Marriott Raleigh Durham Research Triangle Park — Hotel in Durham

I am writing to express my concern and disappointment with my recent dining experiences at your establishment. As a regular patron who visits at least twice a month, I have always appreciated the exceptional service from your bartenders, who consistently provide some of the best hospitality in the area. However, recent interactions with your current chef, Chris, have been profoundly troubling and have significantly impacted my perception of your brand.

Incident Overview

During one visit, I ordered a ribeye steak, but the steak I received was undercooked. When I politely asked for it to be cooked further, the kitchen unexpectedly prepared an entirely new steak. Chef brought it to my table and insisted it was a ribeye, though it resembled a New York strip, which I know is not on the menu. Upon inspection, the steak had a greyish appearance, suggesting improper handling, such as being frozen before cooking rather than properly defrosted.

When I expressed my concerns, Chef became dismissive, insisting the steak was “cured” while simultaneously mentioning it was vacuum-sealed and frozen—a contradictory explanation. Against my better judgment, I tasted the steak, found it inedible, and asked to have it removed from my bill. Instead of addressing the issue professionally, the chef rolled his eyes, commented that I “didn’t know a good cut of meat,” and walked away.

Notably, when Chef is not present, my steaks are consistently prepared perfectly. I have built a rapport with your bartenders and other kitchen staff, who always go above and beyond to ensure my meals meet expectations.

Further Concerns

On November 29, I visited again and requested that my steak be prepared by one of the cooks who has consistently done a great job in the past. I also asked the bartender, to select a quality cut and communicate my preferences to the kitchen. Shortly after placing my order, I overheard loud yelling from the kitchen. The Bartender returned visibly upset, informing me that the Chef had berated her, stating she should “stick to what she knows” and remain behind the bar.

I refused to have my meal prepared by him after his previous unprofessional behavior and chose to cancel my order entirely. During this time, two separate staff members came out to check on the bartender, acknowledging that the chef’s conduct toward her was inappropriate and uncalled for.

Additionally, another guest at the bar that evening shared her own negative experience with the chef, noting his unprofessional and dismissive attitude toward her as well.

Broader Implications

This pattern of behavior raises serious concerns about guest satisfaction and employee treatment at your establishment. It is disheartening to feel unwelcome in a venue I have frequented for over a year and even more troubling to witness a team member being treated with such disrespect by a colleague in a leadership role.

Yelling at staff who are advocating for customer satisfaction is not only unprofessional but also detrimental to morale and service quality. It undermines the trust and loyalty that your patrons place in your brand.

Recommendations

At a minimum, I believe the Chef should be reprimanded for his unprofessional conduct and confined to kitchen responsibilities, where he does not directly interact with guests. His inability to handle constructive feedback and his disregard for customer and staff experiences suggest he may not be suited for a leadership role.

I also urge Marriott management to investigate the workplace environment under his leadership. Ensuring mutual respect and professionalism among staff is critical to maintaining the high standards your brand is known for.

Closing

I remain hopeful that Marriott will address this situation promptly and appropriately. As a loyal customer who has brought friends and guests to your establishment regularly, I expect better treatment for myself, your patrons, and your hardworking staff. Please let me know how you intend to resolve these concerns.

Thank you for your attention to...

Summary: Poorly managed; poor service; old property with cracking paint on ceilings.

I arrived 1AM, waited 15m as the Assistant Manager tried to recover her password while trying (for most of that time) to conceal that she had forgotten it. I hate dishonesty. After 10 minutes I called Marriott’s Titanium Elite line to report the issue and see if they could check me in remotely and give me an electronic / phone app enabled key. While I did that she called someone and used that person’s password.

As a Titanium elite I was not offered my check in amenity.

I also was not asked if I had a car, but a $10 daily parking charge showed up on my bill (no garage, no gate, straight-up outdoor Walmart style parking—and I walked back and forth to my car in torrential rain 5 of 6 times over two days).

