What to expect: Hilton Newark Penn Station guests reach the lobby directly from the Gateway Center, via skywalk from Newark Penn Station, or by escalator up from the street. The small, traditionally furnished space includes several sitting areas with comfortable chairs and sofas. Artificial flowers brighten the lobby. During the week, most guests are here on business in either the Gateway Center or central Newark, and conferences and meetings are mainstays of the hotel. Weekends bring wedding parties and travelers visiting Manhattan.

Amenity highlights: Convenience is the cornerstone of this Newark hotel. Offering direct access to the adjacent shops, restaurants, and office buildings of the Gateway Center, the hotel also has a pedestrian bridge to Newark Penn Station, across the street. The hotel provides complimentary 24-hour transportation to and from Newark International Airport. The hotel has views of the Passaic River, and, in clear weather, the Manhattan skyline. High-speed Internet access (surcharge) is available in the 24-hour business center. Wireless Internet access is offered in other public areas.

Insider tip: Within 10 minutes' walk of the Hilton Newark Penn Station is the Ironbound District, a neighborhood with a long-established community of Portuguese immigrants. In the last decade or so, many Brazilians have moved to the area, and the two communities together bring culinary riches to the neighborhood's restaurants and bakeries.

What to expect: Sheraton Newark Airport Hotel is a quiet haven with ready access to interstate highways and Newark International Airport. It attracts business travelers visiting nearby corporate headquarters or attending meetings in the hotel, serves as an overnight stop for airline passengers, and draws locals on weekends for social events and celebrations.

Amenity highlights: Illuminated by natural light, a heated 50-by-30-foot indoor pool and six-person spa tub are enclosed by one wing of the hotel's eight-story, V-shaped atrium, which consists of soaring window walls and slanted glass roofs. Complimentary shuttle service is provided to-and-from the airport every 15 minutes 24 hours a day.

Insider tip: Jersey Gardens outlet mall four miles away can be reached by taking the hotel's complimentary shuttle to the airport and catching the mall's complimentary shuttle at the airport.