Element Ewing Princeton

I’d love to give the Element 0 stars but that’s not an option. First, maybe years ago this was a modern, up to the date hotel, but not any more. First, the problems with the room. There is no water pressure in the rain shower head, which results in not better than a weak urine stream. They have shampoo/​conditioner and body wash dispensers mounted on the wall which reminds me of showering at the YMCA. One of which didn’t work causing me to do my hair with body wash. Nice. The TV on both nights showed «No Signal» on all the network channels as well as ESPN channels and their one premium channel Showtime. That left me with the weather channel ad some other random junk. Their «breakfast» included consisted of out of the box donuts, muffins, some stale cereal in a tube and juice. When I called Johnny at the front desk about the reported issues with the TV and Shampoo dispenser, his response was welll I’m not in maintenance” response was less that what I expected. After I hung up on him he insisted in calling me back to vent his opinion on me regarding my concerns about the hotel. If you a business traveler or even a casual traveler go to the Courtyard Mariott, and not this weak franchised version of a Westin hotel.
btw… Chair is room is broken, desk light in room is broken, TV swirl stand in room is broken, No pen, desk pad, etc. Just thing you expect from Hotels not named «Motel 6»

I’ve stayed here numerous times over the course of the past two years, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who is traveling near the Princeton/​Ewing surrounding area. To this day, the Element is my go-​to location when I visit this particular area of New Jersey, especially because of its clean + modern up-​keeping, along with the large kitchen space provided.
I’ve stayed in all the rooms that they offer, and if possible, I would recommend you book the suite if you’re a party of 2. Otherwise, the standard room with the double beds is the better deal, as the suites only include one king sized bed. The executive suite is that of an upscale one bedroom apartment– with a spacious bedroom and separate kitchen area apart from the living room.
They have a free continental breakfast every morning, and from Mondays through Thursdays, they offer an evening reception with plenty of finger foods and appetizers. I’ve eaten everything from pasta and meatballs from a local Italian restaurant, quesadillas and all the fix-​ins, wings, chicken fingers, cheese platters with fruit, the list goes on.
My critique is that I found myself having to switch rooms many times, because either the sink, fridge, dishwasher, or shower wasn’t working properly. Sometimes I’d walk into rooms that weren’t thoroughly cleaned with sticky floors.
However, I will mention that the front desk (and house-​keeping staff) is attentive and quick to remedy any issues– which I greatly appreciate. Hence the four stars, as overall, the Element is definitely one of my favorite hotel stays in this immediate area.

I am currently staying at The Element in a 4 month assignment in the area. I expected more given this is a Westin property and have always had my expectations exceeded staying in Starwood properties.
The room is difficult to keep temperature regulated and the LCD tvs need better connections as they have fuzzy reception on any non-​HD channel.
My only real complaint is the dogs barking constantly and the fact that this business extended stay is loaded with kids running the halls during the weekends back and forth to the pool.
The bed is very comfortable and the size of my one bedroom adequately appointed with storage. The sectional couch is like sitting on concrete blocks.

This is just a so-​so hotel. They didn’t honor our room requests at all, don’t provide (or even know they’re supposed to have) the dog amenities, and aren’t very good at communicating with their guests. We stayed three nights over two separate stays, found many things wrong and rundown with the room, weren’t impressed with the stale breakfast foods, were nauseated by their spoiled milk, and were disappointed with the temporarily closed pool. The hotel was generally clean and quiet, and it does allow dogs.

Very nice hotel. The bathroom was gorgeous & so was the room. Also very convenient that they provide dishes in the kitchenette. However during my stay there were a lot of ants in the room. There was also a light out on the ceiling which was the main source of light for the room. I only stayed one night and noticed the ants in the morning. I reported it to the front desk and all the woman responded with was «thank you for telling us». I was expecting her to at least apologize, but she did not. I would’ve loved to stay here again, but I wouldn’t because of the ants.

