Courtyard by Marriott Philadelphia Great Valley/Malvern — Hotel in East Whiteland Township

We recently went to the Courtyard at Great Valley/Malvern. I’ve been a Marriott member for many, many years. I have not complained about any of my stays. We have enjoyed our stays at Marriott, continue to be Marriott Bonvoy members, and use our Bonvoy credit card. This hotel was very, very different. Here are some of the problems we experienced.||1. We had a reservation for a King—we were given a Queen and a runaround about getting our points reimbursed. We are still awaiting a resolution to this. ||2. The hotel was filthy. Among the problems:||a. Hallways were never vacuumed— French fries were on the floor, as well as litter on the carpets. All of this garbage was on the floor for the entire time we were there. Usually you take pictures of the places you visit, but this place was so bad that we have pictures of the hotel.||b. Garbage was left out in the hall and never picked up. We have pictures of this as well.||3. The supposed sanitation for Covid didn’t exist. With the pandemic still severely problematic, we witnessed absolutely no concern for our health. Among the problems: ||a. The hand sanitizers dispensers didn’t work. At one point we tried three in a row—none dispensed hand sanitizer. We tried EVERY day. None worked. ||b. The gym was disgusting. The treadmills were so filthy that my hands stuck to them when I was running. There were no wipes with which to clean the treadmill—they were all dried out. There were no towels in there (which may explain why the treadmills were sticky). There was no way to adjust the temperature in the gym, which was very, very warm, while the halls in the entire hotel were freezing all the time. We informed staff about this, but it appears that nothing changed. ||4. The room was not clean when we got into the room. The room we stayed in was poorly vacuumed when we arrived. ||a. We have pictures of the dirt in the corners and in some you can make out a spider’s web as well. ||b. We were there from a Wednesday to Monday—and there was no housekeeping. We had to go get our own towels and tissues. Garbage piled up in our room (there are pictures) because there simply was no place to discard garbage. Towels piled up in the bathroom (here, too we have pictures). We were never told there would be no service (we would have left) and the front desk did not seem at all upset when I told them that we needed towels and tissues—they simply went and got us some with no apology and no concern. ||c. There was no liner for the ice bucket. ||d. The facility needs an exterminator. In one day alone, we killed three spiders. There were spider webs when we arrived. There are pictures of this as well||5. The general upkeep of the hotel was below par for all the years we have stayed at Marriott hotels of all types. The tub was rusty and cracked, the water pressure in the sink was so low that it was hard to clean off my razor, and the carpeting by the elevators on the second floor were bubbling up. Even the sheet on our bed had a huge stain on it. ||We do understand that the Courtyard is not the JW (we have stayed at both) and that the amenities are not the same. But cleanliness and housekeeping have been good at every Courtyard we have stayed—this was a very notable exception. Cleanliness and housekeeping would be expected even at hotels that did not have a Marriott brand standard. This was simply awful. And when we complained, we got a form letter email describing this as a "teachable moment." If you need to be taught to have a clean facility, particularly during Covid, you are a sub-par hotel...

I paid through a third party company which I normally do. I am a Bonvoy Rewards member. I also visit this hotel chain often. 4 to 5 times a week to be exact. I was charged an ADDITIONAL $100 with no logical explanation. Upon arrival, I stated my last name and that I was there to check in. She asked me for my ID to verify my account. I gave her my ID. She looked up my account and asked me if was a bonvoy member then she asked me if I booked the third-party I told her yes. After asking me if I booked through the third-party she asked if I paid through the third-party I told her yes she then asked me to put my card into the machine to pay which I assumed it was for the $20 incidental fee (she never specified what I was paying for only instructed me to put my card in) I took my card out. She then asked me to put my card back in to pay the $20 incidental fee. I asked her what did I just pay for if not the incidental fee she said taxes and fees how am I paying taxes and fees if I paid through the third-party so I asked her why would I be charged $100 for taxes and fees on top of the initial payment & then another $20. I already paid for the night then was going to be charged an additional $120 for the “tax fees & an incidental fee” not only did she mess up with the money. She was rude to me throughout the entire situation and couldn’t give me clears answers When I asked for a manager, she looked away and ignored me. I told her that I would not leave without speaking to someone in charge and that I did not Appreciate the way I was being talked to and treated I tried to explain to her that I stay at this chain of hotels often, and that this never happened to me and that I needed a detailed reason and explanation for the charges. She was giving me multiple different reasons of why I was being charged. She then gets in contact with the manager and tells me that the virtual card declined and that that’s why I was charged an additional fee, but that makes absolutely no sense. And why is that a completely different reason from what she initially said? This is unacceptable. I’ll be seeking legal counsel because something seems off. I wouldn’t want this happening to anyone else...

When we first made the decision to use this location for our hotel block, we were working with a particular employee, who was lovely and prompt in her responses. She was promoted (as she should be) and we then worked with a different person. After that point, our experience turned very negative and Courtyard Philadelphia Great Valley/Malvern was the most stressful part of planning and executing our wedding, which is insane given it should be the EASIEST.

We had negotiated use of a shuttle to transport the bridal party to our venue if we had a certain number of rooms booked. I made sure to get it in writing. We had surpassed that number (in fact we maxed out our block). On our wedding day, it was almost as if the conversation never happened and they scrambled to make sure the shuttles were ready. On top of that, they managed to charge us for the shuttle anyway. I had to reach out again to get the charge removed from my card. There were two weddings using the hotel during the weekend of our wedding. The hotel put out signs for each, except they put our venue's name on both signs which was WRONG and caused a lot of confusion. I was promised that my room would be ready early so I could put my stuff in there before I left for my wedding. That didn't happen. The person we worked with lacked proper communication and customer service skills -- they would send emails that didn't make sense and a few times, it actually cut off in the middle of a sentence. They took days to get back to me on simple questions. The shared spaces in the hotel were dirty. The elevator reeked of sweat and BO. The brunch catering they recommended was not good and basically inedible. We had to order it through the hotel and they consistently got the order wrong. The order was wrong the day of the brunch but we let it go because we were over everything by that point.

I'm being generous with two stars given the experience we had with this hotel for...