Denver Marriott West — Hotel in Golden

I do not do this often, but I am most definitely not impressed with this hotel, so I need to speak about this. I do want to note that the staff I came across were great! Especially the older gentleman who worked during the evenings/nights. He was a pleasure to work with! And so were all of the serving staff that were present for the conference I was a part of. ||The hotel is exceptionally out of date, especially the rooms themselves. The AC didn't work at all, or couldn't keep up. I had it at the lowest it could go, all week, and it never worked well enough. My window didn't have a screen, and it was only allowed to open about two inches (it opened on the far side, so the curtain couldn't be moved to get airflow), so that made no difference either. The bed was pleasant, which surprised me- so no complaints there. ||As for the event, the overhead speakers never worked in the ballroom, and the folks who were putting on the event had to pay extra to bring in external speakers to use. None of the microphones worked properly in ANY of the conference rooms- they faded in and out constantly. I felt terrible for any speaker who was trying to mitigate those issues. I also heard from some of the conference staff that this hotel had been a general pain to work with, so that is unfortunate. If they are paying so much for the event, I would hope they could have had a little better experience. If you are a person looking to do business with this hotel, I would avoid it!||The conference I attended likely missed the change to charge for parking, so I didn't have to pay; however, that may have been handled on the backend by the conference staff. I had heard this change went into effect about a month ago. Additionally, I had inquired about having a couple of packages sent to the hotel, as I am from out of town, and I was told that there is a cost for packages being sent to the hotel. I am guessing this changed about the same time they started charging for parking. That was interesting. ||My largest complaint is food-related. First, the prices of the meals per person. The prices are INSANE. I know that times are far less than ideal at this moment, but charging $30+ PER PERSON for a bagged lunch is absolutely asinine. Furthermore, none of the food I received matched the expected quality for any of the meal prices. The meals were generally mediocre at best. I couldn't believe the prices when I heard them. Secondly, I have a gluten allergy, along with an autoimmune disease that also affects the foods I can eat, which is not the hotel's fault. Still, it is concerning the lack of care and detail they (esp. the upper management) had for those who had food allergies or things they cannot eat. After the first day, I noticed that not all food signs consistently indicated whether they were gluten-free or gluten-friendly, particularly with the desserts and snacks. I had requested that the head of the conference mention this to the hotel staff to increase transparency, but it did not occur for the rest of the time I was there (it totaled 5 days). We were to have bagged lunches on a couple of days, and neither of those days had a gluten-free option provided, even though several folks also had an allergy, so there should have most definitely been GF lunches provided. Each time, a GF lunch had to be specifically asked for. I am lucky to enjoy cooking and have a decent understanding of what ingredients are in the food that was provided. Some others were not as lucky. That can literally KILL someone if their allergy is bad enough. I have been to several hotels after having to go GF, and they have been GREAT! It still concerns me a lot that there was so much disregard for those with food allergies. ||I highly suggest that this hotel be avoided if you have any food-related allergies! I would also work with a different hotel for events. I have been to plenty of other Marriott-owned hotels, but this one specifically was a doosie. I do not recommend this...

Unfortunately, we were disappointed with the Denver Marriott West. We booked our hotel block here for our wedding in Idaho Springs, CO. We picked this hotel because it was a good central spot for all our wedding festivities and was a relatively reasonable price compared to other hotels in the area. In addition to having our guests stay at the hotel, we also planned our Welcome Party & Goodbye Breakfast at the hotel.

The best part about the hotel was their event planning team. The staff that helped us plan our Welcome Party & Goodbye Breakfast were great. We had both events at the Poolside event venue, and it was perfect for our guest count. Everything for the most part went smoothly, and our guests were happy! However, my grandma did end up falling and breaking her wrist due to some steps around the pool but that was not the hotel's fault.

Unfortunately, we have more complaints than positive reviews. Firstly, I used Engaged Sourcing to book our hotel block and the executive suite for my husband and me. We had the suite booked in July of 2023 (11 months before our wedding). The event manager gave me a tour of the suite in February of 2024 and made sure that I would have extra mirrors, extension cords, etc. in the suite. However, a month before the wedding (May 2024), I got an email from my contact at Engaged Sourcing saying that they overbooked the suite and my husband and I would be moved to a King room, and they would provide champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. I was not happy about this, especially since I planned to get ready in the suite with my bridesmaids. Luckily, they ended up giving us a conference room to get ready in for free. However, the room we stayed in had multiple outlets not working and the toilet seat was broken. Unfortunately, we felt like missed out and we did feel special on our wedding night!

Other complaints include that they could not promise our guests two queen beds since they were paying the reduced rate through the wedding block and not the "full rate." Our guests who came before our wedding block dates or who were staying after were told they would have to move rooms multiple times instead of staying in the same room over multiple days. They charge to pass out wedding welcome bags (literally $2 per bag) and we were not told this until we got to the hotel the weekend of. They also told my guests that they charge extra for the rooms if more than one person is staying in the room.

Overall, my husband and I, my family, and our guests were disappointed with Denver Marriott West and do not recommend having a...

As a person who travels extensively for business, I have found Marriott to offer a solid, dependable level of comfort, location, service, and reliability through the years. This location was a notable exception to this expectation. Some of this could be attributed to the pandemic, with staffing shortages , depressed travel volume, and supply-chain issues apparently affecting every business to some extent. But as a non-smoker myself and with Colorado's penchant to self-identify as one of the "greener" states in the nation, stepping off of an elevator on any floor and being bludgeoned by rancid cigarette smoke lingering down 70% of the floor's hallways is just not conducive to endearing any establishment to a client.

Given the supposed health concerns associated with the ongoing pandemic and the mandatory use of face masks, (already restricting one's ability to draw a fresh breath), it is impossible not to wonder what else associated with cleanliness and disinfection protocols is equally being selectively adhered to?

When I inquired about the smoking status and asked if the 5th floor was possibly designated as a smoking floor, I was assured this was not the case. But for the duration of my stay, the smoke smell never left the 5th floor hallway. And with my room being the very last room in the longest hallway, I was met with the stench upon opening my door, and walking all the way to the elevators through it, and then back through it to my room, where it wafted into the room as well.

I'm not one to complain typically. I generally just remember the issues and never return to a business that can't put themselves into a customer's shoes. But Marriott has been a stalwart to business travel. I appreciated the local manager's efforts to protect the company's interests while offering something to the customer, and I honestly felt like the concern was genuine. This alone is why I will likely give this Marriott another visit...