My room had double beds, I had requested a King. The ceiling paint was significantly cracking in the bathroom (always worrisome with old, moldy hotels like this one). The double beds were both small and uncomfortable. I found hairs on the desk lamp and in the shower.

I was told I would be contacted by the manager; I only heard from a manager after I emailed my complaint. He called in the middle of the day Friday while I was on calls. I’m sure the time was convenient for him.

The next morning I was on a call when housekeeping came and kept knocking… 5-6 times in less than 2 minutes even though I answered “please come back later” in increasing volume each time. Finally I outright yelled “I am on a phone call, please come back later”. She never came back to clean my room. I’d have liked a clean room.

That night I drove out for BBQ and came back with takeout. I was waiting by the bar and a gentleman from the restaurant told me I could sit down there with my food.

The bartender who showed up after I spent 10 minutes waiting for a drink (nobody was tending the bar for at least 10 minutes around 7:30/8 at night) said I could not—contrary to what I was just told—sit at the bar with my outside food even if I wanted to order a drink. I could only sit at the round table in the breeze (and blowing rain) of the opening front door… not the bar, the tall table near the bar, or any of the several other low tables (all of which were unoccupied… much like the bar… which had ~4 people sitting).

The bartender was rude and I told her nothing had gone right at the hotel since I got there. I ordered a glass of the Daou Cabernet (about $20/bottle retail consumer price), for $17 on the menu—it showed up on my bill at $22. When I told her it said $17 on the menu she protested, insisted $22 was right, rolled her eyes and picked up a menu… only to see that it said $17. Ridiculous behavior, ridiculous disconnect, ridiculous markup, just ridiculous.

Lastly, the automated hotel bill I received came out as 26 pages of computer symbols. So I had to ask my assistant to follow up to get a proper bill… which is when I found out about the $10 parking charge…

I’ve stayed thousands of nights at Marriotts over the last three decades and I literally can’t remember a worse stay than this. This property is poorly managed and in poor condition. I will avoid it at all costs and I would recommend others...

When we first arrived the toilet was running and wouldn't flush then flooded and our fridge wasn't cold. We fixed the toilet ourselves, it was an easy fix just not something you want to have to do once you finally arrive to your destination before you can use the bathroom. The lady at the front desk was very kind and quickly gave me the towels I requested to clean up the overrun toilet. The fridge wasn't cold so we just went to the front desk and requested ice for our cooler to keep our food cold. We're easy going people but one thing after another gets annoying especially when you're having to spend money you don't have to freely spend. The heavy bathroom door came off the track it was barely on and almost crushed our daughter. Had it not been for the outside wall of the closet, the door would have fell on my 3 year old and crushed her, possibly killing her. Maintenance wasn't able to fix the door that night so we had to move rooms. The lady with reddish shoulder length hair and the gentleman that was working with her were both very kind, it was a matter outside of their hands so I don't fault them at all for how our stay went. We moved rooms at 9:30-10pm with a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Needless to say that was mentally and physically exhausting. We moved from a king bed to a two double bed room. Not what we reserved and not what we needed. We needed the king bed so our daughter could sleep between us. She has leg spasms at night and often seizures. She needs to be between two people when she doesn't have her bed rails up. The spasms cause her a lot of pain and she doesn't have control of her legs during these times. We ended up sleeping separately with her in one bed with me, our son in his playpen between the beds and my husband on the other bed. Not at all what we were expecting or paid for. Had I known how terrible our rest was going to be, I wouldn't have paid for a room. I would have stayed home and left early in the morning. The whole reason for this trip was because my 3 year old had an 8am appointment with Duke neurology and a 1pm appointment with UNC cardiology. She is going through some heavy medical issues and we were looking forward to a night of rest before a long day of blood drawls, echocardiograms, EKGs and other test and then driving 3 hours home. No one rested well, we didn't have the room we paid for, we weren't given any type of discount or credit towards another room. The lady at the front desk when we checked...