Unethical behavior by management. Hotel failed to honor their own cancellation policy as clearly stated in their reservation receipt email.
«Cancel by 6:00 PM Hotel time –arrival day to avoid 1 Night penalty. »

Quick review. Stayed here sunday night– got a great deal on Expedia so said why not?. Element is a boutique hotel. It is very modern and minimalist. Clean and white, no clutter but everything you need is there. They have a pool and hot tub– unfortunately both were not working when i stayed so we got to go across the street and use the pool at the marriot which was ok. The room had a king bed which was comfortable enough. Flat tv lots of channels. Air conditioner blew cold and hard. Room had a small fridge and microwave, small counter and sink with cabinets and a toaster. Bathroom is modern and nice however the shower had this water saver rain showerhead– awful– no water pressure at all– the water barely feels like it is hitting you. I know they want to save water but their showers are just silly. Forget washing your hair in the shower unless you are bald or have a crew cut– the little sink in the bedroom has more pressure so wash your hair there if you have to. The staff at the hotel were very nice and friendly. Place was quiet all night but they do not have do not disturb signs for your door so house keeping was banging on our door at 8am which was annoying because we wanted to sleep late. And they keep banging so make a sign and put it on your door if you want them to leave you alone. There is a big gas grill in the courtyard you can grill on so if u have a group of people u can cook out and save some cash if you want to. I would stay again but i’d spend the extra $ 20 for the larger room but only just to compare it to what i had before. Check expedia for deals.

Just leaving the Element this morning after a night of very little sleep. First off, we chose this hotel because it was pet friendly and we were on our way home from a beach vacation this being about 8 hours into our 2 day drive.
The staff was nice and recommend a local pizza spot that was good when we arrived. They were fine w us using their bike racks for our bikes and even had wine to purchase after a ride from hell in treacherous rain. They also had dog treats and a water bowl right at the desk for our furry friend. This was the end of our pleasant experience.
Upon taking the elevator to the 3^rd floor to our room it sounded like elephants were running down the halls inside the elevator. We shrugged it off and went into our room. Our room was very nice, large w high ceilings, a big bathroom and a comfortable bed.
When my husband took our dog out to walk, he could hear loud music from the 2^nd floor and got to the lobby where there were 2 cops looking for someone staying in the hotel. There were also 2 cruisers in the parking lot. We tried to ignore all of this and went to bed. I was woken up around 3am to what sounded like someone running and then jumping onto the bed. At one point it sounded like the ceiling was going to collapse. After about 30 minutes I got up and put the fan on the air system on to try and drown out all of the noise. After finally getting back to sleep, we were woken up just before 8am to the fire alarm. The alarm was ultra loud and also had a megaphone of an announcement blaring down the hallway. We trudged down the hall with our more than freaked out dog to see everyone from the hotel outside in the rain looking exactly how we felt, pissed. After about 20 minutes they let everyone back in, apparently a false alarm and a guest had pulled it.
Now that we were up we figured we’d go and take advantage of our included ‘Hot Breakfast’. This is basically a sub par continental breakfast. There were stale bagels, some sort of wraps, and pancakes that looked like they were made a week ago. We settled on bagels because they looked like the safest option and went to get a coffee, there wasn’t any, icing on the cake. We rifled down our disgusting bagels and went to the room hoping to at least have a cup of coffee in the room w the crappy instant maker only to find decaf our only option.
We are both SPG members and were very disappointed with out stay. We will not be recommending this property to anyone.

It is with a heavy heart that I write this «meh» review.
My man friend and I stay at this hotel frequently, for «staycations». We hit Trader Joe’s, stock up on food and wine, rent some movies, and enjoy our stay at a clean studio or one bedroom for a night or two. We like the amenities, like available full kitchens (complete with dishwashers), neat bathrooms (with environmentally «friendlier» flush options), and the signature Westin Heavenly Bed. Unfortunately…
The last time we stayed here, I left my charger in the room we stayed. I called the hotel about five minutes after we left, and got a slight attitude from the girl I spoke to. I think «Okay, whatever… just please have my charger at the front desk when I come back tonight» (y’know?). Anyway, when we return, there was a note at the front desk that my charger was there, but… no charger. Never got my charger back. Those things aren’t cheap.
I know I shouldn’t have left my charger at the hotel in the first place, and normally I’m the last person to blame staff for mistakes that have nothing to do with them, but… I’m convinced someone took my charger. Why did they have a note for it? How did it suddenly disappear after I called not five minutes after we left and someone went to get it out of the room? What pissed me off the most is that we stay here ALL THE TIME. At least once a month. It was our home away from home. Now I feel like our special nights are ruined. I don’t even know if I want to stay here again. We’ll probably look for another «like» hotel, honestly. I’m not up for buying another phone charger.

