I so wish I could write a four to five star review for this property after the years of complaints I have while staying here, but a three star is a stretch. Let me start this review by saying we do not have a choice of staying here or somewhere else when we attend an annual dealer meeting for my husband's business. If we did, trust me, when on personal trips to Charleston, we choose much better properties.
I was happy to see that they did have bellmen in place since our visit last year, the restaurants/bars seemed to offer longer hours, and the hotel common space areas seemed a bit cleaned up, but still not up to a full service Marriott brand standard in my opinion.
We were greeted at the car by Carter to take our luggage and he was very nice and completely professional. After a quick check in and getting into our room a little ahead of the 4:00 check in, we headed down to the bar to meet a few folks. The bartender Paul was nice and quick to serve us. I was very happy with the service here.
A "Casino Night Theme" dinner was actually so much fun and decorated perfectly. The food was pretty good for a buffet style menu. The wine choices were awful so we did have to continue to go to the bar for premium selections but that was the only issue.
The issue I have primarily with this hotel are the rooms, the halls, and the spaces where guests stay. The bathrooms are riddled with mold and so small you can barely get in without an issue. There is no way more than one adult could use the bathroom space at one time. The carpets in the halls are old and gross and the same is true in the rooms, the mattress is not comfortable, there are no ceiling fans, the rooms are hot despite turning the temperature down and the sheets and towels are awful! The walls are so thin between rooms that we were awakened by the very loud babies/children in the room next ours and we could seriously hear their entire conversations in full detail. There is no luxury anything here.
Housekeeping is a mess and always has been in all of our stays here. On our first full day, I spoke to the housekeeping lady outside in the hall to let her know we were leaving the room for lunch and asked if they could clean while we were gone and leave extra towels. She said absolutely. I am a daily housekeeping tipper, so I hoped my tip was appreciated and the room done to our request. We returned two plus hours later and nothing had been done. So we called the front desk and were told they would send someone up right away and we went down to the lobby and waited. After 30ish minutes I went to the front desk and I was assured the room had been cleaned and the extra towels we requested were there. We walked into a room that now, for the second time, was untouched. We were tired and wanted a nap. When we were leaving for dinner, we called them to tell them we would be out for a few hours, and they promised after our third request, our room would be cleaned. It was but there were no extra towels and our room door was left ajar. I cannot even begin to elaborate on what was at stake in that room but between designer luggage and handbags, our computers, etc., over $30,000 worth of personal belongings. I almost passed out when I walked up to the door. Luckily nothing was missing but this is unacceptable. And then the icing on the cake with housekeeping was they knocked on my door three times today before I was due to check out! My privacy sign was out and I had a late checkout so why do they need to come in now? The worst housekeeping ever in all my travels with Marriott.
I do want to give Nick, the GM, credit for acknowledging my issues and trying to remedy things. I know staff is hard to find during this time in our world, but it is unfortunate that the owners of this hotel do not spend the needed money to upgrade this to the standards of a full service Marriott. And hire a new housekeeping manager as this staff is not up to par and needs better guidance and protocals.
There are some water views but you will be a long way from all restaurants and shops at this location so plan to Uber if you do not have a car. I recommend staying at other properties that are updated and closer to the downtown businesses. read more