Courtyard By Marriott New York Manhattan - Upper East Side Review

Courtyard By Marriott Upper East Side Review
Summary: New, clean, highly recommended

My wife and I go to New York City about once a year and always bid on Priceline.com for a hotel. Priceline is a bit of a gamble: you don’t know where you’ll end up until after your card is charged, and the charges are non-refundable. But NYC is very easy to get around, so it's usually a risk worth taking. This year we ended up at Courtyard By Marriott New York Manhattan - Upper East Side.

We had a lot of plans for the weekend which included attending the Saturday Night Live season finale (Midtown), visiting the fabulous Calvin Wiley (Village), and getting a passport renewed (SoHo). Based on those criteria, the Upper East Side was not where we wanted to end up. But we also had plans to visit our friend Bryan Tucker from SNL, who it turned out lived just blocks from the Courtyard.

This particular Marriott property opened in August of 2006, and everything has a newness about it that is absent from many NYC hotels. The rooms were clean, spacious (especially by NYC standards), and well laid out. In addition to our King size bed, we had a sitting area that included a couch and workstation. The bathroom was also roomy with modern amenities and a very clean shower (keep in mind this can be unusual in NYC).

Most importantly, the staff was friendly and always ready to help out. And like any good stay, we rarely needed them.

For the fitness minded travelers, the lower level features an indoor pool, locker rooms with saunas and steam rooms, and a workout area with cardio equipment, machines, and free weights. Head outside down 90th street, and it’s a straight shot to the Central Park reservoir jogging track (1.5 miles around the track, 1.5 miles to/from hotel). If you’re looking for a good 5K, walk to the track (largely uphill), jog the track and then back to the hotel (largely downhill).

When you’re hungry, head over to 2nd Avenue between 88th and 90th. At 1726 Second Ave. you’ll find a delightful Mexican eatery called Taco Taco, known for its outstanding fish tacos. On either side of Taco Taco, you’ll find casual dining ranging from Thai, to Japanese, to Southwest, to Chinese, to anything you want to eat.

The nearest subway station is a mile away, but you’d better get used to walking if you’re coming to the city. You can also easily catch a cab outside the hotel. Rides to/from LaGuardia were about $20-25 + toll ($4.50) + tip. Rides to/from midtown were $10-15, and all the way to the Village or SoHo were in the $20-25 range.

Heading into the trip, I was a bit disappointed that we ended up so far away from Midtown. But this turned out to be one of our best stays, and the Courtyard played a big part in our satisfaction. We’d definitely return to the hotel, and we recommend you give it a try, as well.

Courtyard By Marriott
Upper East Side
410 East 92nd Street
New York, New York 10128
212-410-6777
http://marriott.com/hotels/travel/nycmh-courtyard-new-york-manhattan-upper-east-side/

Meet your new UFC Heavyweight Champion, Gabriel Gonzaga!

Something funny happened on the way to the potential record-breaking PPV event featuring UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy “The Natural” Couture defending his belt against the Croatian killing machine, Mirko Cro Cop. Crop Cop got dropped (badly) by virtually unknown Gabriel Gonzaga.

The tide started to turn in the pre-fight commentary. Randy Couture – perhaps the greatest MMA strategist of all time – predicted Gonzaga to win. What’s more, he basically flat-out said that he’d rather fight Cro Cop than Gonzaga. Can you imagine a man so tough that you’d rather get in the ring with knockout specialist Cro Cop? Oh yeah, we just saw him drop Cro Cop cold.

So what does the UFC do now? They’ve lost a PPV dream match between Couture and Cro Cop – and all the money that goes with it. Nobody wants to pay to see their hero lose to some unknown guy (which is the very reason I choose not to watch the Rich Franklin vs. Anderson Silva fight). How can the UFC spin this into a positive?

The answer is simple, turn on the Gonzaga hype machine! He’s a big dude. He’s got a strong highlight reel. He just destroyed one of the best heavyweights on the planet. He seems like a nice guy. He speaks a little English (work on that, Gabe). All he needs is a few well-produced videos and he’ll make a great UFC champion.

Look how easy it easy it is:
“Tune into UFC 74 to see beloved veteran champion Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture face the unstoppable knockout power of Mirko Cro Cop Gabriel Gonzaga.”

See? It just takes a little bit of creative editing. Couture gets to play the role he's comfortable in: the underdog facing insurmountable odds. If Couture loses, UFC has a new monster heavyweight champion. If Couture wins, wow – he did it again. Everybody goes home happy.

But for all this to work, UFC has to roll the dice and build up Gonzaga big-time (I recommend some beach training videos with Rachelle Leah). UFC needs to do something soon, because Gongaza will be the next UFC champion. I mean, Couture can't do the impossible again... can he?