Residence Inn by Marriott Decatur — Hotel in Decatur

The hotel was clean, staff were friendly, & the hotel was in a convenient location, but 2 things were misrepresented on their website. I stayed for a week, so I made my hotel choice based on 2 factors - a nice, private pool & a good breakfast. 1. THE POOL - Their website advertises a beautiful pool surrounded by trees & plants, beside a fire pit, and obscured from parking lot view. In reality, it is a concrete rectangle, filled with water, on the front of the building. The pool faces the main entrance on one side and the main, front parking area on another. 2. THE BREAKFAST - They advertised on their website, "Free Continental and Buffet and Full American and Hot Breakfast". In reality, they supply breakfast items you can take back to your room to cook yourself, they do not offer a legitimate breakfast buffet, nor a hot breakfast. The only items served warm were breakfast sandwiches (a vegetarian option, sausage biscuit, eng muffin w sausage/fried egg/cheese, or a croissant with sausage and cheese. Unfortunately, the breakfast sandwich breads were soggy on the top and rock hard on the bottom. It was this way every morning for 4 days. Each morning, staff were seated in the dining area eating scrambled eggs, fresh biscuits, sausage links, or bacon. I asked if these items were available for guests and was told no, the only warm items were breakfast sandwiches. Guests are offered a wrapped bagel, a bagged waffle, instant oatmeal, yogurt, dry cereal, cold pastries, an apple or orange. You take items back to your room & cook them using the toaster oven or microwave in your own room. I scraped soggy biscuit from the top of a sausage patty and ate the sausage only, or toasted a bagel each day. I truly wish the Residence Inn had accurately advertised their pool and breakfast items on their website. I checked nearby hotels before reserving this room; the nearby hotels had pools separate from the parking area, true breakfast buffets, and their nightly rates were...

My first visit here was great. My second visit will be my last at this location. Let's start with housekeeping. I stopped at the front desk to ensure a refresh as it was the day for it. I had pulled back the coverlet on the bed before I left for work. When I returned in the afternoon, the coverlet was pulled up on the bed an the two upright pillows were now lying flat. The towels were still on the floor with no new replacements, and the recycling in the room was still full. The only item taken was the trash. Makes sense as the bag of peanuts on my nightstand were gone and so was one of my bananas. I know this since I took a picture in the room in the morning and my three bananas were in the picture. When I returned, only two remained. I went down to complain and housekeeping came to the room to actually do the refresh, and she admitted she had been in the room earlier. I don't appreciate staff eating my food.

The day prior to my last day when I stopped by the front desk for the refresh at 8:45 a.m. I also asked for a 2 p.m. checkout on my final day (the next day). The front desk attendant was friendly and even updated my room cards so we wouldn't have an issue. My husband was in the room on our final day with the late checkout. At noon the tv went out. The phone rang but no one spoke on the other end. So he called the front desk. He informed them that the tv went out. The front desk staffer proceeded to give him attitude and argue with him about the late checkout that they gave me the day before. That's why he was still in the room with a door card that still worked. The staffer finally turned the tv back on. I stay at Marriott brand hotels frequently. But I will not stay at this hotel again when my items were taken and staff was rude to my family and uncoordinated in their work. There are too many other choices to stay...

As of 8/26/23, I updated this review from two stars to three. Courtney, the General Manager, saw my review and was able to find and ship my son's blanket which is very much appreciated. She also acknowledged the others points will be used as teaching moments for the staff. I hope they are able to work on the remaining issues. Thank you, Courtney!

Original review:

This Residence is struggling. I stayed here last year and it was a good experience. Since then the cleanliness and service have gone drastically downhill. First, upon check-in no information was given regarding wifi or breakfast times. Keys were handed over and that was the end of it. When asked for information, the individual replied "You can find it in your room."

Second, a member of my party reserved a room with a rollaway bed as she had a one bedroom suite. The bed was not available upon check-in which meant her daughter literally didn't have a bed. She ended up sleeping with her parents (three to a bed). They also had to change rooms due to a malfunctioning air conditioner.

My family and I had a two bedroom suite. The floor was absolutely disgusting with red wine or something visibly spilled upon arrival. I wiped it up and the towel was absolutely black. The shower was quite dirty with hair remaining.

Finally, I folded my son's blanket on the couch. In the chaos of leaving, it was not put on the cart. I called within a few hours of leaving to report it lost with my room number and a description. I left my information and they said they would call back after speaking to housekeeping. I called again the next day and got the same line. No one has called to follow up. Did they just throw away a full sized bed blanket?

The level of service definitely needs to be addressed at...