Courtyard by Marriott – The Love is Gone

I just stayed in a Courtyard for 2 nights this week.  It is the first time in almost a year that I have stayed in this brand, and based on my prior experiences I wasn’t all that excited about doing it, but I figured I would give it another shot.

My past several stays at Courtyards have been less than stellar to say the least.  There is one in particular that I used to frequent on the west coast that seemed to have a problem every time I stayed there.  One time, I checked in and went to my room only to find the door to my room was open.  I suspiciously went inside checking in the closet, under the bed, and in the tub for a possible predator.  Thankfully there wasn’t one, so as I went to close and lock the door I discovered why it was open in the first place.  The deadbolt lock was sticking out and wouldn’t retract into the door so it could be closed.  Now you would think someone prior to my arrival would notice something like this – wouldn’t you?  Since my body clock was on 1am at this point, I was not too happy.  I was promptly moved to a different, better room, but why did I have to go through the hassle in the first place?

The next time at the same hotel, there was a problem with the thermostat and the tub drain.  It was a very sleepless night because the A/C unit sounded like a diesel truck, and I could not turn it off.  I kept turning the thermostat to “OFF”, but it wasn’t controlling the unit properly.  So to top it off in the morning I noticed the water rising above my ankles when I was in the shower.  I reported both problems to the front desk in the morning and when I returned to my room that evening, it was obvious that the A/C unit was fixed, and that they had worked on the tub drain.  The reason the tub drain was noticeable was because there was a thick, black, gritty residue in the bottom of the tub that would not rinse away with water.  I tried to use a wash cloth to push the residue down the drain, but it just left black smudges on the bottom of the tub.  Not knowing what this chemical was, I was not willing to stand in it to take a shower the next day, so I reported the problem to the front desk who offered to change my room.  When I got to my new room, the thermostat had the same problem as the first room.  I kept keys to both rooms, so I slept in the original room and showered in the new room the next morning.

Anyway, these types of experiences definitely put a bad taste in my mouth about this specific hotel, but there are other reasons why I don’t care for the chain anymore.

1. When there is a problem in the evening, it seems that the ONLY employee in the hotel is the person working the front desk.  They can’t fix maintenance or housekeeping issues, all they can do is change your room (if the hotel is not sold out).  And they can’t even leave the front desk to bring you your new key, so you have to make the hike down to pick it up.
2. In most of these hotels there is only 1 elevator on 1 side of the building.  If they put you in the 2^nd or 3^rd floor and your room happens to be on the other side, you have quite a hefty walk schlepping your luggage to get to your room.
3. I don’t like the bathroom layout.  The bathroom has the tub and toilet, then the sink is outside that room.  I can see the obvious advantages when there are multiple people staying in the room, but for me, 99.9% of the time I am alone, and  that layout provides very little counter space for toiletries, especially when they put the coffee maker and mugs on it as well. 
4. The lighting tends to be very dim – everywhere.  It’s hard to see details of your face in the mirror behind the sink, and the other lights in the guestrooms provide barely adequate light when they all are turned on simultaneously.  The lobby and the restaurant are not bright and inviting either.  The word “vibrant” is not a word I would use when describing the décor or the atmosphere at this brand.
5. The hot food on the breakfast buffet is not the best quality.  The scrambled eggs definitely taste like “liquid egg product” that comes in the same type of carton milk comes in. The bacon is paper thin and crumbly that sometimes I can’t even pick it up without it disintegrating.  I know I could place an order for eggs, but I never do because I can’t see what they are doing to my eggs in the kitchen.

So since it had been a while, I decide to try this chain again, this time in the Midwest.  The staff was very courteous.  It was obvious there was a trainee working the front desk so things took a bit longer, but there was no issue for me.  My request of a first floor room was honored, but the only one they had available was an accessible room.  That didn’t bother me, so I drove around, got to my room and the first thing that hit me was the temperature.  It was freezing in that room!  I noticed that the thermostat was off, so I promptly turned up the temperature.  After hearing some clicking noises and nothing else after 10 minutes of trying to fiddle with it, I called the front desk to report the problem and they said they would send maintenance.  15 minutes later, maintenance shows up, and after him fiddling for 10 more minutes, he decided he couldn’t fix it so I called the front desk for a new room.  The trainee offered me a room on the 2^nd floor and also offered to help bring my luggage up there.  I thanked her for her offer because I figured there would be an elevator nearby I said it was not necessary.  I forgot about the single elevator thing.  So she came by to bring my new keys and insisted on helping me with my luggage up the stairs because sure enough it was a hefty hike to the elevator and back. 

My new room was adequate, but that’s about it – dim and uninviting.  Breakfast was just as I had remembered – fake eggs and disintegrating bacon.  The lobby seemed lifeless except for the people checking out.  Even the exceptional staff couldn’t overcome the “blah” I feel when I stay in a Courtyard.