Element is like the Holiday Inn of Starwood Hotels. It looks like an Aloft/​Westin but I think Element is the lowest on the Starwood ladder. They don’t have room service, they don’t have any restaurants within the hotel, you have to come down stairs to the front desk and get what you want.
Its an affordable hotel with NOTHING in the area. It is minutes away from Princeton and Trenton. This had many families staying when I was there for 2 nights. The free breakfast had bagels, pastries, pancakes, and coffee.

I have switched to Sheraton Hotels from Marriott because of the selection of luxury hotels … so when I was near Princeton, imagine how surprised I was to find a Sheraton property. (normally finding a Sheraton branded hotel within 30 minutes of a business meeting is as hard as ffinding a college graduate in Seaside Heights, NJ)
Apparently Element Hotels is Sheraton’s attempt at competing with both the Residence Inn by Marriott (kitchen, common areas, free breakfast, suites, etc.) and Hotel Indigo by Holiday Inn (upscale, edgy, hip and Ikea-​esque) brands from the other hoteliers. I am not a ‘modern’ type of guy when it comes to hotels, so I worried this might be too modern for me but booked it anyways.
First impression of the room was that it felt like a cross between a prison cell and a college dorm room. The color scheme was very stark and industrial (lots of white, grey and dark brown). The room had that unmistakable college dorm room smell. There was no warmth at all in the room … the floor was dark faux hardwood, walls were grey or white, even the tile backsplash and counters in the kitchen were gleaming glass with brown and grey tones. Stainless appliances. You get the picture … very modern, sleek and industrial.
For younger people who like this Ikea sort of look, this would be a dream come true. I’m more of a Pottery Barn guy myself and prefer earthtones, warmth and charm. So, keep in mind … if you are a modern/​minimalist type, this will be up your ally. For a family, not so much.
The bathroom was great … lots of space. A rainfall showerhead (which was the best part of my trip … I’m a bit shower obsessed). Very bright … the white faux tile walls combined with the giant mirror with flourescent lights made me feel like I was being photographed for a magazine cover as I shaved.
The room size was great … I was doing a late check-​in, early check-​out so I booked their lowest tier which was a ‘studio suite’. The ceilings were very high and the room was spacious. I actually felt like it was one of the bigger/​nicer rooms I’ve stayed in at this price.
The breakfast was so-​so … I went down with about a half hour to spare and the fruit was gone and not replentished. The breakfast burritos were nasty. Props on making them with egg whites … but one bit proved them to taste like lukewarm vomit in a wrap stuck to the paper. I had the granola instead with milk. They had apple juice, kool aid fruit punch and water for the non-​coffee choices. (no OJ?)
The fitness center was more than adequate. The pool/​hot tub was small but loaded with kids in the morning and closed at 10 p.m. at night. So I didn’t get to use it. Lots of families with kids were here … which is odd because I don’t consider this a family hotel. The high ceilings in the rooms along with everything being made of tile or plastic made sounds echo within the room. I sneezed a few times and was surprised at how incredibly loud and echoey the sound was.
I’d stay here again for the sheer size of the rooms and the wonderful glass shower with rainfall showerhead. I’m sold.

Is it terrible that after staying just a few hours at Element Ewing Princeton, I already want to live here?
First: A disclaimer. I’m no traveler. Growing up, my family didn’t take extended vacations. College summers consisted of full-​time internships and my current job has kept me happily stationed in downtown Manhattan for the past two years. One of our largest branches is located a few miles from Princeton, however, so my team and I were assigned to Element Ewing for the night. There’s not much that I can compare this hotel to, but I can say that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by what it has to offer.
Element Ewing Princeton is a LEED Silver Certified building located in the area roughly demarcated as Princeton, NJ. They pride themselves on providing «sustainable hospitality», a practice that is evident in the Energy Star appliances, water-​efficient faucets and toilets, the implementation of CFL and LED technology, and countless other efforts. This doesn’t mean a sacrifice in comfort by any means, however.
Similarly, the amenities offered to guests are too many to name. Free WiFi is offered throughout the building, and ethernet cables are provided in all rooms as well. The pool is open from 6am-​11pm and the gym is available to guests ²⁴⁄₇. A complimentary breakfast (which I have yet to try) is offered each morning as well. The Executive Suite Room in which I stayed had a full kitchen, equipped with a fridge, microwave, stove top, silverware and cooking utensils, and coffeemaker. There’s a separate living room area with couches and a LCD TV and DVD Player, and the king size beds utilize Westin Heavenly Bed mattresses, which may be the definition of comfort. The room is a whopping 500 square feet of space, which is more than any one person actually needs.
A few suggestions/​areas of improvement:
— Despite the fact I closed the shower door properly, water still managed to leak out onto the floor.
— Separate dispensers for the shampoo and conditioner would also be a plus.
— Providing more toiletries besides soap, such as lotion and/​or cleanser, would be appreciated as well.

