Courtyard by Marriott Fort Lauderdale Downtown — Hotel in Fort Lauderdale

I stayed at this location in Oct/Nov and I see that they still offer valet parking only. I won't stay here again until self-parking is available and offer the following to those who, like me, suffer from a condition that puts you at a high risk for COVID-19 severe outcomes:

In the 6 days at this hotel, not once did any valet act as if COVID-19 exists. It was obvious that safety protocols were important to me. I would not step out of my vehicle until masked and would step back to create social distance from the valets, who would stand right by the driver's door as I exited. Disappointed that no valet seemed to grasp my obvious safety concerns, I couldn't tip them. Instead their tips went to Housekeeping.

When checking out, I gave feedback to the valet on duty, who appeared to be the head valet. I made a simple statement: I'm sorry but I was unable to tip any of you this week and explained the information above. I said I just wanted to be sure they were aware there can be financial implications when a guest takes obvious steps to protect against COVID-19 and the valets ignore those concerns. This was a statement of fact as to what I experienced, how I responded, and why (FEEDBACK).

The valet became argumentative and stated that by law he did not have to wear a mask and that they have a contactless option. He pointed to the side of the valets' podium where there were apparently instructions for the contactless option (he was pointing to the side of the podium opposite the side that drivers see when pulling in). I responded that I am not saying you should wear a mask. It's your body, do what you want. All I am saying is that there might be financial implications with certain guests and I just wanted to make sure all of you were aware. Unwilling to accept a statement of fact as feedback, he went on about how he doesn't work for tips and his right to not wear a mask by law. I said again, I am not saying you should wear a mask, just be aware that there might financial implications.

Although he might not care about tips, some of his co-workers do. This was obvious on a prior day when one of his co-workers had extended his hand out for a tip as I stepped back from him to create social distancing at which time he pulled his hand back. I apologized to him and explained the above feedback. He apologized back but I told him that no apology was necessary since he wasn't doing anything wrong. I commented they had all been EXTREMELY courteous but my safety and my family's safety come first. I said just be aware there might be financial implications with some guests if there is an obvious lack of concern for a guest's safety when it is obvious the guest is taking all measures to protect himself. He said he understood and we wished each other a good night.

Feedback is just that, feedback. It is not a green light for a staff member to needlessly embark on a debate over mask wearing. As a head valet, he should be well versed in receiving feedback. A simple understood, thanks for the feedback, I will pass that along, etc. would have been preferred over trying to start a debate. Feedback can be received and acted upon or simply deemed flawed and disregarded. In the end it is just feedback. The Marriott used to welcome feedback as it made them understand their guests’ concerns. This valet did not get that.

Beyond that, the garage in which they park the vehicles appeared to be in a construction zone. There were footprints all over the carpet from the valets. The entryway/driveway was poorly designed. It was not wide enough to accommodate more than a single row of vehicles, so you can get stuck in the middle of vehicles and have to wait unnecessarily. There was limited signage and only one valet on duty at most times during my stay. Additional signage would go a long way for when a guest pulls up and the valet is away from the podium. Contactless instructions would be better from an entry viewpoint versus an exit viewpoint....

