Marriott East Lansing at University Place — Hotel in East Lansing

After hearing business colleagues lament staying at this hotel, my expectations were low. After spending four nights here, I am EXTREMELY impressed.

When I checked in, a desk clerk two stations away learned my name (he was not the clerk checking me in) and made sure to call me by name every single time he saw me. After 35 years of lodging around the world, this was the first and only time I encountered such extraordinary attentiveness and recall.

The quality of front desk staff here suggests that the hotel is drawing talent from Michigan State University's excellent school of hotel management. These young people are nothing short of amazing.

My standard, recently renovated room was clean, contemporary, and very comfortable.

Bathroom designs were particularly clever and featured shower controls opposite (not under) the shower head, which made it possible to adjust water temperature without getting a premature shower. The shower drain was a brushed stainless steel bar which blended easily with the shower floor and made for a clean, seamless look and function.

A giant bathroom vanity mirror featured bright, integrated peripheral lighting simulating daylight, with separately controlled sconces on either side which simulated softer, evening or indoor light. Generous counter space and the special amenities exceeded my expectations.

The hotel is situated directly across from the beautiful, pedestrian and bicycle friendly and enormous campus of Michigan State University The well-manicured campus grounds, museums, botanical gardens, river walks, and library offered a close respite from the City of East Lansing. Unlike the university in Ann Arbor, Michigan State's campus is not integrated with city businesses and other non-university buildings.

The hotel also is in the heart of the East Lansing restaurant and business district, on Capitol Area bus lines and only 15 minutes from the airport. An Uber driver was never more than 5 minutes away when I called. It was a short ride to the University's Wharton Center for the Performing Arts where I caught a performance of "Bridges of Madison County" one evening and walked back to the hotel.

The hotel is connected to a nice deli that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a unique gift boutique with mostly women's clothing, interesting accessories and assorted gifts. The hotel lobby bar is open, spacious and serves food when the second floor hotel...

When we arrived, our room had a large wet spot against the wall and across the floor. A maintenance person was dispatched and he felt that something had been spilled on the floor. A large fan was set up to dry the spot while we were out. We came back and the spot was still there. It was no longer wet, but it was crusty and sticky. It took up about half of the walkway space to the door/bathroom. We called to have a manager come look at it and were told someone was coming. After about 20 minutes, we called again and was told the manager was on his way. Instead, the maintenance man came back, took the fan, and felt the floor. He agreed with me that it was disgusting and said he would talk to the manager about. I received a call offering me a free movie (at 10:30 at night) and $50.00 off the stay. The hotel was full and so we could not be moved. Honestly, I wanted to leave because not know what was on the floor was making me kind of sick. However, given the time of night, I didn't wish to pack up my 9 year old son and search for another hotel, so we accepted the discount offer. In the morning, the bill was slid under our door and we were charged the full rate. I called the front desk and spoke with the person I had spoken with the night before and he explained that the discount had been taken off by the night auditor. At my request, he took the entire night's stay off of the bill. I don't want to sound unappreciative because he did finally do what I think was at the very minimum, the right thing. However, I still find it unacceptable that the room was in this condition to begin with, that a manager never came up to speak to me personally, that I was only offer a movie and a small discount, and that I had to call again to get the night's stay removed. I guess I expect a lot more from a hotel of this caliber. There are no special amenities for this hotel, and other than its proximity to MSU, it offers nothing special. The rooms are small for the price. At the very least I should have been guaranteed a clean room. We had to put towels on the floor in order to walk to the bathroom and I didn't even shower while there because I felt like I was in a dirty room. If this "spill" happened, what else wasn't properly cleaned? There isn't really anything that can give me back my piece of mind for that night, but I do think more should have been...

I had an absolutely abhorrent interaction with the "security" working at the front of the hotel on Friday night. I have been visiting this hotel for over a decade and have never had an experience like this before. Additionally, there were other friends in my group who had a completely different interaction with Dan C., and the only difference was their race. He very aggressively accosted me while I was entering the hotel, stating this place was only for guests, and demanded I show him my room key. I have stayed at other metro hotels, and I understand that they need to keep the property safe and ensure only authorized guests enter. However, that can be done in a much more customer-centric approach, starting with greeting the guest and stating that it's the hotel policy after a specific time of night to have guests show their room keys. And if you are hiring such inept security guards who are incapable of stringing together a sentence with a semblance of tact, then consider putting a sign on your doors so guests are aware. Or rely on technology, and like most places, put an RFID keypad on all your doors, which would require someone to have a room key to enter your building after a specific time. All of which are accepted practices, but having someone selectively choose who to access for a room key is not ACCEPTABLE.

Then, when I told " Dan. C." how disappointed I was in this interaction and asked for his name because he was the one security guard without a name tag, he initially refused to provide a last name or initial, stating everyone knows me and this is my hotel. Now I'm sure the Marriott conglomerate would disagree, and if not, I'm thankful (eye roll) for the opportunity to interact with the owners at 1:00 a.m. on Friday in East Lansing, working the doors. This was primarily based on his own guesses and judgments related to what a Marriott guest might look like. I'll be placing this review on every online platform possible and making it my mission to hold Dan C....