Sonesta Select Seattle Bellevue Redmond — Hotel in Bellevue

My brother and I stayed in this hotel from August 29, 2019 to August 31, 2019. The location of the hotel was alright as it was very quite during nights. However, let me explain how bad our experience was during our stay.

The first problem we had as soon as we walked into the room was lack of toothpaste, which is part of the basic hygiene product that any hotel actually includes to the room as complimentary (direct statement from my brother who traveled in 4-5 European countries before who is also a tourism management graduate).

The second problem happened when we tried to buy a toothpaste and a bag of skittles at the hotel front desk. The cost of these 2 items were $11.00 USD (quite expensive but we were buying them from hotel so oh well) and we paid $51.00. When we expected to get our changes, the front desk person closed the till. I actually saw the employee placing our $50.00 bill on a separate space, not definitely in the till. When we complained with a reminder that we paid "$51.00 USD," the employee still tried to give us changes of $39.00 USD. When my brother reminded him about the amount paid again, that's when we could get our changes ($40.00) back from the employee. We did not ask his name but he looked like a typical mid-aged Pakistani/Indian with lots of beards. If Marriott reads this review, I hope they seriously consider firing the employee as he was very unprofessional and almost scammed us. The employee even lied to us by saying, "my shift is until 7:00 AM." But when we checked out at 6:30 AM, he was NOT there. Be aware of this employee (he seems to work at late night/graveyard shift. If you arrive here by then, just watch out; he will scam you, especially if you are from out of town).

The third problem with this hotel is that the bed mattress and pillows. They look fluffy until you lay your body on them. They are too soft with little to no rigidity. Our backs and necks were very sore by the time we were checking out.

The last problem of this hotel is that there are exactly 2 other locations with the exact same name but located around 10-15 mins away from each other. We first went to the wrong one and was directed to the correct one. I am amazed of the logic of Marriott by naming 3 different hotels and expecting tourists not to get confused? Overall, the experience is horrible and we will never visit this hotel again. I wish I could give -5 stars but Google is not too cruel to have that option on me.

A message to Marriott: when you read my review, please check your front desk surveillance video that filmed around 12:00 AM August 30, 2019 and onward to confirm the incident that I mentioned on my 3rd paragraph.

On top of all this, Marriott decided to upgrade the rooms on Fridays, August 30, 2019, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. They only distributed explanation sheet to each room which pretty much stated, "we are renovating our entertainment system (that we did not ask for) and we will be coming into your room for 1 hour any time between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Your 'do not disturb' sign will not be honored, blah, blah"

Facing the scammy employee and seeing this irresponsible explanation sheet from the hotel about privacy, we packed up everything and went to PAX by bringing everything with us.

Stay far away from this...

overall this hotel was great. In a great part of bellevue and was close to so many food spots and activities. However, I do agree with the comments saying the room was not the cleanest. I recently stayed there with friends for 3 nights and the hotel room got a little stuffy due to the temperature. No problem since they had a huge window that was functional to open. When I opened the window though, there were dozens and dozens of dead bugs in the window seal. As if the cleaning people had been skipping cleaning the windows for months now. Bugs had just been crawling into the window and dying there and piling up. It was disgusting and that put the worst taste in my mouth about the room. Other than that, the room was pretty clean. There was a small area on the toilet i had to wipe off with tissue that was missed as well. If I never saw the dozens of dead bugs in the window, I would definitely stay again. The pool was extremely clean and warm, so clean that it was the first time my friends and I used a hotel pool. The layout was great, loved the courtyard area, spacious rooms. It was just the bugs that did it for me. Hopefully its not every room with that problem. We stayed on the second floor. If the hotel staff sees this, your rooms are great, but PLEASE have your cleaning crew go through and open the windows to see what’s died in there since last fall. I’m hesitant to stay there again. I’m usually team Holiday Inn but gave this place a try as it was cheaper for the dates my friends and I were staying. But unfortunately I may have to stick to what I know is best and go back to Holiday Inn. Please fix the bug issue Sonesta. At least there weren’t any alive. But that’s wild to see piles of dead bugs in the window. I wish I would have gotten a picture but my friends and I were hurrying to get ready and go explore. We were on the second floor, room was in the 220s. Please fix that. Great hotel otherwise. Also the parking fee was $10 a night, but as we were checking in, we overheard the conversation in front of us that if you sign up to become a member, you get free parking. Well my friend asked about that, and sure enough, all they needed was an email address and boom, free parking. So that seems like a scam. They don’t advertise that if you give an email, you get free parking. We just got lucky enough to overhear that conversation. So everyone whos paying an extra $10 a night for parking is getting scammed because all they needed to do was sign up to be a member with just their email address. So I don’t appreciate that money grab scheme. Also, checkout was at 10am. My friends and I asked for late checkout hoping they could just bump us to 11am, maybe 12pm. They gave us a checkout at 1pm. Which was great for us to sleep in, but now it makes me question how thorough are the rooms being cleaned if they’re letting guests checkout at 1pm and the next ones check in just a couple hours later. Eh probably...

Our youth soccer team recently stayed at this hotel during a tournament in Seattle, and overall, it was a decent experience. The hotel's location was excellent, with easy access to nearby restaurants and stores, but it was situated in a quiet area. However, it's worth noting that not many attractions were within walking distance.

The rooms were clean and generally well maintained, which was a relief. The staff, however, had a mixed performance. Some were friendly and accommodating, while others seemed to lack basic customer service skills.

Upon arrival, we encountered an issue with the AC in our room. It turned out that it had recently been replaced and wasn't installed correctly. We reported the problem to the reception desk, and they promptly sent someone to check it out. However, after a quick look around and opening a window, the staff member left without providing any updates or information. We assumed they were taking care of it but after waiting for 45 minutes without any progress, we had to call reception again. It turned out they were unaware of the issue, and only then did they call their maintenance personnel. Consequently, we spent one night without AC, but thankfully the room cooled down with the window open, and the AC was fixed the next morning.

Another aspect that left room for improvement was the hotel's responsiveness to requests. We had to ask multiple times for simple things like coffee cups and coffee pods. Each time we inquired, the staff assured us they would bring extras, but unfortunately, they never followed through. Eventually, we had to personally go to the reception to get the items ourselves, which was a bit frustrating, especially when it could have been easily avoided with clear communication.

The hotel's facilities were great for our young team, with the highlight being the fantastic and well-maintained pool. However, there were some issues with cleanliness in public area bathrooms, as they were often found lacking in paper towels or toilet paper.

Despite these shortcomings, our overall stay was pleasant, and we appreciated the hotel's amenities. If we were to return to Seattle in the future, we might consider staying here again. Nevertheless, we would strongly suggest that the hotel management pay more attention to customer service and basic maintenance. A focus on these areas would undoubtedly enhance the overall...