Initially we felt good about our choice of the Courtyard Marriott. Before I retired, Marriott was
one of my favorite hotel chains. This particular Marriott is in an older building (City Hall Annex)
which Marriott bought and restored after it was empty for 10 years. I applaud those efforts.
The renovation resulted in somewhat smaller rooms and baths, but acceptable. Our room on
the 10th floor had a partial view of the Marriott next door and Market Street. It was interesting
to watch the half marathon runners from one of our windows. This Marriott provides free WIFI
as part of the room rate however it was itermittent and somewhat slow.
We ran into problems when we returned to our room after 1PM and our room had not been made
up. We called the front desk and they assured us that they were running a little behind because
of the marathon, but not to worry. When we returned again about 3:30PM the room was still not
made up. The front desk said housekeeping would be working till 5 and they would get to us.
When we returned after dinner the room had been made up.
Unfortunately, housekeeping was the least of our problems. At $38.00 per night plus $7.60 tax,
getting our car was like twisting someones arm. There were too many cars, too few valets
and too little space for any kind of staging. To top it of there was too little concern for customer
service from anyone involved with the valet service. Our car was left in the street more than
once while we were standing there waiting for it. There always seemed to be 4 or 5 cars just
parked there making it impossible to deal with the rest of the traffic. (Who belongs to these
cars??)
The Courtyard Marriott is very well situated as has been mentioned in other reviews. Several
well known restaurants are in short walking distance (Maggiano's, Melting Pot, Chili's, etc.)
plus the Reading Terminal Market is less than a block out the back door. Public transit
abounds. We ordered Chil's from our room and it was pretty good)
Probably, if you didn't have a car you cared about and didn't care when your room was made
up, this would be a good place for you. But not for us; we won't return.
hotel reviews