This is the first hotel review I have ever felt compelled to write. Over the years, I have had several less-than-ideal hotel experiences, but none that warranted a public review. Unfortunately, my recent experience with this property and Marriott's customer service process left me with little choice.
To be clear, the hotel itself is perfectly acceptable. My family has stayed here multiple times. The property is clean, well-maintained, and conveniently located. My concern is not with the facility itself, but with the complete lack of communication and customer service from hotel management and Marriott's corporate support system.
After an issue with our stay, I spent more than a month attempting to contact the hotel manager, Kimberly Jones, to discuss the situation. I called the hotel on three separate occasions and was informed each time that she did not have a voicemail set up. I was advised to contact her by email, which I did on three separate occasions. None of my emails received a response or even an acknowledgment.
After weeks of trying to reach someone who could assist, I was informed by Marriott that our request had been denied by the hotel manager--the same manager who never responded to any of my attempts to communicate. Whether the decision itself was right or wrong, the absence of any direct communication or explanation was disappointing and unprofessional.
For full transparency, our situation involved circumstances in which we were not entirely without fault. I understand that policies exist for a reason, and I recognize that businesses cannot accommodate every request. However, customer service often requires evaluating situations individually, and exceptions are made every day when circumstances warrant them. I genuinely believe our situation deserved thoughtful consideration and, at the very least, a response.
Equally frustrating was my experience with Marriott's corporate customer service. Rather than helping resolve the issue, I was repeatedly redirected to different phone numbers, email addresses, and departments without receiving meaningful assistance or accountability.
What troubles me most is not necessarily the final decision, but the process. Customers should not have to spend weeks attempting to reach a manager only to receive no response whatsoever. Respectful communication is a basic expectation, especially when a customer is making a good-faith effort to resolve a concern.
As a result of this experience, my confidence in Marriott's commitment to customer service has been significantly diminished. We will certainly not visit this hotel again and don't intend to stay at any Marriott property moving forward. I hope this review encourages both hotel management and Marriott corporate leadership to take a closer look at how customer concerns are handled. It will be interesting to see whether a public review receives the response that repeated private communications did not.
Summary of our situation:
Our reservation was for Saturday night. Because there was a possibility that the athletic event we were attending would be canceled due to weather, with a final decision not expected until Saturday morning, we canceled our reservation through the app at 11:15 p.m. on Friday, believing we were doing the responsible thing if the event did not take place.
Once the event was confirmed, we rebooked the same hotel the next morning--approximately eight hours later--and stayed there as originally planned. Unfortunately, we did not realize the cancellation policy required 48 hours' notice rather than 24 hours.
I requested a one-time exception since we ultimately stayed at the hotel and paid for the room that night - not an unreasonbale request. However, Ms. Jones apparenlty denied the request, resulting in us being charged for two nights when we only stayed one. As repeat customers, I expected at least the courtesy of a return communication. The fact that the one person who could address the issue chose not to respond speaks volumes about the level of customer service we received. read more