We planned a very special, once in a lifetime trip to Seattle for my best friends birthday. A week in advance of the trip, i called ahead and spoke with the concierge and front desk; I let them know of our plans, had them link our two rooms together and requested adjoining or adjacent rooms. We had opted to upgrade to a "waterfront view", I asked them to please try and find us a special room with a great view on a high floor, I also advised them of our early arrival and asked them to try to accommodate an early check-in. I realize that everyone wants a great room, but I also know that calling ahead and speaking with someone often gets you that personal touch. Either way, it was pointless, none of our requests were honored IN ANY WAY. I think they just threw them in the trash.
Upon arrival at 10 am in Seattle, we expected a wait to check in to our rooms, regardless we checked in at the front desk as soon as we arrived, and asked them to try to find us one of the earliest available rooms. There were hoards of people checking out, so it shouldn't have been that big of a deal. We took off to explore the city and returned around 2:00. Upon return, we were told that the rooms would not be ready until 4:00. so basically they made NO effort whatsoever to accommodate us any earlier than contractually obligated. We patiently waited in the bar... around 3:30, i thought we would ask again. After some pleading, they told us we could have one of our two rooms, and were informed that the only reason we had to wait so long was because we had to wait for adjoining rooms to become available. So we went up to our room, it was the 3rd flood. You could see the ocean... but it was across a long rooftop, and just a small wedge between two of the hotels towers. Certainly not the view I expected when booking this hotel. Finally at 4:00 they told us the second room was available. We went down to get the keys and upon return, discovered that it was a king room, not the 2 queens we had booked; we would have to go down and be assigned a different room. They had made us wait for hours for these special adjoining rooms that were not even what we booked. Lets review:
Early Check in: NO
Adjoining Rooms: NO
High Floor: NO
Great View: NO
So after going all the way down to the front desk YET AGAIN, we get to the new room, and again, its a KING room! Finally on the third try, we were assigned a two queen room, on the 7th floor no less... Better view (although you have to go on the balcony and look west to see the water). But then we discovered a special feature of this hotel, rooms on the north end get to hear the squeal of freight trains braking ALL NIGHT LONG.
On top of that we were on the other end of the hotel from the rest of our party.
I feel like the Marriott could not have done less to accommodate our requests for this trip. They did the least amount possible to earn our money. The room was comfortable (although room decor was not what I would expect of a hotel in this price range). The lobby and restaurants were satisfactory, and the valet/bell staff were very good. If this hotel was half the price, I would rate it 4 stars, but at these prices, I expect a much higher standard of service and hospitality. read more