, so if you are on a budget, these are worth considering.
For a more reasonable Ritz-Carlton or JW Marriott stay, check out our review of some of the cheapest Ritz-Carlton hotels, cheapest St. Regis hotels and the cheapest Marriott hotels.
10. Conclusion
Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and JW Marriott hotels are almost always some of the most luxurious hotels in any city or resort, but Ritz-Carlton hotels and St. Regis hotels are usually more luxurious, smaller, and more intimate. Ritz-Carlton hotels usually win on luxury, whereas JW Marriotts tend to attract convention.
NY EDITION is another Marriott umbrella hotel that is worth mentioning and is a decent luxury offering with a good location, but we think the best Marriott in New York has to be shared by the Ritz-Carlton Nomad and the Ritz-Carlton Central Park.
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