SpringHill Suites by Marriott Belmont Redwood Shores — Hotel in Belmont

I unfortunately have to agree with most of the negative reviews left by other customers.

1.) Rooms are not being cleaned properly. For example, light switches have fingerprints, dirt, food stains? I would assume disinfecting light switches would be one of the most important and obvious on any cleaning routine. Pre and post COVID, this cleaning practice should be at the top of list.

2.) Bathroom walls, especially near toilet, Need to be wiped down. Also toilet paper dispenser. Again, basic cleaning practices - not to mention these are simple, quick, and easy tasks to complete. It does not take much time, physical exertion, agility to complete these simple tasks.

3.) A little bit of kindness and a smile go a long way. I have to say that more often than not I have not been greeted or even really acknowledged by front desk staff upon arrival. I worked at the Marriott Airport Waterfront in Burlingame, CA for over a year, and was shocked by the front desk staff customer service or shall I say, lack of. I would have to say that the training I received and that was always being reinforced by management was giving the best customer service. Smiling, greeting guests, going above and beyond for a customer was the highest importance. And if we did not meet this standard, it would be noticed and corrected by management. So, the lack of I guess, just basic friendly customer service I have experienced at this hotel is jarring and unfortunate. I would like to clarify I have been greeted, helped, and been given excellent customer service from many staff members at this hotel. But, those employees have been the exception and not the standard.

4.) Shower has mold around door frames, hinges, body products dispenser. Does not smell clean in bathroom and specifically inside shower. The pink discoloration (which is mold) can be seen inside the shower, around door handles, corner walls, etc. It is pretty gross and again just kind of shocking due to pandemic and the alleged higher cleaning standards that customers had been assured were being implemented. .

I have actually noticed that since the COVID Pandemic, cleaning standards have almost gone down, from what I have noticed. I have always felt Marriott to have a cleaning level standard that I can depend on at any of their different brand of hotel. But this standard has gone down And I feel has been noticeable since the start of the Pandemic. I have seen this trend among most hotel companies, for instance Hilton and all their different hotel brands.

Since the start of the pandemic, the customer, or at least for myself, I have noticed the decline in customer service and “benefits” I receive for being a loyal customer to a certain company or brand. This case being a Marriott member, I went down from Gold to Silver during pandemic. It is unfortunate that although room rates have more or less remained the same, there has been a reduction in services/ammenities. So, we pay the same rate for a room before pandemic started. In return we don’t get to enjoy a hot complimentary breakfast (lackluster “breakfast bags” as a replacement). Not able to use the gym, business center, hotel shuttle, pool/spa, room service or even given the option to buy food/drink at a restaurant inside the hotel. I understand this was necessary practice to ensure the safety of guests and employees, for a time being. But, the fact these services have not been slowly reinstated is disappointing. And, that at the time that these services were stopped, we were not given any service that would appease. For example, parking fees should have been waived for all guests, if the hotel was not offering hot breakfast, shuttle service to airport, closed office centers, as well as closed gyms, pools, spas and restaurants. It seems like free parking would have been a welcoming, appreciated and fair exchange between customer and the hotel. But, from my experience, many hotels were not willing to give much by way...

This is a nice new hotel. Our room was spotless. The hotel staff was friendly and helpful. Breakfast was what you would expect. That much is worth at least two points. Other than that we had a uncomfortable night and an extremely unpleasant visit.

The room is stark, hard, and angular. They must be going for European modern and it’s not welcoming. There were many annoyances but the bedding was by far the worst – a sheet plus a thick, heavy comforter. I thought if we made the room cold enough this might be OK but I spent the night either sweating or freezing, getting angrier by the hour and and not sleeping much. It was a miserable night.

I wasn’t in the best of moods to deal with a poorly designed bathroom. Its sliding door is made not for convenience but to impress. The door is twice as large as it needs to be and several times heavier. It slides back and forth, requiring a good tug to get it going and then some quick braking action to keep it from slamming into the jamb. The bathroom light is located not over the mirror, but centered in the ceiling so you shave in your own shadow.

The square-cornered sink projects out into the room and the shower door is larger than it needs to be. Both are attractive but as you back up to open the shower, you get a good cold goose from the sink. The shower has built-in dispensers. Their shampoo had a strong peppermint smell and the conditioner bottle was empty so I left the shower with frizzy hair smelling like a candy cane.

They have a nice work area for using a laptop. I know most people don’t use a mouse anymore but I do. You can’t use a mouse on their computer desk because the surface is too reflective. The hotel is kind enough to allow one free day of slow internet for its ordinary guests. You can get fast internet for an extra charge or free if you are a Marriott premium member,

It’s a nice big TV. You are supposed to “Press OK” to activate it. Searching even in daylight I never found any OK to press. There must be a Best Western app or web site for this somewhere. I got rid of the annoying glare by unplugging TV, so no problem.

Their abstract artwork is stark and unfriendly. You can see anything in it or nothing, My wife saw a terrified crying child. I saw a dark hooded figure lurking in the shadows.

Breakfast was as you’d expect. They had sausages but no eggs. The sausages were pretty good. Later, they had eggs but no sausage. The eggs were pretty good too. Their fruit selection consisted of four beat up old tangerines. The tangerines were also pretty good.

In fairness, few if any of my complaints involve hotel management. Room design, decor and furnishings are awful but I don’t think management has much to do with that. The empty conditioner bottle is impossible to inspect without removing it from the fixture, which doesn’t look easy, and opening or shaking it. We were there the day after Christmas, which amounts to a holiday, with far more people than usual crowding the breakfast room in the...

newly opened hotel flush with newness but staff members are not well trained and they use "newly opened" as an excuse for everything they do not do right. I'm willing to forgive and offer their staff second chances, yes, but is the hotel charging travelers less money while their staff members are in training? Sadly, no. So why should travelers be the guinea pigs and suffer the consequences?

I was in front of this lady checking me in for 5 or more minutes. She did not take one look at me. She was first busy with her computer monitor, then she picked up at least two calls and spoke on the phone with other guests or colleagues while I waited. After driving for close to 5 hours, it was really a bad bad experience just wishing to check in. By the time she was able to tend to me, she did not realize I had requested an upgrade the night prior. Being a Platinum member, I should be entitled to an upgrade if there is availability. I used mobile app the night before to request this upgrade as well as extra towels and bathroom amenities but none was done prior to my arrival. She fumbled thru her system to try to find me a room and she did not know the difference between a King bed and a Queen bed. She finally enlisted her colleague from the back to help her. It was overall just a bad experience.

Most of the staff members, in my opinion, do not know what they were doing half the time. Some looked dazed and lost. I suspect most of them were just in training since the hotel is so new.

Room is new and modern. No complaints there. However, bed sheet (linen) was visibly dirty but we only discovered it after first night of sleep which was not so comforting...

They charge $14 or $15 a night for open parking. I looked around and there were no cameras outside the building monitoring parking areas. When I asked what does the parking charge cover in the event of vandalism or other mishaps and the answer was hotel is not accountable or responsible or liable for anything that happens to the vehicle parked outside. Does that make any sense to anyone???!!!

In the end, hotel GM Mary was very nice and helped resolve most of our issues. Because of that, I will likely choose this hotel again in the future just to see if things have improved. I'll then give another review if...