TownePlace Suites by Marriott Colorado Springs Garden of the Gods — Hotel in Colorado Springs

This hotel exudes the distinct energy of a Days Inn that hit the jackpot, got adopted by Marriott, underwent a quick Botox session, and then immediately started charging for its newfound confidence. It wasn’t a bad stay, but let’s just say there are government per diem-friendly options nearby that don’t feel like a midlife crisis in hotel form. Don’t expect the usual Marriott vibe unless your bar for that vibe is set somewhere around "high school reunion in a rented gymnasium."

Location: Not bad if you’re okay with some light urban adventuring. There are two breweries and a few restaurants within walking distance if you're brave enough, and it's close to Interstate 25 which was convenient for attending a conference at the Broadmoor (which nobody attending the conference could actually afford). This hotel is kind of weirdly tucked back behind a Goodwill in an industrial park area.

The Property: Dated, cleanish, and sporting a mystery smell. It’s like someone overzealously Febreezed to mask the ghost of smells past. This is a bit odd, especially since most Marriott properties are big about their "signature scent" (google it, it's a thing, I'm not crazy, I promise).

The Room(s): My first room had no running water. Not wanting to cosplay as Bear Grylls, I asked to switch. They tried upgrading me to a suite—cool, thanks—but I immediately switched again because the room smelled like a bowling alley circa 1996. Not like a someone-just-smoked-in-there smell, but the deep, saturated sour cigarette smell that's engrained in the minds of people old enough to remember when smoking was allowed in public places.

Finally landed in a room that hit the basics: running water and no smell-triggered core memories. The kitchenette is nice in theory, but don’t trust the oven unless you enjoy the aroma of a thousand burnt lasagnas. The beds are “meh” at best, and forget about the usual fluffy Marriott comforters; here, you get the equivalent of a sad hug. You will get a window A/C unit rattles like your old beater car did right before it died on the highway.

The decor is... aspirational. Think "college bachelor pad meets Walmart clearance." The walls, doors, and cabinets are dated, worn, and scuffed, and could probably tell stories I’m absolutely not interested in hearing. And the TV? A proud SUNSANXIN model haphazardly mounted on the wall, bizarrely angled upward towards the ceiling. If you try touching it to change the angle, the mount starts moving in ways that suggests the whole thing is about to suddenly collapse.

The Amenities: They managed to cram a single treadmill, elliptical, and weight bench into a broom closet, so be prepared to accidentally punch your fellow fitness enthusiast trying to do a bicep curl in a room the size of a bathroom. With some sad dumbbells that max out at 20 lbs, your best workout option might be lifting your morale after squeezing into this shoebox of despair.

Breakfast, however, wins the "most depressing" award. It’s an uninspired mix of reheated oatmeal, mildly stale bread, and the kind of yogurt you’d buy when you’re mad at your own wallet. They offer two “hot food” options daily, which look like they’ve seen things they’ll never recover from. You know it's bad when you'd rather drive 10 minutes away to steal free breakfast from the Holiday Inn Express that your buddy is staying at.

The Service: The staff are friendly, but they’re not exactly going to move mountains—or even hand you fresh towels without a 24-hour notice. They don't clean or service the rooms AT ALL unless you request it 24 hours in advance. I get that hotels are cutting costs, but how hard is a quick trash run and towel swap? My life isn’t planned out enough to request housekeeping like it’s a VIP event.

Stay here if you must, but lower your expectations to "Marriott Lite: Now with 20% Less Effort!" and you’ll be just fine. Much like the final season of any HBO series, it'll be a bit...

