Marriott Marquis

When I traveled to New York City recently, I had the thrill of staying in the midst of the neon and excitement of Times Square at the Marriott Marquis. A lot of other travelers had the same thrill: The hotel was running at an amazing 94 percent occupancy during the two nights I was there. At 1,946 rooms, that sounds like a setup for an elevator nightmare.

However, with the hotel's new Miconic 10 elevator system — “Destination driven, that's the way to go!” says Tina Strauss, senior account executive — moving around was a breeze. Designed by elevator-maker Schindler, the system has keypads outside the elevator bank where guests input their desired floors. By constantly monitoring elevator positions, the system determines which elevator will deliver guests to their floors fastest. Despite the hotel's basically full occupancy, a large conference in house, and the fact that I was staying on a high floor, the system worked like a charm. And it gives elevator passengers something to talk about — if they aren't too busy looking out the glass cars.

In 2007, the Marriott Marquis completed a multiyear, top-to-bottom renovation. The hotel has 100,000 square feet of meeting space.