hello–
where to start, they have breakfast burritos that aren’t very tasty in the morning (they ran out of the breakfast sandwiches a couple times) and cereal/​fruit, whereas many of the other hotels in the area have a full complimentary breakfast and dinner buffet (they don’t have a kitchen, but they do have a plethora of menus where you can get delivery). there is a nice area where you can buy overpriced tv dinners behind the check-​in counter and frozen bottles of power-​ade.
the vent in the bedroom seems to always blow directly onto the beds, i guess that’s a good thing if you like that, i don’t. i found pistachio nuts behind a couch and the house keepers hair in the sink and on the bed, i know it’s not mine because i don’t have long black hair. the comforters are also extremely staticy.
they also aren’t good at wake up calls, they didn’t wake me up twice, once might have been because the phone was broken, i’m not sure.
for daylight savings i had to change all the clocks myself.
there aren’t any restaurants in the area so be ready for a little drive if you’re looking for food. the airport is right there so if you need to catch a flight or like listening to airplanes this hotel is in the perfect spot.
the rooms look like little offices with beds in them. the hotel looks nice but it’s lacking in feeling like you’re at a home away from home.
the guess best part is that they have showtime.

No Cookie-​Cutter This
At dusk, on the frigid last day of February, as we drove onto the desolate ice-​coated periphery of the small and snow-​shuttered Trenton, NJ airport, a massive squat brick of a building, a hangar perhaps, loomed in our headlights. Our GPS led us to the door, when what to our wondering eyes should appear but a vast, bewitching white space furnished with hard-​edge metallic tables and sofas, counters and chairs under a ceiling nearly twenty feet high.
To call the décor of this outpost of the Starwood and Westin chain’s latest venture with mid-​budget hotels «modern» or «contemporary» dates it way back to the Twentieth Century. It echos the Silicon Valley offices of Apple and Google. It is the lodging busines’s prototype of industrial design gone galactic. It is a part of the chain’s new eco-​friendly Element brand. Ours is listed as the Element Ewing and as the Element Ewing Princeton, although Princeton is 12 miles away.
The Element’s great virtue is its audacity. It shatters the cookie-​cutter conventions of hotel design. Not one object in our room came from the hotel industry catalog. In the bathrooms, none of the fixtures, not the square white porcelain sink perched on the counter, not the soap and shampoo, squeezed, not from vials but dispensers on the shower wall, mimic other hotels. Along with its head, the shower comes with a «shower wand.» Somehow, the ventilation sucks out the condensation so you don’t have to wipe off the mirror.
Every room in the Element works for extended stays. Our Room 217 was a studio. We could also have had a one or two-​bedroom suite. Our room had a full-​size stainless steel refrigerator, a two-​burner electric cook top, a microwave, a dishwasher, cabinets of tableware, and two wastebaskets – one for recyclables. We had an L-​shaped couch that opens into a bed. We had a well-​equipped glass desk with devices to connect to the TV, other devices and the Internet. The alarm clock is an elegant brushed aluminum marvel of simplicity. An ape could figure it out.
That’s a lot of upside to our Element. Its novelty alone could keep us a while. But step outside, and you’re back in the tundra. The only commercial enterprise we saw within walking distance was a Courtyard hotel. No shops. No restaurants, inside the hotel or nearby. No place to walk to for milk and eggs to put in your refrigerator. No bar. The desk does stock bottles of wine, and the clerk will open them for you. The breakfast buffet is better than average, with plenty of healthy fruit and cereals. But for something cooked, our only option was a Wonder Bread-​density bagel with scrambled egg and yellow cheese.
We liked this rendition of the Element enough to try another Element. The price of our room, at $ 159.85, was competitive, even cheap in view of the furnishings and décor. But next time, we’ll look for one with some elemental stirrings of life outside it.

This place was awesome! It was like having my own upscale apartment complete with modern shower heads, stovetops and fridge, and proper media connections for the entertainment system. Upscale, that is… if you like Ikea’s furniture; with their strength in modern and inviting décor and their hollow, flimsy materials. But hey, it was great for comfort away from home. The breakfast was good. The room was squeaky clean. Their bed was comfy. Their staff was sweet. What more do you need?

