This was our first stay in a hotel since Covid arrived to terrorize the government and many in our population. It was an interesting experience. The many changes have made staying in a hotel a less enjoyable experience.

Marriott appears to be doing a good job in sanitizing and exercising the mask requirement of Orange County, FL. The desk clerk was wearing gloves when using the computer, hotel cards are placed in a separate basket, the room had been wiped clean, the doors to the hotel required a key card to open, etc.

It left something of a surreal impression with images of what staying in a Courtyard hotel used to be like.

Our room was spacious, clean and comfortable. When registering online, I had requested foam pillows. I repeated the request when registering. That never happened; the requests got lost or ignored.

A man was outside of our room in the hallway yelling at friend(s), apparently, down the hall. I do not know what he was yelling about as it was in Spanish but it was about 6 AM and ensured we were up an hour or more before we had intended. That is not the fault of the hotel but it does not make for a pleasant experience.

I have eaten breakfast at a Courtyard on a number of occasions in the past. We ate breakfast there this time as well.

I do not recommend it.

The area was very clean. It was well sanitized. Plastic utensils and paper cups were used. The menu is very limited now. I ordered an egg sandwich. It appeared to be a sandwich prepared in advance with an egg that had been fitted in a container to work on a sandwich. It was heated on a grill. The bread was fresh but the sandwich was burned. It also came with a fruit cup. I ate the fruit cup. Regular coffee was not available. I had two bites of the sandwich.

The cost for the sandwich, a paper container of Cheerios and a Starbucks latte came to just under $20.

When we checked out, we found a breakfast place (Keke's) not too far away and enjoyed a breakfast of real eggs, an omelet with fresh eggs and pancakes cooked after they were ordered. The cost for two people was about $25.

Marriott has done an excellent job of cleaning. Unfortunately, the breakfast quality has been sacrificed to make sure everything is clean. While very clean and safe, this was not really a breakfast that is worth serving in a quality hotel hotel chain. They should drop the pretense.

The room was clean and comfortable. The overall experience was not what I was used to at a Marriott based on 30 years of staying in their hotels. Perhaps we will recover our former quality of life when more people are vaccinated, we can stop wearing masks, and hotels will again provide a breakfast worth eating.