Residence Inn by Marriott Clearwater Beach — Hotel in Clearwater

This stay was actually the worst stay we have had. I signed up for the Marriott Bonvoy and booked online with the book now pay now option. 1. I didn’t get charged for the room until we were there which was the exact thing I was trying to avoid with having such a long trip planned for a family member’s cancer treatment. This made it so difficult to plan things that we needed to. 2. The images showed an oven when I went to book the room, when I got the confirmation email, it didn’t show an oven anymore, just the stove top. We are a family of 6, staying for 5 days. We needed that oven to save money (the ONLY reason I chose to stay there, otherwise I’d have saved my money and went elsewhere since we had to eat out mostly anyway). 3. As a person with two heart conditions and multiple seizures, having no operating fan in the bathroom was a terrible experience. The amount of times I passed out just trying to shower was ridiculous. Which leads to no shower bar to get in and out safely. Since there was no operating fan, the paint on the door in the bathroom was peeling, which just seems unsafe especially with being a place that children will be staying at. My husband complained about the shower handle being broken and they said someone would come up and fix it right away, but three days into our stay there, no one showed up so we gave up. 4. The pullout couch is always a feature we look for since we have 4 children, however this pullout couch was terrible. It was springy and made for the most uncomfortable nights ever. Waking up cranky and not well rested is something we never expect after staying in a hotel - especially since it is something we typically enjoy (hotel stays, not the occasion of needing to be in a hotel this past stay). 5. The breakfast was honestly something I was looking forward to as we like to only stay at places where breakfast is offered as part of the stay/cost. The breakfast was terrible - the waffles were good, but not worth the hour wait for them with only four waffle irons available for such a large hotel in such a hotspot destination. There was hardly any actual variety each morning. Every other hotel we have stayed at has had a rotating breakfast menu to offer a variety throughout your stay.

In the end, this was the worst experience we have had with hotels, and we have had plenty. When we tried to complain, we were told we had to come down at 2:00 pm when all the managers were there which was impossible with needing to be gone for my family member’s health. We also got the run around saying our room is the one we got because we booked through “third party”, which is false. I booked directly through the desktop version of the actual Marriott Residence Inn website. As someone who has worked in the hotel industry and have family members associated with hotel ownership, I know that this is a cop-out to try to not have to take any responsibility for bait-and-switch advertisement. We typically stick to Embassy Suites and I saw great reviews and the hotel images online were amazing, but that was far from our experience. If we could have left after the first night and go to another hotel realistically, we...

Extended family of 2 adults & 3 kids under 12 recently stayed here. Bonvoy member. The many 5-star positives: Great customer service, very friendly staff all around. 1 BR & bath- very roomy, good storage, strong water pressure + plentiful hot water. Full kitchen w full fridge & microwave. Fruit-infused water on the bar all day. LOCATION- easy to park & walk everywhere (beach=3 min walk around Surf Style & the pink Hyatt- fyi $45/day for cabanas), lots going on nearby- lots of good & family-friendly restaurants. Quick, friendly valet response. Hot breakfast w variety (oatmeal bar, 2 kinds of eggs, a varying meat, vegetarian options, cereal, bread options, iced coffee). Pool is roomy w long hours & well-stocked towels. Not beachfront but you can see some ocean from the upper front floors (HOWEVER see warning below re: street-facing/front rooms). Still have the Surf Style theme song in our heads from our many visits to the beach/visitor center/ parking garage/ market across the street :)

The negatives: expensive valet (required) parking ($29+$2 tax/day). Breakfast only has 1 fruit option- plastic wrapped apples- & the refrigerated items (choc milk, yogurt, juice) & ice weren't replenished during our 3 breakfasts; despite overhearing many requests by other guests. Housekeepers were friendly but come every other day & even then only came when we called the front desk at dinner time asking if they forgot (then barely touched our room as they cleaned around us- floors stayed grimy, sandy, & filthy, counters/surfaced weren't touched at all/ sticky/ sandy). fyi- heated salt water pool is chilly (despite warm 80 degree days) & only receives morning sun.

BIGGEST NEGATIVE & WARNING (which really pulled down the rating): front rooms overlooking Coco's Bar below BEWARE!! The many reviewers DO NOT exaggerate the loudness of Coco's bar music!! We so wish we had taken them more seriously. It truly was a challenge to hear either tv over the music & we all felt the pulsing of the bass/drum beat vibrating our room (723), including the kids well after 11pm on Wed & Thurs pms!!! (luckily Friday was a milder acoustic musician who performed until 12:30 am... but we heard every word to every single song) The front desk clearly know this is an issue & seem to have a long history with their very inconsiderate neighbor- but said they can't call the police until after at least 12am midweek!! Their only solution was to give us some of their well-stocked supply of ear-plugs. (I would have appreciated a discount on our room at least for the sincere loss of sleep for our family over the last 4 nights!) Marriott needs to do better & be more creative- i.e. buy the Coco's property, provide noise machines, serious soundproofing, or build some enclosure/ patio over the bar or ...make it unpleasant for the bar. Honestly, because of this- we came away feeling like our stay was absolutely overpriced. Regretfully, even as a Bonvoy member, next time we'll choose one of the many other good options in the area, even if we walk a...

We were booked a cppl doors down at a newer, less expensive hotel. We moved hotels after reading reviews of that hotel adding charges after checking out. Who wants to deal with that mess after leaving? Unfortunately, that happened here. Because of those reviews I specifically asked while we checked in while we paid if there would be any other charges and I was told no. Now we all have charges pending on our cards. We split payment with 3 cards for one room and all of us have added charges of over $150. We paid for parking up front also. I called and spoke to ellie (spelling) who didn't seem interested in helping us figure this out. I really wish that we could charge the hotel for the bed bugs (happened night ONE), the elevator waits, the bath water temp pool, and the disgusting room and halls. But here we are letting a family vacation turn into a nightmare. Rooms ** Our room wasn't clean. There was fresh blood on the comforter. I had bites on my legs and arm after waking up the first night. We didn't have washcloths. There were hand prints on the entertainment console and dressers. I saw someone's hair tie and a wrapper next to the bathroom, which made me question the whole cleanliness of the room. Which was odd because you'll find someone cleaning windows and mopping all day in the lobby. Also, the halls by the lobby smelled like dog urine. I love dog friendly, but can they get their own floor?

Service * Every staff member was so pleasant. The valet crew killed it! The bartender made the perfect drinks! Breakfast was great, and the staff were always cleaning up after someone. A cppl of them had sour faces, but whatever. They let unattended children into the pool. I'm on vacation. I'm not here to watch other people's kids or hear them curse and scream because they can. Nope. And, need the water jug in the lobby to stay full.

Location ** Walking distance to most anything that you need. Definitely would not recommend Cocos as they didn't give us a receipt and asked for payment. Missing one star because our window faced the dock, and we were woken up multiple times at 5AM with construction trucks. I wouldn't blame the hotel for that IF the construction wasn't for the hotel. (They are building a dock).

My friend stayed here last year and had a good experience with no extra charges on her card afterwards. I would give them another chance, but the pool is warm all day, the rooms aren't the cleanest (we sprayed lysol and lit insence that helped). You know what...I just won't be back. Don't mess...