The modern décor was great. It was a refreshing and welcomed style compared to the majority of the other brands that try to pretend they are in the Caribbean Islands with their ugly pastels.
The bed and pillows were very comfortable but the AC blows on your head. Great value in that they provide a stovetop and a full fridge and modern connections to the LCD TV and DVD Player in the price.
The free breakfast was as good or better than any of the other chains (typically Hilton brand) that i have stayed at. The orange juice was a brand name which was welcome over the powder stuff i have had at other places.
The place was a bit dirty. Especially the grime on the chair backs in the Dining Area. I wanted to wash my hands after pulling out the chair to sit down.
Overall, I would say that it is NOT Westin quality. I know that it is designed to be budget compared to Westin, but the shower knob should not feel like it is going to fall off and the window safety stop should not fall off when opening the window either.

They have filtered water in the kitchen. This is a neat little studio apartment. I wish we were staying forever. Very comfy and excellent service.
This will be the only hotel I stay at when visiting home. The reservation agent gave me an excellent rate (upon quoting what Marriott told me). A billing issue occurred and the reservation office told me it would take a week to investigate. They fixed in in 20 minutes.

By far one of the coolest and most comfortable hotels i have ever stayed in. I was traveling with a large group and needed a place to stay in short notice and they were able to accommodate us without any problems and went the extra mile to provide great service.
Large rooms equipped with a full kitchen, a giant bathroom with an awesome shower head and the mirror, well the mirror was HD lol you’ll know what i mean when you look lol but yeah. a nice stay, good breakfast, fun pool and fitness room. a great get away place
Hope you enjoy the stay as much as we (group o 40+) did!

We chose to stay here for 2 nights to attend a friend’s wedding that was about 30 minutes away (for NJ standards, pretty close in driving distance), and after reading about this brand’s «eco-​friendly» statement. We love the modern feel of this place, but it does have a contemporary flair as well.
The location of the hotel is near a small county airport and industrial business parks, but don’t let that deter you from staying here. We were absolutely impressed that we heard no airplane noise! The only downfall to this hotel is that there aren’t any restaurants within walking distance.
We were going to arrive before the standard check-​in time (3pm), so I informed the front desk about our arrival time. I appreciated the friendly nature of the lady to assist us in our request. She had informed me in advance that we would get our desired room, but that if things had changed, we’d only be moved to another floor temporarily until our desired room became available.
Once we arrived, we were welcomed by a charming and cozy lobby. The floor plan of the lobby is an open one, and the rest of the hotel seamlessly follows a similar feel. The hallway leading to our room had dark cherry walls and on each door, instead of using a paper hang «Do Not Disturb» tag, each one is laminated with a magnetic backing. You simply place the tag on the magnetic strip located in the front of the door. I had never seen this before, so it was pretty cool to me. We opened the door and saw a window straight in front of us with closet and drawer space directly to the right. The bathroom is to the left and the open floor plan was airy and spacious. The green, gray, and brown color scheme is easy on the eyes and gives a tranquil feeling. We couldn’t wait to jump onto the bed; it was so inviting! We definitely slept well each night we were there, didn’t even want to get up. :)
The shower was nice and had an adjustable wand with 2 water pressure modes. The rain shower overhead was soothing, but if you’re looking for strong water pressure, you won’t find it here. I think the strongest water pressure was when you used the hand wand. Attached to the wall there was also two soap and shampoo dispensers. The scents were nice and not overly drying, so points on that.
Kitchen was a good size with everything you could possibly need: water filter, pots and pans, utensils, bowls, plates, a cook top, full size refrigerator, coffee maker, microwave. If we were to stay here longer, we would have definitely utilized the kitchen more and made some meals in our room.
Overall, we had a very enjoyable stay. There aren’t a ton of Element brand hotels around the US, so if you happen to be in the vicinity of one, I would definitely recommend staying here. We paid $ 79/​night with AAA discount for our Studio King Suite, and it was really worth every penny. They offer complimentary wi-​fi, breakfast, and parking. This is definitely becoming one of my favorites from the Starwood Hotels family.

Element & Aloft are interesting brands — more modern, minimalist, sleek, self-​contained, and social.
I like that Element has a spacious room and almost a studio apartment kind of a setting and feel.
Our experience was fine — breakfast in the lobby was a great idea too.