We’ve visited New Haven a few times since our daughter moved there and the hotel market, especially for using points, was a bit of a black hole. There’s an overpriced Courtyard near the main square that charges for parking, an Omni (but not many have points to use in that program) and a few expensive boutique hotels.

Recently, the Hotel Marcel, a Tapestry Collection by Hilton property, opened near the waterfront just south of downtown on the same site as the local IKEA store. The property used to be an office building and was recently converted to a hotel.

I really like when they take an old building an repurpose it for use as a hotel while keeping the external look of the building. One of my favorite hotels is the Aloft in Liverpool, England which is a 100 year old insurance building where all the rooms are slightly different shapes.

I booked the hotel for two nights using 60,000 Hilton points per night the day before I traveled. The cash rate was over $350 per night, which is a bit steep, but there were several large events going on in the area that weekend. I have a decent stash of Hilton points so I was happy to save the cash and be quite close to my daughter’s apartment.

Before I arrived at the Hotel Marcel, I called to see if there was any chance of an upgrade. I was told no suites were available, but as they were still selling suites on the Hilton website, I pressed a bit and was told that there was in fact a suite available.

I arrived around 8pm after dinner with my daughter and checked in. I was given a “King suite” on the 8th floor. I’m not sure I would classify this room as a suite, but it was plenty large enough for just me.

I apologize for the dark pictures, but I was still trying to figure out the lights. There’s a LED control panel as you enter the room that controls everything. I was eventually able to figure it out fairly quickly. It controlled the lights, blinds, and temperature in the room, but there were also switches by the bed that controlled the lights and blinds.

The hotel is very eco-friendly. It has paper/cardboard single-use shampoo and shower gel containers (still better than the larger dispensers found at many hotels), a pencil instead of a pen and canned water instead of bottles.

I visited the bar both evenings to use my $30 per night credit as a Diamond member. The prices were quite reasonable for a hotel bar ($9 for a draft beer and $8 for bread pudding and gelato).

Parking at the hotel was free and plentiful thanks to the nearby IKEA parking lot. It also felt fairly secure as it was away from downtown New Haven which can be a bit sketchy, especially at night.

Overall, I was very pleased with the hotel and we will definitely stay there again next time we visit our daughter. It’s nice to finally have a good points option there. Up next is a review of the new LGA Amex Centurion lounge.

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