Booked for three nights pre cruise, two Brits looking for a nice stay in FL ||Could be a lovely hotel, but just lacks joined up management to the point that guests are made to feel like an inconvenience at times. ||Attitude of some staff is truly appalling (others nice (Manuel being one) ||It’s a new modern, smart hotel about 20 min walk to Las Olas. A few restaurants around, but you do tend to be getting Ubers to & from Las Olas - not in a pretty area ||Better off at Riverside Hotel, but couldn’t get in ||As per the previous review we specifically requested daily room service when we were checking in on our first evening ||We paid nearly 900 dollars for 3 nights. Am I missing something but surely that justifies a little TLC for the room & consideration for a hotel guest ||But no room service first morning, so asked again … nothing second morning, finally after using damp towels for two days & making quite a fuss we finally get the room made up & fresh towels ||After raising the anti a lot the hotel eventually refunded one nights accommodation. But why was this necessary & why are hotels looking to avoid room cleaning, but still charging big money for rooms ?||The bar / breakfast area is on the same floor as the hotel reception & it works well - it’s comfortable & quite welcoming. Staff here mainly friendly ||Food is pretty good, but quite expensive (you do get 20 dollars per day per room voucher so that helps) ||The pool area SHOULD be the nicest part, but spoilt by surely, unfriendly staff & music bizarrely being played louder than a disco||My wife & I had a lovely morning & lunch time around Las Olas, sun was shining so we thought we’d go back to the hotel at around 3pm to have a relax round the pool ||I got up there and you literally you couldn’t speak to the person stood next to you because of the music volume. I was shocked ||Now if I was walking into some kind of private pool party with lots of people already there I’d kind of understand it more, but there were literally four hotel guests sat out (and maybe the same at the bar down the far end)||Would also say if those in the bar want music load, play it there but why subject the entire pool / sunbed area with it?||The management clearly don’t perceive this area in the same way as a normal hotel guest would tend to ||So I go to the bar & asked for it to turned down a little ‘please’ (the alternative was back to my hotel room) …. it got turned down a little,but the young girl wasn’t happy (more on her later) ||My wife turns up 10 mins later & it’s still loud, again she asks the girl for the music to be turned down. The girl behind the bar asks her boss & my wife sees him say “NO” …my wife walks over to him & asks if there’s a problem & he say no & denies saying “NO” (he did) ||So the music is now at a sensible level … I then go and get a drink & it’s immediately evident that the girl behind the bar who we’d spoke to earlier is very unhappy with me. ||Trust me i was polite before, but the customiser is not important here, she proceeds to be blatantly rude & hostile, slams drinks down & is clearly looking for a confrontation - I tell her that im very unhappy with her behaviour, & we end up having a fall out (not very nice when you’re on holiday) ||But I guess it’s just a normal event at this hotel ….||Some of the hotel staff actually go drinking at the pool bar after there shift which I think is pretty revealing ||It doesn’t offend me but I don’t think any properly run high end hotel allows its hotel staff to drink in its own hotel bars. Just unprofessional given you’d be seeing then next day behind a counter ||I read that the pool bar & pool is independent from the hotel which I think is part of the problem||So sadly a really good product is let down by lack of management, and lack of consideration for guests ||It’s might have the nicest common areas of any hotel in the local area but I’d never stay there again & would not recommend the hotel...

Long and short: I recently stayed at this property on business for 1 night, overall decent, except... Hotel was comfortable, clean decent property overall, but the elevators took forever, but I guess we need to be patient, but I ended up walking up and down several floors after waiting 10 minutes each time...

The reason for my 1 star review is the VALET. Instead of parking on the street, I chose to keep my vehicle safe, so I paid the extra money for convenience and security. When they pulled my car out from their ramp garage we got in the car and saw the low air (no air actually) on the panel where all the instrumentation is (speedometer, gas gauge, etc). I walked up to the two valet workers and asked them if they ran over a nail or something in the garage since my tire was flat (it showed 4 psi when it should have been 38 psi). They looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and said they didn't know but they could look. I told him it wouldn't matter. Still with our vehicle alongside of the hotel (the manager can check the cameras if they don't believe me), and pumped up the tire since we had an air compressor in the trunk area.

We then drove to a tire shop down the road (on 38 PSI of air, now that it was pumped up).The tire center said that someone drove basically on a flat tire (4 psi) and now the sidewall of the tire was damaged and no repairable, so we had to purchase a new tire.

Thankfully they had a new tire, but it did not match. Since it was a Sunday and we had to wait, I missed my flight and ended up paying 160.00 for a new tire. I was VERY thankful that they had the same size tire (but not the matching brand).

While I waited 2 hours for the repair to be made (they only had one person working and multiple cars that were waiting to be repaired), I called the hotel. The representative who answered was lovely and helpful, saying that since I was a Marriott Bonvoy elite member, she was going to get me right over to the manager, but I was only able to leave a message.

A few minutes later, an assistant manager called me back and said he would speak/meet with the valet personnel and get back to me.

Later on, Roderigo (presumably from the valet side of the company) called back and I explained the situation. He said he might need photos and I told him I could send them to him but I also kept the old (damaged) tire just in case they needed it for inspection. He said he would speak to his supervisor first and let me know if he needed photos.

A few hours later, Rodrigo texted me, stating in the text that they won't be able to process the claim since they had no photos, which is ludicrous based on our discussion. I explained to him the obvious and reminded him of the sequence of events. He said "I'm sorry" later stating that we left the premises before reporting it. But we DID report it and the valet personnel did not seem to care or know what to do.

Very disappointing. I won't ever stay at this hotel again, and will be advancing my concerns to the corporate office (Marriott Bonvoy) or their subsidiaries, along with sharing my experience on social media. All they had to do what treat me with decency and respect, but they didn't believe me, which I understand, but all they had to do what look at the cameras to see that we did not drive from the premises as they claim. I don't blame Rodrigo, but I do blame management for failure to address an issue from a loyal, well establish customer.

I am a frequent traveler, flying weekly and using hotels at least 40 nights out of the year, if not more.

I mainly used Marriott (Bonvoy) for most of my accommodations since they are reasonably priced...