Courtyard by Marriott Fredericksburg Historic District — Hotel in Fredericksburg

I have rated this hotel as low as possible to highlight a very specific issue that warrants attention. I am a very seasoned domestic and international traveler. Basically I have been traveling every week for the last 30+ years. I am a lifetime Executive Platinum with Marriott and at the highest level with other hotel chains.

This is a nice hotel in a great location with a nice staff. It falls in line with some of the better Courtyards.

When considering this Hotel, the issue I want highlight is a serious flaw that could leave a loved one stranded after they leave the hotel.

To better understand the issue, let me describe my situation. • I booked two rooms for a wedding in my name and guaranteed to my credit card • I informed the hotel my daughter might check in early • My daughter did check in early and the hotel took her credit card. The hotel moved the room from my card to her card. • This triggers a temporary hold on her card for the cost of the room for the length of the stay • At time of check out, I realized they put the room under her card and had them move it back to my card. Then checked out. • However, this hotel’s system will not relieve the hold against my daughter’s card since I paid for the room. It expects that the person can wait the 3 to 7+ days for the credit card company to drop the hold.

Why it might be important to you?

My daughter has recently graduated and qualified for her first credit card in her name. As you can hypothesize, she does not have a large credit limit. The added hold on her card put her over her credit limit, which meant she could not use the card to buy gas, food, or any other essential item for her 10 hour drive home – she could have been stranded. Luckily, she was traveling with a friend who was able to pay for everything.

So could the hotel have handled this differently? At time of check in, my daughter should have been informed of the potential issue. The hotel could have called me as well. I am sure there were other options than the one chosen. At time of check out, the hotel should have informed me of the flaw in their system and the impact to my daughter. Even when asked that there would be no transactions against my daughter’s card, they failed to inform me that there would be When I called the hotel asking for their help I was told there was nothing they could do. This was followed up by a nice email from the general manager providing essentially the same response. This might be a valid response but after talking with other Marriott properties, the other properties all had ways of solving this issue or at least actively trying to solve my problem rather than just dismissing it. Since I am a part owner of a retail establishment and have to work with credit card processors, I also know that there are a wide array of manual transactions I can use that might also solve this problem.

Maybe this specific hotel has none of these options or its staff and GM need more training from accounting – I do not know. I do know that if you stay there be aware of this potential problem and a staff and GM that has no way or desire...

This is at least my sixth stay at this hotel over the past several years while on leisure trips, and I always enjoy it thoroughly. In my mind, it is the ONLY place to stay in Fredericksburg. The location in the historic part of town is exactly where any tourist or leisure traveler would want to be, and it would be perfect for business travelers also. Many nice shops, good restaurants, and historic buildings and sites are within a 10-15 minute walk, and the town is wonderfully walkable. In contrast, the other national chain hotels are all outside of downtown, either north of downtown or west of I-95, both of which are very congested. Also of huge importance is the fact that the staff is outstanding-- friendly, cheerful, always accommodating, and obviously enjoying their jobs. I have gotten to know several of them over the years, and that continuity of personnel and management says a lot about the quality of the place. I rate the dining as good rather than excellent because The Bistro is fine for breakfast, lunch, a relaxing late evening glass of wine and snack, or a casual dinner, but it is does not have an extensive or formal dinner menu. Service there is quick, and the staff is very friendly. For those who like exercise, as I do, the fitness center offers a treadmill, elliptical, exercise bike, and weights, plus individual TVs. There is also a small indoor pool. Several blocks north on Caroline Street, a runner or cyclist will find access to a river trail (adjacent to the Rappahannock River) that interconnects with a canal trail (that runs back west into town). I often run up Caroline Street, pick up the river trail by an old mill building, run to that northern head of that trail, then retrace my steps, cutting up a spur of the trail to Princess Anne Street for returning to the hotel. That is probably about 5 miles. Or I sometimes run south on Caroline Street under the commuter rail overpass into a very pretty residential section of town with many quaint older homes. For returning, I often cut down the rocky path to the boat landing and come back on Sophia Street. The hotel has no parking lot of its own, but there is a reasonably priced public garage a block south, and I always use on-street parking, which is free overnight from 5 PM to 9 AM, with two hours free during the day. So in effect, you can park free from 5 PM to 11 AM. But note the parking ban overnight during street cleaning hours, which is posted on the signs (they caught me...

We stayed at the Marriott on a Friday & Saturday night. The room was nice. The staff was very pleasant. However, there was a venue (I believe it was a bar) right across the street (and directly across from our room). Loud music was playing until very late on Friday night. Live, loud music was playing until very late on Saturday night. On both nights, it sounded like the music was being played right in our hotel room. At a minimum, the hotel should have a disclaimer or some sort of message on its website about the noise. I realize they can't control the venue across the street; however, giving potential guests a heads up, would enable them to seek out an alternate hotel or a room on the opposite side of the hotel (although I ran into a couple in the elevator, whose room was on the opposite side of the hotel, who said that they could hear the music playing late into the evening in their room as well). As if the above was not bad enough, some idiot decided it was a good idea to rev his car engine on the street outside our room at about 2:00 a.m., and another idiot decided to start screaming on the street outside our room at about 3:30 a.m., both of which could be heard very loudly in our room. Lastly, at about 6:00 a.m., some man decided to start yelling loudly out in the street. I could see him from our window. I called down to the front desk, to let them know about the guy and what he was doing, and requested that they call the Fredericksburg police, so he could be dealt with. They said that they would. The guy continued to yell for the next two hours or more, without stopping. When we were checking out later in the morning, I saw the same guy walking through the hotel lobby. Apparently, they let him use the facilities on the main floor. This leads me to believe that the hotel staff completely ignored my request. It was the worst experience I have ever had at a hotel. It's a shame, because the hotel is in a great location downtown. I had to give it one star or I could not post the review. Should have...