SpringHill Suites by Marriott Clearwater Beach — Hotel in Clearwater

Upon arrival to the hotel you will find yourself inside of a parking garage instead of the lobby. I encountered two out service elevators and was forced to squeeze into one of the two remaining elevators to reach the lobby on the fourth floor.

After checking in to the hotel, I was met by a distinct odor that immediately incapacitated my senses. The hallway’s pungent odor was reminiscent of a flooded janitorial closet at the YMCA.

We were assigned a room on the main lobby’s floor. Inside the room we observed a peculiar arrangement of furniture. The room was separated into two quadrants which made viewing TV impossible from the couch and bed at the same time. The lighting inside the room would confuse even a master electrician.

The shower pan floor felt like there was flimsy underlayment flooring. The room was advertised as having a sofa bed, trundle bed, and king bed. There was no sofa bed, and the trundle bed was just some planks of wood and a used child’s sized mattress. The air condition fan sounded as if I was sleeping next to an A320 jet.

After a disappointing nights sleep, I was awoken by a subtle roar in the distance. It sounded like a first grade gym class going to recess. I walked down the dungeness hallway to discover what appeared to be a Red Cross refugee camp at the so called hotel breakfast. The room was filled beyond capacity with people eating out of the palms of there hands while standing around the room. The lines wrapped throughout the seating all in an effort to get a shriveled sausage patty and a frozen waffle. A fire marshal would have been disgusted at the mere sight of the overcrowded room. The mess hall provided no forks for guests, forcing people to eat syrup covered pancakes with their bare hands. The public bathroom located next to the breakfast area had throw up in the sink and no soap in any dispensers.

After returning to the hotel from a day of activities, I was seeking to fill my glass with some ice. I scoured the fourth floor in an attempt to find an ice machine. Finally, I was advised by staff I needed to go to the next floor up just to get ice. All floors have an ice machine except the fourth floor. The lines for the two working elevators forced us to use the stairs and walk across the layout of the hotel just to get ice.

While relaxing in my hotel room I opened my window and observed a pool filled to capacity with screaming children. The sight reminded me of an overpopulated orphanage in a third world country. I noticed the windows have no privacy as the adults around the pool began to stair at me in my room.

You will be disappointed to know that the hotel does not allow any photographs or views of the sunrise in the morning. The hotel locks all access to the balcony and prevents hotel patrons from accessing it before 8am.

Throughout my stay, I was surprised to discover that my room was only serviced every other day. I was forced to ration coffee packets and towels. This experience has left me dissatisfied with the services provided for the premium rate that I paid.

Pros: These complaints might seem egregious, but the hotel is in a prime location surrounded by plenty of activities, restaurants, and bars. This hotel is located on the bay side which does provide a view of the sunrise. You will have easy access to the beach by just crossing the street. There are plenty of crosswalks making the streets very safe.

Pay the extra money and stay at the Hyatt...

This location is an insult to Marriot. The stay was absolutely horrible from arriving to leaving. Upon arrival there was a huge traffic jam of people entering. I had my own vehicle and was trying to figure out where to check in. The valet seemed to be clueless as to what I was asking when all I said was “where do I need to park to check in?” and he asked for my keys. I’m like no dude, I’m going to check in and come back and get my stuff and he goes “okay we can get your phone number and text you when you’re car is ready” , I’m like hello?! No? I don’t think so, how about I go check in first. So I sort through that debacle and get into the hallway to go upstairs to check in which was also weird. In the entry way there are gusts having a break down about the “smell” in the lobby and elevator, we will get back to that in a second. I get to the lobby and it’s crowded with people just hanging out, standing in the way, complete chaos. I finally throw elbows to make my way over to the front desk agent and I have NO IDEA what he is saying. There was so many people in the lobby yelling that I literally could not hear a word this dude was saying. The valet didn’t clear up the parking situation and all I got from this guy, was that he specifically said, “it’s $31 a day, regardless if you drive or the valet drives.” And I’m like okay that doesn’t make since and that is an INSANE amount of money for a tiny parking garage but what ever, I’m already here and I want to have a good time, so I go down to the valet and ask him again what I need to do and he says “well we actually can’t let you drive” and I’m like what? I just saw people drive in, and the front desk agent just said “it’s 31 a day regardless if you drive or if you valet.” So clearly there was an option? And he says well I guess we can let you but only this time. Well good thing I drove because there was hardly enough clearance for my truck to turn in. But I also felt awkward like I had to bully the valet into letting me drive. It was a really strange situation. After that second debacle, I get my stuff and try to take the stairs up to my room to avoid the crowd in the lobby and packed elevators. Well I couldn’t find the stairs so I walked back into the ultra crowded lobby and got on the elevator, remember how I mentioned the girl freaking out about the smell? Well I got on the elevator and was surrounded by the most putrid smell. It smelled like someone skinned and cleaned fish and left them in the elevator. I was gagging and holding my breath it was absolutely disgusting. I finally got to my room and thought we’ll at least I’ll have a nice room and enjoy the rest of my stay. I got to my room which I thought was 783, and the door didn’t open and someone came to the door asking if I needed help. How embarrassing right? Well I decided that maybe I just didn’t look at the numbers correctly. But I was almost positive I was in 783. Turns out the front desk agent that I couldn't understand, also...

The absolute worse experience I’ve had a Marriott in in recent years. My rate was astronomically high for a 2 star property. When I booked the accommodations, I requested early check-in and noted it was birthday weekend during the stay. The system let me check in a couple of days ahead of arrival but a room never became available ahead of time. I requested early check-in and none of my actions from pre-checking in to noting an early arrival made a difference. It was spring break and you were busy but you ruined my experience. We arrived at 3:30 pm instead of that morning and no room was available still. I asked the girl at the front desk for an eta and options she was overwhelmed and helpless. No matter how I walked her through helping keep the matter at a point of de-escalation, she proceeded to be rude and helpless. We left our bags and walked away until it was 4 pm which is check-in time. The same time publish throughout the property website, on site, and so forth. With 3-5 mins to spare, my guest and I approached the same front desk agent again. She continued to be rude. She said check-in was 4 pm not 3:57 pm. I told her it was written that rooms would be assigned on a first come, first served basis and proceeded to explain why I was a few minutes ahead of schedule. Again it is my birthday weekend and I did not want anything to send it down the wrong path. I asked her to call housekeeping to get an eta again to no avail. We waited until 4 pm and no rooms were available still. The girl had no sense of urgency nor offered any customer service or comfort to us as we waited and tolerated her rude and nonchalant antics. It wasn’t until we got fed and approached one of the managers on-site that they got us a room 15-20 minutes after check-in time. We were the only ones actively waiting and seeking some engagement from the front desk. This is not what expected from any Marriott property. I’ve worked for Marriott & Starwood in the past so I know the level of service expected to be offered to guests. This was not it at all. No one offered to call us if the room became ready or anything. I told the girl to add us to the waitlist so we were at the top when a room was made available. She claimed there was no list to shortly thereafter say there was and again claim there wasn’t. Such misinformation is enough to frustrate anyone after driving in traffic from Orlando to Clearwater Beach in one trip. I dislike Hilton and other competitors, but I have an...