TownePlace Suites by Marriott Wilmington Newark/Christiana — Hotel in Brookside

DO NOT STAY! Property has a current RODENT Problem.

On Jan. 4, 2018 - checked into the property for 53 days (long term stay)- Reserved the King Suite room 402, which was like a 1 bedroom apartment.

That night, while steaming clothes in the living room area, I observed a baby MOUSE, run across the floor, from the AC unit to the TV stand. I immediately thought that I was tired, and praying for hallucinations, but low and behold, another (now 2) mouse, came running from the AC unit. My wife screamed and ran and hid in the bathroom, while I looked under the TV stand; as I had to get pics and video, because NO ONE would believe me. As I went to video, the babies mice see me, and start to make noise, which prompted a larger mouse with a baby behind, to run from the AC unit, to the area beneath of the couch. THAT’s 4 MICE!!!!!

At approximately 6:15 PM; I call downstairs to send someone up, to see for themselves. The front desk guy, whom was very nice, said that he was sending maintenance up; which after an hour never happened. (Later finding out, that was a lie, maintenance wasn’t onsite). I went downstairs to force him to call a manager for some type of resolution.

Because of 53 days worth of items, and on a strict budget, I could not immediately leave, meaning I had to trek everything out of this room into another, for a quick fix, and to get my wife out of the bathroom.

Fast forward to 1/5/18: I receive a call from the front desk manager, David(who was a pleasure to work with, and tried to go above and beyond to assist; although the issue was out of his wheelhouse).

I go downstairs, show the pictures and video and speak to - GENERAL MANAGER, DEBBIE DELIMAN (who is the worse GM I’ve ever encountered).

Here’s what David initially helped with: he comped the night stay, and booked me a room at the local Four Points Sheraton at the same rate. Sheraton is a Marriott member, if you didn’t know. Unfortunately, I went to the Sheraton and it was a standard King Room with a microwave and mini fridge. I wasn't ungrateful, I was just unsatisfied with paying the same price for a much smaller room; when there’s several Marriott properties in the area. Unfortunately, this was the only sister property he had connections with.

Because I was unsatisfied, which I feel was justified, DEBBIE decided to tell me, “We did what we had to do, we comped the room, and tried to get you a room close, it’s not our fault if you don’t like the size of the room. You can check out and find your own arrangements!” I was beyond patient and understanding the entire time, did not raise my voice, showed absolute discretion when guests were around, and overly polite to the staff; but, I’ve never felt so disrespected in my entire “Marriott life,” where because I was on travel for Business, I could not absolutely lose my mind. So, I made some more calls and made sure DEBBIE knew that she was out of line.

All in all, I advised David that I would be willing to commute a little further to be comfortable. Therefore, they were able to book me a similar stay, but in Philadelphia, PA. Which is 31 Miles away from The Towneplace in Newark, DE. It’s not even in the same state?! Traffic is crazy.

I also called Marriott Corporate, who unfortunately were less than helpful, as they advised the Towneplace is a franchise location and requires the location to handle their issues in-house.

I didn’t even receive apology Marriott points? Can you believe that? Sooooo... now I’m going to make sure they learn a valuable lesson; and I have plenty of pictures and video to prove it. I tried to be amicable.

If anyone from Towneplace would like to say that anything I’ve written is false, PLEASE be my guest. But, I guarantee that...

The only reason I did not rate 5-stars is because of some cleanliness issues and housekeeping skills that I think are questionable, and also the mattress quality.

My husband's job requires us to travel and stay in any given hotel for 300+ nights a year.

We were in the area for his work and while the room we were assigned is huge, the housekeeping duties could definitely stand to be improved.

First things first. The floor when you walk on it was sticking to my shoes, and i removed my shoes, it was slimy/filmy. Because I did not want to lose the size room we had, I decided to ride it out for the entire week and just used one of their dishrags and "mopped" the floor myself like Cinderella: on the hands and knees just a-scrubbin'. It took going over the floor twice like that to get the stickiness/slimy feeling off the floor. The carpets/rugs were fine. While I know the rooms don't get used EVERY single night, there was a slight dust build-up on all surfaces (counters, kitchen table, nightstands, and end tables in the living area), but a simple wipe down of my own was sufficient. And I travel with my own Clorox wipes, no big deal.

The mattress was a concern because my husband is a rough sleeper. Meaning, he tosses and turns in his sleep...like he's trying out for the USA gymnastics team doing acrobatic maneuvers. That said, the mattress is a VERY low quality and I felt EVERY. SINGLE. MOVE. he made because if he "bounced", I did too! Change the mattresses...do better here. Terrible quality.

As for the housekeeping skills, just call me the "Martha Stewart" representative for Better Homes & Gardens styling. The top sheet was literally on the bed COMPLETELY wrong. The tag for the sheet goes to the foot of the bed. The fitted sheet didn't even fit the bed correctly...ENTIRELY too big and not tucked in. And the pillows were low quality as well. The bed was made, and looked nice at first glance, but the moment we pulled the covered down, you could see EVERY wri kle because the right sheets were not on the bed, nor were they on correctly.

I could stay in this room again though. I know not every housekeeping staff is trained the same, but they really should re-evaluate how to clean the floors. That was nasty. But again, I didn't want to lose the room size, so I made a simple sacrifice. I had nothing better to do that day while my husband was off to work.

Big plus in my book was that the kitchen in our room provided a full size stove with an oven and I was able to cook a full meal in the room. Very big plus...more rooms should be like this, especially for the longer stays with prices of food everywhere increasing.

Staff is amazing and the rest of the room and hotel and grounds surrounding the hotel were great.

Just fix the cleaning solution of the floors and more attention to details when housekeeping staff makes the beds, and for the love of all things holy, change the...

This was easily one of the most exceptional stays I've ever had in a hotel. We stayed there over the July 4th weekend, and the entire staff set the bar incredibly high with their customer service. Before I arrived, Aislynn, the GM called to tell me my room wouldn't be available due to an unavoidable air travel situation. I really appreciated her calling me before hand and giving me an opportunity to work out a solution. She was incredibly friendly and was able to offer a great solution. The story only gets better from here. When I checked in, Raeneshela was so gracious and friendly, making sure I knew I would be moved into the requested room the next day, and took the added step of calling to make sure I was comfortable in the room I had for the night. The next day I was able to move into my requested suite much earlier than anticipated. Both rooms were pristine, and the kitchens and bathrooms were ready to use. Air travel can not be helped, but the care and grace they showed to make sure I enjoyed my stay is something I haven't encountered in a while. Each time I walked passed the desk, the customer service reps were so friendly and helpful. Togar, Samantha, Skylar, and Roger, in addition to Raeneshela and Aislynn are great examples of the hospitality industry. I'm very grateful to them for making our weekend such an enjoyable one.

The facilities, while a tiny bit dated, are VERY clean. Housekeeping is what it is in these COVID times, but I always had clean towels and the housekeeping staff is so friendly. Sheets were pristine, water pressure is phenomenal, and the open fitness center and pool area are meticulously cared for and easy to access. I couldn't hear any noise in the hallway from my room, and I was right next to the elevator. I saw children in the halls, but never heard them in the room, so I'd offer the soundproofing is outstanding.

I'd never stayed here before - there are two extended stay hotels within a mile of this location. However, I will definitely make this hotel my go-to when in Newark/Wilmington. The customer service, combined with the facilities, puts this at the...