Marriott Albany — Attraction in Town of Colonie

In all my years of living, this has been the most wretched hotel stay I have ever experienced.

Trigger warning—bed bugs, lying, Machiavellian managers.

I am a traveling consultant and had to spend 3 days in Albany, NY. Stupidly, my blind trust in the Marriott brand led me to choose this establishment. The first night, weary from travel and anticipating a career-changing client meeting, I settled into bed hoping for decent sleep. At 3 am, I awoke to furious itchiness. I ripped off the covers to find six red dots—hauntingly similar to bed bug bites per Google image search. I took a mental note and tried to rest—my meeting the next day was too important.

I rushed out the next morning to get to work and had back-to-back meetings until my first break at 3:30 pm, when I called the hotel to report the issue. The trainee who answered promised to consult management and call back before my 4:30 meeting. Of course, they called during the meeting, and I couldn’t answer. I returned to the hotel after I got off work and spoke with Hazel, one of the managers. She asked me to fill out an incident report, investigated the room, apologized, and moved me to another room. She said pest control would inspect the room ASAP and follow up.

Before dinner, with no update on pest control, I dropped off clothes for treatment because I could not risk bringing the unwanted guests back home to Boston where I was headed the next day. When I returned at 10:30 pm, Hazel insisted I unload all my luggage and itemize each piece of clothing in the hotel lobby, in full view of colleagues—including my manager. It was humiliating. Hazel again promised pest control would come first thing next morning and that I’d be informed when they arrived.

The next morning, silence. Again. I called the front desk at 8:30; a new manager, Tennin, said pest control hadn’t come yet but would arrive between 8 and 9am, and that I’d be updated. No one ever called. During lunch, I followed up again. The promise once again broken—now pest control was due at 2pm, conveniently, my checkout time. At 2pm, a staff member handed me a report saying there were no bed bugs. I was relieved but still upset at how poorly this was handled.

Then came M, the third manager. He was dismissive, gaslit me, and kept interrupting to try to poke holes in my story while I was literally showing him photos of my bites. I said this experience and the horrible service has made me never want to stay at the Marriott again, and instead of offering to make it right he told me to “have a nice day”. A staff member nearby promised the stay would be comped and that claims would contact me in 24–48 hours. On brand, no one followed up. Days later, I was charged the full $450+. Stay away from this ethically...

The hotel is seriously dated and rundown with slipshod repairs, uncleanliness in some areas, doors and WIFI not working along with a front desk that was sometimes understaffed so if you called them, they would not answer the phone or would hang up right away.|The two positives were the banquet staff along with the banquets they provided and the shuttle. The banquet staff was a symphony of precision and the shuttle was nice and smooth.|The first room I was given was 247 which I can only describe at probably the worst hotel room I have ever been in: Dirty carpet, poor repair and paint jobs that still showed the work afterwards, shower curtain half hanging on. I tried to reattach it but it fell again. The shower spray nozzle on a cord was wrapped around the grip bar and could not be unwrapped—for some reason. I have no idea. You had to be a midget to use the it. The closet was very low too for hanging clothes and storing items. Drawers missing screws and off track. I wonder if the room was an accessible room because I did not need it. I tried to leave the room but was locked in. I had to call for help. Maintenance man seemed to blame me for the door not working and getting locked in room. He basically said I did not slam it hard enough when I closed it. It happened twice.|Luckily, I was switched to room 445 but it an inconvenience after I had already unpacked. The new room was quite a bit better—cleaner, some chipping on door and paint along with substandard repair jobs. The only real negatives for this room, there was a stain on the sofa bed and the room was quite crowded and the layout of furniture did not make much sense.|WIFI, locks to pool sometimes worked, both pools were dirty on the bottom, corners, and tiles. Elevators broke a few times.|The first two mornings we had a nice breakfast with a coupon in a big dining room with big round tables. The last day since our group was smaller, we were in the across the hall smaller dining room which had booths and tables. A sign said seat yourself which I did. No one came and greeted me almost the whole time I was there until I was almost done eating, and then I was asked if I needed something. I had sat myself in a booth, and the lady who appeared that she was a head server did not like that I sat in a booth as a solo diner. No one guided me at my entrance. She made another older man with a cane move to a regular table. She waved her hand at me one time like I should be ignored which appears I did not follow her unwritten rules for the dining room.|The buffet staff and their food were great. They served many of with some good food in a timely manner. Very smooth operation. Shuttle ran smooth too.|This hotel does not match the Marriott name and the worst one I have...

The hotel is seriously dated and rundown with slipshod repairs, uncleanliness in some areas, doors and WIFI not working along with a front desk that was sometimes understaffed so if you called them, they would not answer the phone or would hang up right away. The two positives were the banquet staff along with the banquets they provided and the shuttle. The banquet staff was a symphony of precision and the shuttle was nice and smooth. The first room I was given was 247 which I can only describe at probably the worst hotel room I have ever been in: Dirty carpet, poor repair and paint jobs that still showed the work afterwards, shower curtain half hanging on. I tried to reattach it but it fell again. The shower spray nozzle on a cord was wrapped around the grip bar and could not be unwrapped—for some reason. I have no idea. You had to be a midget to use the it. The closet was very low too for hanging clothes and storing items. Drawers missing screws and off track. I wonder if the room was an accessible room because I did not need it. I tried to leave the room but was locked in. I had to call for help. Maintenance man seemed to blame me for the door not working and getting locked in room. He basically said I did not slam it hard enough when I closed it. It happened twice. Luckily, I was switched to room 445 but it an inconvenience after I had already unpacked. The new room was quite a bit better—cleaner, some chipping on door and paint along with substandard repair jobs. The only real negatives for this room, there was a stain on the sofa bed and the room was quite crowded and the layout of furniture did not make much sense. WIFI, locks to pool sometimes worked, both pools were dirty on the bottom, corners, and tiles. The first two mornings we had a nice breakfast with a coupon in a big dining room with big round tables. The last day since our group was smaller, we were in the across the hall smaller dining room which had booths and tables. A sign said seat yourself which I did. No one came and greeted me almost the whole time I was there until I was almost done eating, and then I was asked if I needed something. I had sat myself in a booth, and the lady who appeared that she was a head server did not like that I sat in a booth as a solo diner. No one guided me at my entrance. She made another older man with a cane move to a regular table. She waved her hand at me one time like I should be ignored which appears I did not follow her unwritten rules for the dining room. The buffet staff and their food were great. They served many of with some good food in a timely manner. Very smooth operation. Shuttle ran smooth too. This hotel does not match the Marriott name and the worst one I have...