This hotel exudes the distinct energy of a Days Inn that hit the jackpot, got adopted by Marriott, underwent a quick Botox session, and then immediately started charging for its newfound confidence. It wasn’t a bad stay, but let’s just say there are government per diem-friendly options nearby that don’t feel like a midlife crisis in hotel form. Don’t expect the usual Marriott vibe unless your bar for that vibe is set somewhere around "high school reunion in a rented gymnasium."||Location: Not bad if you’re okay with some light urban adventuring. There are two breweries and a few restaurants within walking distance if you're brave enough, and it's close to Interstate 25 which was convenient for attending a conference at the Broadmoor (which nobody attending the conference could actually afford). This hotel is kind of weirdly tucked back behind a Goodwill in an industrial park area. ||The Property: Dated, cleanish, and sporting a mystery smell. It’s like someone overzealously Febreezed to mask the ghost of smells past. This is a bit odd, especially since most Marriott properties are big about their "signature scent" (google it, it's a thing, I'm not crazy, I promise).||The Room(s): My first room had no running water. Not wanting to cosplay as Bear Grylls, I asked to switch. They tried upgrading me to a suite—cool, thanks—but I immediately switched again because the room smelled like a bowling alley circa 1996. Not like a someone-just-smoked-in-there smell, but the deep, saturated sour cigarette smell that's engrained in the minds of people old enough to remember when smoking was allowed in public places.||Finally landed in a room that hit the basics: running water and no smell-triggered core memories. The kitchenette is nice in theory, but don’t trust the oven unless you enjoy the aroma of a thousand burnt lasagnas. The beds are “meh” at best, and forget about those fluffy Marriott comforters; here, you get the equivalent of a sad hug. You will get a window A/C unit rattles like your old beater car did right before it died on the highway.||The decor is... aspirational. Think "college bachelor pad meets Walmart clearance." The walls, doors, and cabinets are dated, worn, and scuffed, and could probably tell stories I’m absolutely not interested in hearing. And the TV? A proud SUNSANXIN model haphazardly mounted on the wall, bizarrely angled upward towards the ceiling. If you try touching it to change the angle, the mount starts moving in ways that suggests the whole thing is about to suddenly collapse.||The Amenities: They managed to cram a single treadmill, elliptical, and weight bench into a broom closet, so be prepared to accidentally punch your fellow fitness enthusiast trying to do a bicep curl in a room the size of a bathroom. With some sad dumbbells that max out at 20 lbs, your best workout option might be lifting your morale after squeezing into this shoebox of despair.||Breakfast, however, wins the "most depressing" award. It’s an uninspired mix of reheated oatmeal, mildly stale bread, and the kind of yogurt you’d buy when you’re mad at your own wallet. They offer two “hot food” options daily, which look like they’ve seen things they’ll never recover from. You know it's bad when you'd rather drive 10 minutes away to steal free breakfast from the Holiday Inn Express that your buddy is staying at. ||The Service: The staff are friendly, but they’re not exactly going to move mountains—or even hand you fresh towels without a 24-hour notice. They don't clean or service the rooms AT ALL unless you request it 24 hours in advance. I get that hotels are cutting costs, but how hard is a quick trash run and towel swap? My life isn’t planned out enough to request housekeeping like it’s a VIP event.||Stay here if you must, but lower your expectations to "Marriott Lite: Now with 20% Less Effort!" and you’ll be just fine. Much like the final season of any HBO series, it'll be a bit...

My experience here has been a bit upsetting.. Staff here has been prejudice towards us it seems . We have been here for 5 days paid 150-175 dollars everyday. But it seems as like we haven’t been welcome here for a while. The second day we stayed here my friend reserved our room the night before on their website just incase they had reserved the room to someone else. well that next morning when we had gotten to the front desk I was informed that there was no reservation under my friends name or mine and I was told we would have to leave well as soon as I got back to the room I found our reservation number on her phone so I brought the reservation to them . The women at the front desk sighed and told me she had the reservation well then she proceeded to tell me that the reservation was under my friends name so she had to come with her ID as well . (I also had given them my ID because it’s my card being charged so they had to match the name on the card to the name on my ID )so as soon as my friend had came and showed them her ID she seemed disappointed that they had to let us rent again . So after that night day 3 they put a note on our door that stated this is a smoke free hotel and basically said if we had smoked in the room that they have to go through a process to clean the room and so we will be charged a 250 dollar fee . I didn’t mind the note being that we smoke our cigarettes out in my vehicle . I wasn’t alarmed by the note I just thought they put that on everyone’s door but then that next day a neighbor of ours we met here had informed us that we were the only door that got the note . Hmm . So day 4 later in the evening we were informed that since we had been here so long that they would need to change out our bed sheets that next day which I totally understand I was going to ask for that to happen regardless. Day 5 (Today) so earlier this morning we had noticed the app said we can do online check in so that’s what we did our room was only 120 on the app so from what we understood we paid through the app this morning and we were all good to go well then we had an appointment this morning at 12:30 -1 :00! Mind you my bed sheets and everything were already removed from the bed ready to switch out well house keeping came to the door and asked if I needed full room service well I said I have my bed sheets ready to switch I have an appointment so could I just switch the sheets and maybe just do the deep clean tommarow ( I only insisted on this because in the past while I’ve left house keepers at previous hotels unattended my belongings have come up missing. Not at this location but I still don’t necessarily put it past anyone now ) well then the manager comes from behind her and asks if she can do a walk through I opened the door right up to her she came in did her walk through thanked me for keeping the room so clean and wished me luck on my appointment and left . Later this evening I return and asked for my keys (because I hadn’t gotten them this morning ) then I return this evening and I’m told our payment wasn’t made yet and that all of this sudden that when you check in through there website it doesn’t connect with there system here at this location so when I return to the front desk to pay after I had made sure funds had returned to my account I am told that tommarow I have to check out and that the manager (Brandi ) will be here in the morning to answer any questions regarding why it is that we have to check out … pretty upset with the whole situation being that we love it here . The rooms are nice and two separate rooms so that we all have our own space as well as a full kitchen . I hope anyone who is seeking insite on this location reads this and if you choose to stay here for an extended period of time I hope your experience is...