We moved to Texas. And when we moved to Texas, we had to stay in a hotel for a month because we were waiting for our house. Normally we'd have to stay on base, but they didn't have room for us so we had to find a place off base. Tom was told that the Residence Inn Marriott took pets and was close to base so he booked it.
Here was our experience:
Pro--They do a military discount. We got a $99 a night rate. There was also a $100 pet deposit.
Con--The beds weren't comfortable--to US. If you like a hard mattress, these are the beds for you. But we prefer softer mattresses, so our backs were pretty sore every morning.
Pro--The staff is incredibly friendly. They always had a smile on their face.
Con--The power went off for about two hours one day. It got rather hot because of this.
Pro--I didn't have to cook since we were in a hotel. Granted, I DID cook simple things, but not much, because there were only tiny burners.
Con--This sign was on the pool door a few times, which is not cool when you have a kid who needs to get rid of excess energy.
Pro--We were allowed to walk to the Holiday Inn next door and use their pool when it happened...but I'm lazy and didn't want to walk someplace else. I mean I DID, because Natalie really wanted to swim, but the Holiday Inn pool was much smaller and more crowded. So not as fun.
Con--The fire alarm went off several times in the night. One night it went off at midnight. On another, it went off four times in one night.
Pro--We got a free night because of it. I complained about being without power, plus being woken up many times because of the alarm.
Con--When we arrived, the lobby was all torn up because it was going through renovations. The gym and other parts of the hotel were all torn up too. This was not disclosed to Tom when he called and made our reservations which I found to be a bit shady.
Pro--The water pressure was awesome AND the hot water didn't run out. I've been at several hotels where the hot water ran out, and it was awful.
Con--The water was shut off for nearly FIVE hours when the letter we got stated it would only be two:
It wasn't cool because it shut off when everyone was coming home from work, so they were all sweaty and wanted a shower. I guess some people actually checked out of the hotel and left because of it.
Pro--Since you weren't able to use the toilet because the water was off, they did give you jugs of water, but only if you came to the front desk. I happened to go down and ask when the heck the water would be back on after hour four, and they offered me water.
Con--They probably should have had staff knock on doors to let the guests know about the water.
Pro--Most of the breakfast stuff was replenished often--such as the eggs and sausage.
Con--We had tiny ants in our room. We told housekeeping about it and they said the ants had been in rooms before but the renovations were supposed to be taking care of them. Uh, nope.
Pro--We got ant traps and they seemed to take care of some of the ants...but if you left food on the counter, the ants would get to it. I learned this the hard way when I set my donut down for later, only to find ants crawling all over it. I was bummed. I WANTED that donut. Very badly.
Con--The gym was closed when we first arrived due to the renovations. I needed to work off all the donuts I was eating from HEB that weren't lost to ants.
Pro--You COULD go to the hotel next door and use their gym, but I sweat profusely and turn red in the face when I work out and didn't want people to think I was, you know, DYING when I made the trek across the street.
Bottom line? We loved the staff. But in the future, Residence Inn Marriott should ALWAYS inform their customers if there will be renovations. After a long trip, people don't want to arrive to banging and men walking around with equipment and paint.
Also, Residence Inn Marriott might want to consider closing a few days if they do renovations, because the amount of things that seemed to happen (alarms going off, ants, no water, no power) was a little ridiculous. We're a military family and have stayed at MANY a hotel, and this is the only one where we were inconvenienced a number of times.
Would I stay at a Residence Inn Marriott again? Yes, but only if they weren't doing renovations. I'll be sure to ask next time we're in need of a hotel.
Have YOU ever stayed in a Residence Inn Marriott? And have you experienced all sorts of things while staying in a hotel?
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We are PCSing now and are planning to stay in a hotel for a month. Ive never stayed in a hotel for that long but this post is helping me mentally prepare!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh. Ants??? Ugh!!! I'm so glad this is over for you guys. The kids will have good stories to share when they start back at school though!!
ReplyDeleteWe are PCSing now and are planning to stay in a hotel for a month. Ive never stayed in a hotel for that long but this post is helping me mentally prepare!
ReplyDeleteI've never stayed in a Residence Inn Marriott, but I do work for the company that builds the furniture for the Residence Inn Marriott :)
ReplyDeleteThe hotel we stayed in during our PCS was also under construction, which was not disclosed to my husband when he booked it OR on there website anywhere, so it was SUPER loud during our baby's nap time each day (ughhhhh), and the workers kept smoking and then getting in the elevator, causing it to smell so bad and make me wheeze (asthma) every time I had to take it... so that meant I kept taking the stairs while carrying a dang carseat. I was not impressed, and it was also a Marriott.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't stay at a Residence Inn but we still live in a hotel for a month and it's definitely a unique experience haha.
ReplyDeleteWow that's a lot of crap to happen during your stay. You're right, they really should have notified you about the renovation work ahead of time.
ReplyDeleteWe love the Residence Inns, but sounds like you just got some bad luck with that particular hotel!
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ReplyDeleteI worked at a Residence Inn. We never had any of the mentioned issues though thank goodness. I worked the night shift there on. 9/11 it was a nightmare even in Colorado since all the flights were grounded we had guests that landed that needed their rooms but the people who were supposed to check out couldn't cause their flights were cancelled. The dinner and breakfast was always delicious and I loved the Boston Creme pie!
ReplyDeleteI love Marriott overall but I have had a few issues with them. We stayed in an absolutely gorgeous Marriott in dow town Chattanooga and the beds were just as you described. I could barely sleep. However the hotel was reanice and the staff was great. Several years ago, my in-laws came to stay with us and booked into the local Marriott. We met them there when they arrived and our kids wanted to ride the elevator so we went with them to their room. We opened the door to find the bathroom torn apart and two men nonchalantly working on it. They said they were renovating and told us to kick rocks "until at LEAST 9pm". The front desk hadn't said a word, when they booked and when they checked in. My FIL acted like it was NBD in front of the kids but he called corporate and I don't know what he said..mbut he didn't pay for a hotel when he visited us ever again (he passed away last Fall). At least they made it right!
ReplyDelete$99 a night really adds up, though! I'm glad they were friendly. The lack of water and power, even for limited times, would have set me over the edge!
ReplyDeleteArgh, there's nothing worse then arriving to a hotel and they're doing reno's... A few nights with that is bad enough, but a whole month? Sheeesh! They should have been more upfront with their situation. Glad you're out of there now!!
ReplyDeleteAnts suck. Now that you are in Texas you will probably see them more. They were always in our house in South Texas, and I have them here in Florida also. They move fast!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine living in a hotel for a month. A week is bad enough for me.
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