Courtyard by Marriott Guayaquil — Hotel in Guayaquil

Thank you very much for allowing me to express my family and friend experiences at the Guayaquil Courtyard Marriott.

On our first night of arrival we were offered the option of whether to add or not to add breakfast each morning to our stay at a cost of ten dollars per breakfast per person. Moreover, this option was for us to decide on a daily basis on whether to have or not not have breakfast. Therefore, we acted to leave this decision to be made on a daily basis, depending on our daily itinerary - some mornings we would gone before breakfast was served. On the morning we decided and were able to have breakfast we were charge $20.00 per breakfast per person. We mentioned this to the front desk personnel - that they originally have told us that breakfast was going to be ten dollars per person , not $20.00 per person. They mentioned that in order to be ten dollars we would have to let them know that night before that we will be having breakfast the next morning in order for us to be charged ten dollars instead of $20.00 per breakfast per person. We mentioned to the front desk that if they would have told us about that particular detail we would not be disappointed. However, after explaining the situation to the Manager in Charge, he reversed the charges to ten dollars instead of $20.00 per breakfast per person. We were ten persons in our party.

This Guayaquil Courtyard Marriott offers free used of washing and drying machine for attending to our clothing. After having used the washer (machine) and getting ready to transfer the washed clothes to be dry into the dryer (machine), we noticed that the dryer was not working. We immediately contacted the front desk personnel regarding the dryer (machine) not working and that we have clothes to be dried - The front desk responded and mentioned by saying that we can take the wet clothes five blocks down the street into a mall were they think there is a laundry machines facility. Luckily, one of the maintenance / room personnel noticed my wife frustration and offered to take the clothes and dry it for her at the hotel washing/drying facility. We thanked this attendant for his great act of kindness and understanding.

Our reservation included free shuttle service from the airport to the hotel and vice-versa. Our flight leaves Guayaquil at 6:00 AM and Shuttle not ready until 7:00 AM, according to front desk personnel. Luckily, shuttle personnel work starts at 4:00 AM and agreed to take...

Arrived after long day's travel at the end of Galapagos trip, desperate for rest and a good night's sleep before 13 hrs flights home next day. Hotel shuttle service forgot to pick us up at airport (despite them sending earlier confirmation about meeting point). Airport Information desk kindly phoned them and transport was then sent. Hotel reception staff very helpful and friendly (especially Karen) but unfortunately our 1 night stay coincided with a huge wedding, and incredibly loud music blared out from 5th floor reception venue until 1 a.m. making sleep impossible . Worse was to come as the wedding breakfast the next morning took over the entire breakfast area leaving 'normal' hotel guests feeling like gatecrashers and outsiders (nowhere to sit) ... more loud music/singing. With most staff clearly assigned to the wedding, bar service the previous night was rather slow, and the restaurant got my main dish wrong. To be fair ... reception staff looked embarrassed and I think were themselves surprised by how loud the music was -they did offer us a room a few floors higher up when we phoned to say that we could not sleep, but we had already unpacked, and the volume was so loud it would have made little difference when we asked to speak to the duty manager shortly before checkout, she was most apologetic and courteous, accepting that non wedding guests had not had a good experience at all. We suggested that, if the hotel had a conscience, it should give us a 50% refund. Within an hour she had referred this to a senior manager, and phoned our room to confirm a 50% refund.

Just very bad luck for us I guess - others will no doubt have had a much better experience. We could not fault our room, cleanliness, efforts of reception staff trying to help and understanding that we had ended up getting a raw deal.

Final small point - there were two (plastic) bottles of water provided in the room but the absence of a purified water dispenser (for topping up) was very surprising (as we'd had this provided in Quito and throughout...

Prior to my arrival in the Guayaquil, Ecuador airport I called the Courtyard Marriott Guayaquil and spoke with the hotel's front desk to arrange for transportation from the Guayaquil airport to the Courtyard Marriott Guayaquil.

The front desk said the hotel van wouldn't be available to pick me up so they recommended a taxi service that is a preferred vendor for the Courtyard Marriott that is very safe for their guests to use. These taxi's are unmarked cars that are parked right outside the hotel lobby. I specifically told the front desk I wanted the taxi to be a sedan and not a hatchback for safety reasons. The front assured me this would be the case. A few hours later I called back and spoke to the front desk to confirm the pick up details and they assured me everything was set.

However, the taxi that the Courtyard Marriott Guayaquil sent to pick me up was an extremely old hatchback that was falling apart. I was shocked to see this what the Courtyard Marriott would send to pick up one of their guests; especially, when I specifically stated I wanted a sedan. This was an extremely unsafe vehicle. Some people would consider this vehicle to be a death trap.

It didn't help that the the taxi driver from the Courtyard Marriott Guayaquil tried to overcharge me for the ride to the hotel. The front desk told me the ride would cost $6.50. When I arrived at the hotel the taxi driver said the fare would be $8. When I told him it should be $6.50, he pretended like he forgot and said I was correct and the fare is actually $6.50. While we aren't talk about a lot of money here, I didn't appreciate the driver trying to work me over.

The next day I told the front desk about this and they apologized; however, I didn't receive an explanation as to how this could have happened.

Everything else about the experience went well; however, this did leave a bad tasted...