If you follow me on social media, you probably noticed that last week I had a “stay-cation” adventure in NYC. It was all thanks to Marriott Hotels, who were kind enough to invite me to join their Travel Brilliantly campaign.

I was really excited to be a part of this for a few reasons. First and foremost, I love an opportunity to share my favorite things to do in NYC! Secondly, I get so many requests about where to stay when visiting New York, so I definitely wanted the chance to check out what Marriott Hotels had to offer. And I must say, I was VERY impressed.

From the get-go, I loved the ease of my stay at Marriott Hotels. I was able to utilize their mobile check-in on Thursday morning, which couldn’t have been more simple.

When I arrived at the hotel around 5pm that day, my check-in took all of about 20 seconds. It was so seamless!

I stayed at the New York Marriott Downtown located in the Financial District, blocks from One World Trade Center. The view from my suite says it all…

My room itself was amazing too. Kiiiiinda wish I could live here…

Perfect selfie mirror – check

I felt all sorts of special when I was welcomed with a card and some fancy chocolates.

After I got all settled in, I met up for a tour of the hotel with the Marriott team and some other bloggers. We also got to learn more about Travel Brilliantly and the fun new Marriott Mobile technology, followed by a welcome reception with cocktails and au d’oeuvres.

And then, it was time for me to experience Travel Brilliantly for myself! First off was a visit to nearby Century 21, where I was able to use a Visa gift card to do a mini shopping spree. I kept with the mobile theme by having my lovely Instagram followers help me choose which outfit(s) to buy.

Since the prices were way marked down, I went with two of the outfits! With your help I chose the pink dress and the green pants. Gotta love a shopping success

After a quick run back to the hotel, I got on my phone once again – this time to schedule an Uber car to bring me to my next destination.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that Uber is one of those apps I can’t live without. It’s leaps and bounds more convenient than waiting outside to hail a cab, and you can even follow the car on a map with a countdown to see when it’s going to arrive.

Uber brought me right to my dinner reservation at Empellon Cocina in the East Village, which I booked through OpenTable (seriously – what did we do before mobile technology?!). Rachel and Dara joined me for some of the best Mexican food I’ve had in the city.

We were going to order off of the special restaurant week menu, but decided to just do a la carte (mostly because we wanted their famous masa chips & pistachio guacamole, haha).

All of the food was so delicious! Thumbs up from Dara

After dinner we got picked up by Uber again, this time a big ol’ fancy Escalade.

We met up with some friends at Brinkley’s in SoHo, then went across the street to GoldBar.

It was such a fun night out on the town! As if I didn’t feel spoiled enough, I loved being able to go back to my hotel room and get an amazing night’s sleep. As difficult as it was to wake up in the morning, I loved feeling extra pampered thanks to a room service breakfast. I’m a sucker for the “bed office.”

A few hours later it was time to check-out, which was just as seamless and easy as the mobile check-in. Just a simple click on my phone, and I was good to go! We actually did a “Mobile Check-out race,” which included certain tasks to be shared on social media, and guess who won? Meeee!

I really must say I loved my stay at Marriott Hotels and learning more about them. Even though Marriott Hotels is already an industry leader, they’re on an exciting transformational journey looking for new ways to interact with and accommodate their guests. They’re working hard to introduce technological innovations for the next generation traveler, including being the first to introduce the mobile check-in and check-out.

Another way Marriott Hotels is enabling guests to Travel Brilliantly is through their Guest Services app, which allows guests to request service at their fingertips. I really love that option because it’s not only convenient, but it’s personalized and makes you feel like a VIP during your stay.

Click here to learn more exciting information about Marriott Hotels Travel Brilliantly!

Thanks so much to Marriott, Uber, Century 21, OpenTable, and Empellon Cocina for accomodating such a fun NYC adventure.

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Disclosure: please note that I was given a complimentary 1 night stay at New York Marriott Downtown, a $200 Visa gift card, and $40 Uber credit. All thoughts and opinions in this post are my own.

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Is mobile check-in/check-out something you’d like to try?
What’s your favorite travel app?