Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Bakersfield Central — Hotel in Bakersfield

This is one of the worst Marriotts I’ve ever (not) stayed at. I travel over half the month for work and stay almost exclusively at Marriotts so that’s saying something. I had a reservation before Labor Day but was running early with appointments and could make it home instead. I called the hotel asking if they charged a fee for cancellations and was told no and they would cancel my stay. If they would have said yes I would have stayed the night and head home in the morning. But I went off what the front desk told me and took the no fee cancellation and headed home. ||Then I find out they charged me a fee. Not the quoted rate, just some random fee. I call and speak with the same woman who originally told me there would be no fee, only to be told she couldn’t help me and that only the manager could but since it was before Labor Day she wouldn’t be in until after the holiday. Fine. I call back multiple times the next week before speaking with said manager who said she was aware of my case and understands. She said she would refund the charge. A month later it’s still not refunded and they have not sent any invoice for the charge on my account. ||I called again several time and was given an array of reasons why they have yet to either a) refunded my account as promised or b) at least provide a receipt for me to process the charge on my expense report. Only yesterday after several calls over several days did I get a receipt. Absolutely unprofessional and will not stay here again. Do not give them your card information. Do not trust them when they tell you there is no charge. Ultimately, I’m fine with the charge; it’s for work so it’s not coming out of my pocket but to not provide any sort of documentation for a charge is absolutely unacceptable. It is unacceptable for the manager of all people to say they will issue a refund but never process the refund. I’d expect that from a low level employee but not someone who runs the place and that I had to track down. Horrible...

My best friend and I were traveling to Yosemite and started the drive from San Diego after already working nine hours on Friday. We drove through Los Angeles traffic and made it to Bakersfield around 830PM. We picked up a pizza knowing that there wouldn’t be any food inside the hotel due to Covid, we already thought ahead and had stashed a bottle of wine in our luggage and we spent the evening watching garbage television and enjoying a much needed rest from a full days work and then a long 4 hour drive.

The hotel room had everything we needed, from extra towels for 2 long haired girls who like to use 2 towels each when they shower to delicious smelling lotion and good conditioner. (Petty, but important when you’re wanting to relax).

We slept in a little bit the next day and we’re back on the road around 9:30 in the morning heading the rest of the four hours to Yosemite.

The only ding I have is the lack of transparency when they say “breakfast” is grab an go. That was pretty much a joke. As we had already checked out of our room, the frozen 7-11 style breakfast burrito they offered me wasn’t able to be eaten, and the staff wasn’t able to heat it for me. The apple juice was for a 5yr old, as was all the other food. I wish I had taken photos. The blueberry muffin wasn’t a muffin... it fit in the palm of my hand and I have tiny hands. It was a bite sized sugar loaf. And they didn’t have coffee left at 9AM so they offered decaf, which we turned down. We got breakfast on the road which was fine.

But I didn’t expect breakfast anyway. I was just laughing at the marketing. “Grab and go breakfast” was more like “5yr old soccer game half time snacks”.

I’ll book here...

I understand Covid protocols, but checking in was way more difficult than it needed to be. It was bloody hot, and having to stand outside and wait to be let in the locked doors was a bit much. I was pre-paid so checking in was a little faster than the people ahead of me who did not. The room was nice and the bed was exceptionally comfortable. I left my room for work at approximately 5 AM. When I returned at 11 PM, housekeeping had not been in my room, and the building had experienced a pipe break. Things like this happen and it’s not necessarily the fault of the facility, except that the dehumidifiers and blowers were 6 feet from my door, and when you’re only going to get about six hours of sleep, you would like to actually be able to sleep, not listen to a jet engine just outside your room door. I only discovered it was a pipe break by talking to the maintenance people working on it, the hotel staff never said anything to anyone about what was going on or why, and I’m sure they knew the rooms by the blower were occupied. I think it would’ve gone along way towards helping to alleviate some of the tension and help us to understand what was going on, perhaps even moving some of us who were in the “splash zone“ to other rooms would have been helpful. I’m not going to give them one star because of bad luck, but I am disappointed that housekeeping never showed up to empty the trash or change the towels in the bathroom. I think under normal circumstances the hotel is probably very good, they just don’t handle a...