Courtyard by Marriott Columbia Downtown at USC — Hotel in Columbia

We stayed here for 2 nights to see a show at the Koger Center, which is located just down the street. We prepaid using CitiRewards points from our credit card and the front desk staff could not figure out how to use a different credit card to have on hand for incidentals, etc. That took a good 10-15 mins to check us in once they finally figured it out, with the help of a second staff member assisting. Our room was not great. There was no view out the window, except to look at some weird partial wall thing that goes around the side of the building. The road noise was evident. The thermostat didn't respond the first time we used it. The small fridge in the room is located in a cabinet under the TV and hummed loudly and made all sorts of noise, so annoying that we wanted to unplug it but could not. The tiny plastic coffee maker in the room was cracked and appeared to be missing parts so we didn't want to use it. Maintenance came up within 30 mins. of us calling the front desk to bring us another identical tiny plastic coffee maker. We brewed coffee and it smelled awful, so much that we unplugged the machine and dumped out the coffee. From the smell, we detected there might have been algae or filth in the coffee maker. There was no vent in the bathroom, only one switch which was for the light. The bed was somewhat comfortable. There was no welcome booklet in the room that would normally suggest restaurants in the area, what's available for room service, and tourist sites, etc. We had drinks downstairs at the bar and the bartender was very friendly and attentive. We also had breakfast one morning and we had the nicest server attend to us. Very nice lady, very courteous and very responsive. The housekeeping staff was also very nice and very responsive. We parked our car in the awkward attached parking deck. It is hard to maneuver in small spaces and there are columns everywhere you have to watch out for, must have tiny car to get around in there, $10 automatically added to hotel bill, and water from a pipe was leaking onto the roof of our car, so we spent time finding another space to park. If you drive to second or third floor, you have to drag your bags downstairs to get to lobby or park in front of lobby and unload first, then go park car and walk downstairs. There's a sidewalk from parking garage to lobby but you can barely walk on it to get out of way of incoming hotel traffic because they have a large Marriott sign that is hung low at eye level and extends a foot or two over the sidewalk and blocks the sidewalk so it's hard to walk or tote your suitcase down the sidewalk to get to the garage. Overall, I would not recommend staying here. Had we not prepaid, we would have left and found a different hotel....

This was, without a doubt, the worst hotel stay I've ever experienced. It started when I checked in and was given a breakfast voucher. Later that Wednesday, my colleague brought both her voucher and mine to the front desk to clarify why the breakfast times listed were different. Instead of answering the question, the staff confiscated my voucher, claiming I shouldn’t have received it in the first place.

That same day, I attempted to take a hot shower, only to find there was no hot water. Hoping it was a temporary issue, I decided to try again after dinner. However, upon returning to my room, I was greeted by a strong smell of natural gas. Concerned, I immediately reported it to the front desk. Shockingly, their response was casual and dismissive, with one employee saying, "I'm 99% sure you won't die." When I raised the urgency of the issue, another staff member brushed me off, admitting that he’d smelled natural gas during his entire three years of employment at the hotel.

The next morning, Thursday at 6 a.m., there was still no hot water. When I called the front desk, I was informed that a gas leak had caused the problem and that the hot water had simply been left off afterward. That evening, I tried again to take a hot shower. I called the front desk and was told maintenance would have it fixed by 11:45pm. I stayed up until 1 a.m., hoping the issue would be resolved, but it never was.

By Friday morning at 6 a.m., the situation remained unchanged. The front desk staff, completely unhelpful, said they had no idea why I had been told the issue would be fixed the previous night. Instead, they told me to expect hot water later that morning—after I had to be at my morning appointment. I went from Wednesday through Friday with no hot water. Throughout my stay, no staff member offered an apology or even acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the lack of hot water. When I asked about compensation, the front desk worker sarcastically suggested I take a free soda “if it really inconvenienced” me.

The staff’s attitude during the entire ordeal was consistently rude and dismissive toward both me and other guests. To top it all off, when my colleague checked out, she was mistakenly charged for a stranger’s room. The front desk’s excuse? "How was I supposed to know she wasn’t with you? I assumed she was and didn’t get a credit card from her."

This hotel demonstrated a shocking lack of professionalism, care, and basic...

This was, without a doubt, the worst hotel stay I've ever experienced. It started when I checked in and was given a breakfast voucher. Later that Wednesday, my colleague brought both her voucher and mine to the front desk to clarify why the breakfast times listed were different. Instead of answering the question, the staff confiscated my voucher, claiming I shouldn’t have received it in the first place.||That same day, I attempted to take a hot shower, only to find there was no hot water. Hoping it was a temporary issue, I decided to try again after dinner. However, upon returning to my room, I was greeted by a strong smell of natural gas. Concerned, I immediately reported it to the front desk. Shockingly, their response was casual and dismissive, with one employee saying, "I'm 99% sure you won't die." When I raised the urgency of the issue, another staff member brushed me off, admitting that he’d smelled natural gas during his entire three years of employment at the hotel.||The next morning, Thursday at 6 a.m., there was still no hot water. When I called the front desk, I was informed that a gas leak had caused the problem and that the hot water had simply been left off afterward. That evening, I tried again to take a hot shower. I called the front desk and was told maintenance would have it fixed by 11:45pm. I stayed up until 1 a.m., hoping the issue would be resolved, but it never was.||By Friday morning at 6 a.m., the situation remained unchanged. The front desk staff, completely unhelpful, said they had no idea why I had been told the issue would be fixed the previous night. Instead, they told me to expect hot water later that morning—after I had to be at my morning appointment. I went from Wednesday through Friday with no hot water. Throughout my stay, no staff member offered an apology or even acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the lack of hot water. When I asked about compensation, the front desk worker sarcastically suggested I take a free soda “if it really inconvenienced” me.||The staff’s attitude during the entire ordeal was consistently rude and dismissive toward both me and other guests. To top it all off, when my colleague checked out, she was mistakenly charged for a stranger’s room. The front desk’s excuse? "How was I supposed to know she wasn’t with you? I assumed she was and didn’t get a credit card from her."||This hotel demonstrated a shocking lack of professionalism, care, and basic...