SpringHill Suites by Marriott San Diego Escondido/Downtown — Hotel in Escondido

Stayed here for a week in early July attending a wedding. This was my first extended stay at a Springhill Suites. I was looking forward to my weeks stay as hotel reps on phone seemed friendly. However after my stay at the hotel I was quite disappointed and not sure if I would stay at a Springhill Suites again. The primary disappointment was in terms of the service primarily in the breakfast area and some of the front desk staff. Sorry for the long review but hoping this gives mgmt areas to look for improvement

1. Front Desk - Biggest kudos goes to Kalona . Very friendly and helpful rep. She definitely went above and beyond the call of service to make sure on customer satisfaction. I was utterly surprised that the hotel did not have a coffee/tea station in the lobby. Considering we were a large wedding group (probably occupied 70% of the hotel) , we asked if they could keep a coffee urn and/or hot water plus tea bags, sugar and cups in the lobby so our guests could get tea and coffee at night. Couple of the front desk staff denied our request and excuse was they are not allowed to do that under the policy. Kalona on the 3rd day went out of her way and actually got an unused tea kettle from her home and brought it to the hotel because she realized we were constantly in/out of rooms heating water one cup at a time. She saw the guest need and she went out of her way to get us at least something that would enable us to make 6 cups of hot water at a shot. That is what I call service and she always had a smile on her face. In addition we also had good experience with Tim and Matt Cuevas who made an effort to help us when we approached them The rest of the staff during day/night were not very helpful and couple of them were pretty abrupt in their responses as if we were a burden.

2. Hotel facility - nice clean facility and decent size. The rooms are a little small/crowded for 2 queen beds and layout is not very good. Felt cramped with 4 of us in the room. The bathroom door had no locks - not sure why? Lighting was very dim and they definitely need more lights in the rooms. Also why would you have a coffee maker that can only make 1 cup at a time? isn't that waste of energy? At least have 2 - 4 cups and if one needs only 1 cup, they can just put one cup of water

3. Breakfast - this was probably one of the worst breakfast experiences in my entire life , primarily from a service perspective .

On several days when we got to the breakfast area, they had run out of oatmeal and cut fresh fruit. How can you run out of food when you still have 60-90 minutes to go during break. When we asked the rep if she could make more , she abruptly said no

In addition, they would have run out of hot water to make tea and/or tea bags. Few times when I mentioned that there were no tea bags, she pulled out 4-6 bags and put it out. Not sure why only 4-6 when it was still long way for breakfast to finish. Also Isn't the staff supposed to continuously check the coffee, hot water and other food items and ensure it is stocked . Why do customers have to ask and then wait a long time to get it

Hot items choice . On all the days hot items was eggs, sausage and bacon. They had no potatoes or any other hot items for vegetarians. really? Its just surprising that in this day and age , there was not hot item choice for those that are vegetarians. Every hotel I have been to either have potatoes or hash browns

Room Cleaning and Cleaning staff - this was fine and the cleaning staff were attentive and very friendly willing to engage with guests

So overall kudos to Kalona, Matt & Tim for providing good service when they were at front desk. This was my first time at Springhill suites and as a Marriott property definitely did...

My husband and I have stayed here a dozen times, we love(d) it. We've always had GREAT experiences, until this weekend. We had 2 separate reservations (I booked one night and he booked one night) and we both had problems. In the past, we have ALWAYS been allowed to check in early. On Saturday, we arrived around 1 (check in is at 4) and couldn't check in, which i understand because it was very early. I asked to pre-check in so that we didn't have to do it later (we were going to be back LATE) and the girl at the front desk (who was clearly new, and NOT dressed for a job in hospitality, very unprofessional) was super rude. The manager came out and was not super friendly and supposedly pre-checked us in. Well when we got back around 11, we had to do the whole process over again, so that was a bit frustrating. We've always stayed in an odd numbered room (west facing) but this time we were even (east facing) and the sun in the morning was UNBEARABLE. Even with the shades closed, there was such a gap that when the sun came up, we were UP. It seems like there should be darker shades in those rooms, too. So that night was "meh" and I wouldn't be writing this review if it weren't for the second night... So again, we tried to check in early, but this time it was 3:45 (again, check-in is at 4) and they wouldn't let us, 15 MINUTES! We get back to the hotel later on (around 8) and check in, and ask the person at the front desk (nice person, this time!) if we can have an odd room because the sun was so bad in the other room. She puts us on the first floor, by the pool, which was fine with us until... We get in and there is no toilet paper, 1 tissue, and there are people smoking outside at the pool room and it's very much coming into our room... we called to complain and were informed that they do allow smoking at the pool area (in a family environment, when there's a smoking area around the corner!!!) which was infuriating!! In the morning, we go to check out and AGAIN we have a person at the front desk that was very short and not at all friendly (though I wouldn't call him "rude" but, YOU WORK IN HOSPITALITY!!). We have always had GREAT experiences here until this weekend, we are VERY disappointed. Considering there are many hotels in the area for much cheaper, I can't honestly say if we'll be back. Not sure what changed because during covid they were friendly, well maintained, & we always had great things to say. It seems like they got a different staff...

Please reconsider your stay at this location as it is not the typical Marriott experience. I never take the time to write negative reviews but this particular experience was so bad that I feel compelled to warn fellow travelers, specially those traveling as a family. The biggest problem was the fact that there was blood on our son’s pillow and comforter. I let the front clerk know upon check out. We had just noticed it that morning. She said someone would contact us but a few days later, no one had reached out to us yet. I reached out and spoke with Deron (unsure about the spelling). Although he was courteous while speaking with him, I felt like I was blamed for the incident. He tried to imply that it was us even though we quite literally inspected our 14-year-old son when he made us aware of the situation. There is no way that was his blood or any of ours, for that matter. Nothing was done to correct the situation and I instead was made to feel like it was our fault. My son was very traumatized for having to sleep in someone else’s blood and we were VERY dissatisfied, disappointed, and extremely disturbed by the situation. We also noticed a lot of other “small things” that amounted to the most unpleasant stay we have ever experienced at ANY hotel. Upon arrival, Rachel was not very friendly. I don’t take things personally, maybe she was just having a bad day but it immediately it was not up to par with a place that is over $200 a night. The pool was absolutely disgusting. My son and some kids he made friends with couldn’t even stand being in there for 10 minutes. The smell was absolutely putrid, again, not something you expect from a hotel such as this one. There is a glass standing shower and there is no division between the general vanity/sink/shower and toilet. Definitely not an ideal situation for a family stay. There is only one mirror in the bathroom and no full length mirrors at all. Doesn’t seem like a big deal until you don’t have it. The refrigerator did not work, the shower pressure was absurd and the toilet was dirty when we checked in. We had Lysol so we just took care of it but again, just a bunch of things that added up to a terrible stay topped off by the breakfast also being mediocre. Nothing was done to rectify our concerns, which is the biggest disappointment of all. Please do your family a favor and look for literally anything...