Courtyard by Marriott Hershey Chocolate Avenue — Hotel in Derry Township

Great location and very friendly staff. We booked a night for a concert at Hershey that my wife and daughter attended and we dropped them off before checking in. My son and I checked in and I noticed the room hadn't been vacuumed crumbs on the floor by the couch and what looked liked shredded cheese under the table. I thought maybe they just missed a spot but then I noticed no bags in the trashcans and only a 1/2 a roll of toilet paper with no spare rolls. Using the rest room I saw a long black hair on the floor which just added to my thought the room wasn't cleaned correctly. The beds were made but something told me to remove the covers and take a look. Multiple hairs in both beds, not just one which I understand is possible. Obviously this is gross and unsanitary so I politely let the front desk know. They sent Larnell up and he cleaned the room, he was professional, friendly and apologized for the miss on whomever was supposed to clean the room. He left, no problem, I was fine and happy, the desk called later and apologized with an offer of free breakfast the next morning. I wasn't asking or looking for anything but I thought it was a nice gesture.

Our stay was great once the room was cleaned but obviously this isn't something I will forget and never thought I would experience at a Marriott, its why we stay there in lieu of cheaper alternatives. It happens, I just post in hopes they will review their cleaning process and ensure management is doing spot checks once in awhile to prevent this from happening again.

The staff here are excellent! They really provided great service and handled my issue perfectly. Specifically Larnell for coming up so quickly to clean the room and did acknowledge yes I can see why you asked us to clean this.

Then Nicole who serves breakfast in the morning, what a great brand ambassador for this Marriott! We stopped on the way to the hotel at an unrelated restaurant and had dinner, she was our server and asked if we were in town for the concert. She recommended the Marriott if we planned on staying and we said we are already booked there. She said oh great I hope to see you at breakfast and hear about the concert! We saw her and she was so personable and related to my daughter that was the same age as hers. Especially now in these hectic short staffed times its hard to find genuinely good employees and people like Nicole! Stop by and say hi to her...

We arrived late at night for a late check-in and the gentleman on duty was extremely friendly, and accommodating. He offered up a visit to the nearby toy chest for our kids which immediately put them at ease in this new place. They were free to not only keep the toys they picked but able to come at any time they wanted to pass by and get more. They were very happy. Even came to our room to show us how to use the microwave and all with a smile and cheery disposition. The rooms were clean, spacious, and comfortable. We had two adjoining rooms and it was nice to open them up for access to both during our stay. It felt like a small apartment. Overall - the stay was very pleasant. The room was a bit chilly but admittedly that was more of a testament to the fact that I hadn’t figured out how to operate the digital thermostat. But once I did we were able to warm it up to a comfortable state.

One other thing to note was that when we arrived the night before with the children’s grandmother using a walker, they offered up a wheel chair we could use during our entire stay there that made her mobility much more convenient. Thank you for that nice touch.

If there was only one complaint during our entire stay - it was the Starbucks in the main lobby. While the person taking our order was extremely polite and friendly, the amount of time it took to prepare our three drinks and provide a parfait was extremely unacceptable. We stood waiting literally 25 minutes while other guests also struggled to be patient awaiting their own orders. By the time the food and drinks arrived the person who gave them to us was extremely polite and thanked us for our patience. It was very possible they were understaffed or experiencing some issues in the kitchen area. But my own coffee, a white chocolate mocha, was not very good compared to what I had experienced before at other Starbucks. Still, my overall experience here during my stay was more than enough to overlook this minor detail. I might add that I imagine my experience is hopefully not the norm in that regards.

All in all - a wonderful time was had during our stay at the Courtyard. We look forward...

Last stayed 7/22-7/24/2024. 5 years ago the hotel originally was an amazing hotel, fast forward to 2024, the only thing going for this hotel still is the location. The rooms are showing their age, my comforter had a hair on it that was not my color nor length, the beds are like rocks and feel like park benches with sheets on them, the bathrooms have this strange looking orange mold stain where the bath tile meets the tub, the common areas are stained and abused looking, but the worst was the hotel service staff, housekeeping never showed for our second day stay, multiple requests were put in to the front desk and I was eventually told by the so called “manager” Andrea that and I quote “they will get there when they get there and if I did not like it my other option was to leave”. She was saying this all knowing that the reason we were there was for a concert on the second night and that was not an option at that point. With all that being said, I want to be clear that her lack of customer relations skills and rude demeanor, is far more the reason we will never be back to this hotel than the disappointing wear and lack of upkeep of the hotel. I am sure that I am not the first to encounter this ill-mannered woman and hope that the owners of this hotel recognize that she has an issue handling their guest and should perhaps re-educate her with some much needed “people skills” that her guest would benefit from so the would want to come back to spend more money at their hotel. The only thing I got from my encounter with the so called manager Andrea is that this hotel is well below my standards not to mention this is FAR BELOW MARRIOTT STANDARDS and we will not be returning. Do yourself a favor, stay at one of the many Hershey lodging options while in Hershey and avoid this unnecessary frustration while trying to have fun with your family and friends.

Update: I waited to post this review until the money from the breakfast that they charged me for after I checked out was returned to my credit card. No explanation why or how this could have happened when I checked out with the hotel front desk personally. Just proving my...