Courtyard by Marriott Fremont Silicon Valley — Hotel in Fremont

I have stayed at this Courtyard hundreds of time over the last 6 years. Most of the time, my stay has been good, but this last stay was very poor.

My fundamental expectations is that everything thing works in the room/hotel and it is clean and previous this has been the case with this hotel, but this time the AC unit did not function properly and was making a loud squealing sound that I could hear outside the room before I entered it. After I determined it was the AC unit, I immediately went back to the front desk and asked for a different room. The person behind the counter stated that all the other rooms were full and all they could do is to submit a work order in the morning to get the AC unit fixed. This was very disappointing given the fact that one of the reasons I stay at Marriott hotel is due to the size and number of hotels. She could have at least attempted to transfer me to a nearby hotel, but she did not.

I then returned to my squealing room and turned off the AC unit to stop the noise. I had to open the sliding door to keep the room cool all night. Thank God the sliding door was towards the courtyard at the middle of hotel. In any case, someone could have easily entered my room from this courtyard through the screen door.

The next morning I inquired to see if a work order had been submitted and apparently this did not happen. I asked again to be moved to a different room and the person behind the counter stated that they will surely do this and asked if all of my belongings were ready to be transferred. I stated yes and they were all stacked on one of the beds in this room (room # 114). I returned that evening only to find out that I had not been moved to a different room and the person behind the counter did not know and could not find out if the work order had been completed. I returned to room 114 and initially the AC unit was quiet and working normally. I called the front desk to inform them that it was working properly, but 20 minutes later is started squealing worse than before. I then called the front desk again and let them know that the AC unit had not been fixed. Again, they stated they would submit a work order to get it fixed. I then turned the AC unit off and opened the sliding door again.

The next night I basically gave up on trying to get the room fixed and the AC unit had not been fixed. Slept with the door open again.

The maintenance and...

Positive: Clean Friendly staff. Close to freeway. Quiet.

Negative: Overnight Parking Fee. It's in the middle of a business district in the middle of pseudo rural environment and the vast majority of hotels in the area have free parking; there was so much parking space I can autocross in it. Free breakfast not available. A free breakfast with coffee usually resets me in the morning. Not having one only makes my negative feelings linger on now looking for some breakfast and real Starbucks elsewhere that's cheaper than this place. Putting a salad, some avocados, an egg and bacon on a wooden board doesn't make it taste better or more valuable. Whereas most hotels offer free coffee most of the day, if not all day, this facility does not. No microwave. A refrigerator that has 2 settings off and "cooler than outside". It would be nice to put those expensive cheaply bottled waters they offer you for sale in the fridge to keep them cool. Maybe the owners like to drink water warm, but I like mine cold. Heck, based on all the hotels I've stayed at this price point you'd think they'd offer water in a water dispenser that has fruits and stuff in it for the guests to partake in. At this Courtyard, you can drink from the water fountain or pay for the $4-something bottled water in your room that you can't cool because the fridge is too busy saving the environment. This is a business-traveler-centric hotel not towards families or leisure travelers. If you like to swim and use the pool, there are no bathrooms or showers near the pool; you have to go back to your room or do your business in-the-pool. Try telling a child to hold their pee while they walk to the other side of the building wet and cold. They have a sign that says you have to shower before you enter the pool, but there's no shower in sight unless you're talking about taking one in your room and then walk out wet to the pool. If you're going to have a bar, at least stock it right; it's a mom and pop deli that also happens to serve beer, wine and cheap whiskey. I asked the guy working behind the counter if things like eggs, beef patties and etc. were premade if there wasn't a grill, but only a toaster-oven to heat food. He seemed irritated at the question responding with "pre-made is a bad word around here!" He'd be offended at the bad words that...

I was given room 244. I had just finished a 3 hour drive and needed to use the restroom, but decided to wait until I got to the room. Upon arriving at my door my key card reader essentially ate my key card. It slid all the way in and I couldn't get it out. Housekeeping was there and called downstairs for me, I was told the room next to me was clean and ready. A man came to the door, but with no additional keys (presumably someone in some sort of owner or management position given how she responded to him). Instead of changing rooms, he asked housekeeping if she had a knife so that he could fish the key out. He successfully fished the key out, and proceeded to teach me how to use the card reader properly for about 75 seconds which was both unnecessary and insulting. I had expressed to him I needed to use the restroom and to please let me in my room but he kept opening and closing the door and telling me there was a right way to use the key card reader. I asked him what happens if this happens again, and he said to just call and they will fix it.

Every time I had to get back into my room, the card reader would act up. It took me 5-10 minutes of trial and error before it actually read my card. Newsflash, your card reader is broken, it should never slide all the way into the reader and it should not require 10 minutes to successfully enter a room. The man's solution was lazy and cheap. He works in hospitality yet instead of focusing on the comfort of the guest he inconvenienced me, insulted me, and made my stay stressful and uncomfortable. As a platinum member with 300+ nights in SPG/Marriott hotels, this level of treatment/service is in my bottom two experiences.

I happened to overhear another room having issues with their key reader on the first floor on the second night of my stay also. If all of their key readers are broken, then not giving me a new room makes sense. lol.

Additionally, they charge $7/night for parking here. The Marriott down the street does not charge and they have a covered garage on top of outside parking with electric car charging stations. I stayed here to try a new place out and to save ~$13/night, but that turned to $6 with worse service and a less comfortable stay.

I will not return to...