Residence Inn by Marriott Florence — Hotel in Florence

This is the second time we have had a house fire and we stayed here. The first time the staff was great, no issues at all but the second time was terrible. To start, it’s Christmas, we had a fire, when I say we by the way I mean Myself, my fiancé, 6 year old daughter and 80 year old grandfather. All three adults and the insurance adjuster told Residence Inn Florence Al that our grandfather was hard of hearing. We ALL understood that on both sides as the guests and you as the staff but instead this happened His wife passed away, and for him that was his true love, you may as well say his life ended with hers.He owned a Convenience/Service Station in Tuscumbia, AL for the majority of his life that was simply called "Holt's Service Station". The majority of my grandfathers friends were African American and at least 95% of his customers were as well and guess what? He NEVER had a problem with anyone while he ran that store, except one man that tried to rob him one time and to this day he still doesn't hate that man, instead he forgave him because John E. Holt is a Christian man and at heart is and always has been a good man.

We stayed at the hotel for about a week before the first incident happened. My Fiance was in the lobby with my daughter and grandfather. There wasn't anyone else there besides the person working the front desk. The front desk worker tried to tell my grandfather that they needed to replace the keycards because ALE had extended our stay and my grandfather didnt understand, I was the one who was taking care of all the things with the hotel but was recovering in the room. My Fiance tried to explain it to him and he couldnt hear so he raised his voice confused and not understanding what was happenning, he raised his voice to my Fiance asking "What?" and also asked her what the desk wanted. The Manager who was behind a closed door and had NO IDEA what was going on came out and got on to him for raising his voice to the front desk worker. Grandad and Fiance explained that he wasnt raising his voice, he is hard of hearing and it wasnt to the worker it was to my fiance but the manager who was clueless ignored that and told him if it happened again he'd be thrown out because the staff needed to feel safe. A hard of hearing man doesnt make someone feel unsafe.

I went down to talk the front desk and management that any further things they needed to discuss with to him just go through me to skip the confusion. I told them I'd take care of it and I even apologized for him being loud and for all of the confusion. Skip a few days to 12/20 I'm still healing, was laying in the bed, my Dad had been visiting from Georgia and had taken my Grandfather out to eat for lunch while I was resting, I get a knock on our door. It's the hotel Manager with two other people telling us we have to leave by Friday the 22nd of December. Of course we asked why, we knew that my grandad had been talking with the housekeepers because he always did, he made jokes with them all the time, no one had an issue with him and he was always nice to them as were we. It turned out that when he and my father were walking down the hall there was a Young man, African American, who was doing something with an extension cord which was ran all the way up the hall and he had it coiled up around his arm and neck. My grandfather had spoken with this young man numerous times during our stay and the man knew he was always joking around. The first time my grandad went up the hall he said something about the extension cord being across the walkway, he said hey dont trip or something, that wasn't the issue. The second time was the issue, he walked up the hall and while laughing and talking to the young man he saw the cord all wrapped around him and said "Dont get hung up, man!" . We were thrown out because of that comment. Now let me make this extremely clear, my grandad had been joking with that guy all morning, he even apologised to the staff before we were told we had to leave. Heck, he even CRIED because we were being thrown out over something...

Okay, there's a certain level of expectation when it comes to a Marriott hotel. I've never stayed at one, but I've walked inside a fancy one and been amazed. Heck, I've walked OUTSIDE one and been amazed. First glance at this Marriott has me wondering about this place. Holiday Inn looks more sleek than this. Outside colors are awful. But let me tell you, there's a REASON for the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." This is the nicest hotel I've ever been in, and I've been in quite a few. Not the largest, but I'll tell you what, we ordered a hotel room and received a mini apartment. There's a full fledged kitchen in here. It has a sink, full sized fridge, a coffee pot, a microwave, a table for two, and a tiny STOVE! But, what amazed me the most is that they have it stocked! Not with food mind you, (though if you fill out a grocery list they'll gladly go get it and bill your room) but there's cutlery, cooking utensils, pots, pans, mugs, bowls, plates, a cutting board with knives! This place is STOCKED! They even had a bag of complementary popcorn. Free food. I'm in love. Speaking of which, the complementary breakfast is amazing. Its a busy time right now with the WC Handy festival coming up, but these employees were working double time to keep everything fresh and stocked. The kindest lady was even passing out little shots of banana smoothies, which you could always ask for more of, free of charge of course. Wonderful manners, as expected of the South ;) I could go on and on, but I'll stop there. All in all a...

I would just like to say how impressed I was with this location. I was in Florence visiting my family for a couple weeks and I started my stay here and liked it so much that I booked the last few days of my trip here as well! These rooms are fully equipped with kitchens and everything! Perfect for a long stay (or short stay) And my Lord was that bed comfortable! They have a half basketball court, a heated pool, a firepit outside with cushioned seating around it, a gym.... The icing on the cake was the staff. Literally everyone I came in contact with made me feel welcome. Isabelle and Amanda helped me at the front desk during my first stay. Heather helped me with my check out the second stay. There also happened to be a very friendly young woman who was speaking to me at checkout, making sure I enjoyed my stay and I have to say, she was one of those people that you meet that you feel like you could talk to forever. Very easy to talk to, warm and friendly. She ended up giving me her business card and it turns out she was the assistant GM! Thank you Ms. Foster for a fantastic stay and leading such a great staff! I will definitely return as well as consider staying at other hotels from this company in the future if they are anything like the Florence...