Residence Inn by Marriott Grand Rapids Downtown — Hotel in Grand Rapids

This will be a lengthy review. I am very picky and so I will review thoroughly.

This was by far, one of my best stays at a hotel. First, I had questions before I traveled, and Jonathan was the one to help me I arrived in Grand Rapids. When I got there, he was also the one to greet us. I will say that the pleasant employees and wonderful customer service really set our trip up on the right foot.

We stayed in a corner room, and that was really nice. Since we were staying for a while, I wanted to have more room and I felt this need was met. The kitchen was fully stocked with any kind of pots/utensils you might need. There’s an ice machine in the fridge, but the front desk also gave us ice when I felt that wasn’t enough.

We opted not to have housekeeping while we stayed, but everyone was helpful when we needed anything at all.

I was surprised at how many families stayed here, I never once heard anything or had any issues with noise whatsoever. The pool is nice, I wish there was a hot tub, but we really enjoyed the pool and how you get the natural sunlight in the pool area.

The elevator and bridge to the parking, we’re honestly another part of our stay that I really appreciated. This made coming and going from the hotel, very easy, and honestly, I didn’t even care that we had to pay for parking. It was so convenient!

This hotel is centrally located, close to restaurants, and easy to get to. Everything was clean, and every staff member pleasant. The elevators require you to use your key card, which, while it can be annoying, was appreciated because it made sure that there weren’t any random people coming into the hotel. Which definitely isn’t the case at every hotel.

Breakfast was what I expected. During the week it was basic hot items (Sausage, eggs, bagels, waffles, cereal, etc. ) however, still a hot breakfast every day. The weekend was a little more fancy with what was offered. I will say, the staff did a wonderful job, keeping everything in stock and making sure nothing ever ran out during breakfast time.

I had a late night craving for chips, and did not enjoy paying seven dollars for a bag of lays. However, I understand we pay for the convenience. 😊

For me and my boyfriend, Jonathan really made our stay at this hotel what it was. From start to finish, his genuine personality and wonderful customer service skills, will be the reason we stay here again.

Overall, and after a lot of research, I feel this was the best hotel...

Overall, this is a great place to stay. The location is awesome for many things in the area. We stayed here and were just a 5-minute walk to the Van Andel Arena. The outside and inside of the hotel is very modern and clean. We liked the fact that they didn't use the traditional wacky color schemes that most hotels use. Rather, they used modern colors and styles - a nice change from the norm. The rooms come with kitchens which is also a nice touch. The staff is very good. From check-in to check-out, they were awesome. From our room, we even witnessed the person who checked us in go out to the top floor of the parking deck to help someone park their truck. Staying with the topic of parking, that is one area that is good and bad. The good is they have their own parking deck right across the street which is connected to the hotel by a skyway. The bad is to get into this parking deck you first need to check in. The issue is that there is only room for up to 4 vehicles to temporarily park in the loading zone to check in to gain access. So, if you are like us and the loading zone remains full after several loops around the building, you will have to park elsewhere, walk to the hotel, check in, walk back to your car and then proceed to park in their parking deck (which is $30 a night). Checking in also proved to be a bit confusing. Since we had never stayed here before we assumed you walk in the entrance at ground level and there would be a lobby with a check-in counter like any other hotel. Not the case here. You have to use the elevator to go up one level to get to the lobby to be able to check-in. The ground level is reserved for Wahlburgers and some other bar-type-thing. While it is nice having food where you are staying, it makes it confusing trying to figure out how to check in, even with the one sign that they inexplicably have on the opposite wall of the elevators, next to the service elevator that has another sign saying not to use that elevator. The elevators were also a bit of a hassle. Since there are only 2 that service all 12 floors they can get very busy and sometimes it takes several minutes to get one after calling for it. Overall, it's a good place to stay. It would have been nice to have been given any type of directions on what to do once we arrive to check...

It was a 4 day work trip and I was super disappointed in our stay. The night we checked in, I asked for 2 grab and go breakfast for the following morning, needed to be out by 6:30AM. Front desk didn't pass the message to the restaurant, nobody knew what was going on, we needed to go. The 2nd day the TV in the bedroom went out and maintenance had to come to the room and fix it. Awkward because I wasn't feeling well and was in bed early. The ice maker in the room wasn't working and I was told on the last night that I needed to go to the front desk for ice each time. On the 3rd day of getting back to the room, nobody still was in the room housekeeping wise, never offered clean towels or linens. That evening about 11:30, I felt something on my arm- there was a bug in the bed! I rolled up the comforter with the bug and called the front desk. The manager brought me two fresh blankets and said that she was putting it down the laundry shoot? Shouldn't it be taken outside off of the property? Last morning of our stay, it looked like a shell of an insect in the bed. I called the front desk and Ally the manager had gloves and put it in a zip lock bag. She was apologetic and a sweet girl. The noise at night, every night, made it impossible to sleep with it being across from the police station, sirens constantly going. The people yelling and laughing on the sidewalk when the bars closed could fully be heard. We were on the 7th floor, maybe heavy blackout curtains would stop the noise vs a sheer curtain. The day after coming home, Ally called me to let me know that she couldn't find the bug that was put into the laundry, no surprise, the hotel was sold out with a hockey tournament and it was falling from the 7th floor. She did let me know that she had Ecolab out and what was in my bed wasn't and insect, but probably a toenail- WHAT- ??? Would you rather have a bug or someone else's toenail in your bed for 3 nights? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? She assured me that the GM would follow up with me, it's been almost 3 weeks, never heard back from anybody. Huge disappointment, the room seemed to be very nice when...