Courtyard by Marriott Houston NW/290 Corridor — Hotel in Houston

I chose this property because of its location. Directly off 290 in the North West area of Houston. I made an unexpected trip into Houston to attend a funeral. I wanted the location of the property to be be near the funeral home and the home of the deceased. This Marriott seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. The property is in an area that is fairly industrial. The building is in very nice condition and is landscaped nicely as well. There is a private parking lot available, I really liked this feature because many times in big cities there is a parking garage either nearby or not so nearby, and if you have any amount of luggage at all it generally makes sense to valet park which is very expensive. There was plenty of space available since I arrived early afternoon. They even had some parking spaces marked for Bonvoy Platinum Members. I had never noticed that at any other Marriott property. Although I am a platinum member, I chose to park in a regular spot. However I did think it was a nice touch. When I walked into the lobby, it was impressive with the new style check in desks. I like the fact the employee is not enclosed. The property looks like it has been recently renovated. There was a very large seating area with lots of tables and a bar area directly across from the check-in area. Then there was a corridor. If you went to the left there was an indoor pool and exercise facilities. There were also restrooms for the general population down that hall. Directly across from the bar and the table and chair area there was a very nice living area set up with a big screen TV. There was also a door leading to the beautiful courtyard area. Everything was spotless and there were no moldy, unpleasant, odors anywhere. I had arrived prior to check in time, however I was greeted by Jaiai. She immediately offered to check me in. Checking in was a very easy process and didn’t take long at all! There are some cute little luggage carts right next to the automatic exterior door, to assist their customers in bringing in their luggage. This was definitely an updated version of a luggage cart! They were much easier to handle than the older fashioned ones, that were so tall that the wheels wanted to go every which way while you tried to roll them-unless of course you were 8 feet tall too. I made my way to my room and was very pleasantly surprised to find that this room had been completely updated. The style was modern, with clean lines, neutral colors with a beautiful mural (ok-it was probably wallpaper) behind the bed that acted as if it was a headboard but covered the entire wall that the bed was on. (It didn’t hurt that it was in my favorite colors.) The bathroom was spotless and had a huge walk-in shower. There was even artwork in the restroom! Plenty of towels and wash cloths, along with a real hair dryer! There is a huge, more than full length mirror, outside of the bathroom. A modern style desk with a couple drawers at the end for clothing was located below the television. There was a closet that had a door that was unique and curved and within that was a refrigerator and microwave. To the left of that cabinet there was a small stand and the coffee service was located there. I had requested a king bed and there were nightstands on both sides and plenty of USB ports as well as 120V plug ports. Incidentally there were plenty of additional USB ports and 120 V plugs below the television on a panel on the wall and also in the desk. There was a semi circular loveseat with pillows that made it very comfortable.There was also an ottoman that was on wheels. I’ll add some tips to let you know how the Bistro is. They have fresh food and drinks available from 5 to 9 PM and evening choices are a la carte. For breakfast you can either decide between a Continental Style Breakfast or a Full Breakfast. There is an option to get breakfast in some of the packages that this property offers.! This Marriott definitely made a very good first impression and I will definitely return here...

I really just wish that the app or website would have had a disclaimer that since there was a hurricane not all of their amenities were available. I have been without electricity for over a week I can completely understand them not running at full capacity but I cannot understand why they wouldn't mention it on booking. Even if the location I was at specifically doesn't have internet the corporate does it shouldn't be too hard to do. I made a non-refundable booking and my power came back on the same day so I thought I would enjoy myself at the hotel at least be able to take a dip in the pool and just kind of have a staycation. Instead I got there and the pool was closed, the bar was closed, the bistro was closed and the washing machine was out of order. The Wi-Fi I just started working as I was checking in kind of. Their powerhead been on for long enough to treat the pool I am sure they work without electricity I've seen it. And I understand some of the things at the bar may have gone bad without power but not Jack Daniel's and Coke. Come to find out The bar was supposed to be open. I don't have a vehicle and part of the reason I chose this location to stay while my power was out was because it had all the things I would want to use without having to go anywhere food a bar a pool somewhere I can do laundry. Except none of those things were available and after learning that the person responsible for running the bar hadn't shown up and should have been there to serve me a Jack and Coke I don't need cherries or limes or anything didn't come in even after being called. Thankfully I made a friend and they had a vehicle so we hung out and went somewhere else for a drink but really not ideal most people are comfortable just going with strangers places especially when they're at 4 ft 11 female. If I would have known on booking the pool was closed the bar was closed the restaurant was closed I probably wouldn't have booked an non-refundable stay even for my cats cuz it is pet friendly and that was a huge perk I ended up not needing and not their fault. I also was a little mind boggled by the front best person who checked me in not offering to grab me a beer from the bar because when I canceled my next night's stay, after shift change, the the front desk person at that time totally offered to get me a drink from the bar she did not claim to be able to make me a mixed drink or anything but a beer yes so what's that about? Was the original front desk person who checked me in incompetent or what just didn't feel like doing the thing? I'm largely conflicted about that and I don't know if I would return hopefully I won't have to deal with another power outage for longer than a week in the future. I'm not super hopeful this is the second time in the last three months I've had to deal with my power being out for extended...

The check in process for this place went well. I liked our room and the customer service of the lady who had checked me in, she was very welcoming of us to Houston. Only real issues I had were one, considering that Texas is mask optional I saw a lot of other people not wearing a mask passing through the lobby, there were other people behind me not wearing a mask as we were trying to get outside security stops me and only me (instead of also stopping the other people) to put on a mask, which isn’t a problem for me I just thought it was hypocritical that they didn’t stop anyone else who clearly wasn’t wearing their masks. We had went to Houston for my birthday trip, it was only the three of us who went, we had balloons and confetti to take pictures. I asked the cleaning ladies at first what was the process for us to have them clean our rooms, because I know at other hotels they’re fine as long as you ask the front desk, the cleaning ladies told us they won’t be able to help until AFTER we checked out of our room on Sunday, I thought that was weird so I went downstairs to ask and they told me the same thing. I asked if there was any trash cans we can use to throw away our stuff, she told us it is only the small trash can in the front. Which is also weird. With this information we just bought trash bags from dollar tree and threw away all of our trash that we acquired throughout this 5 day stay. The only thing we couldn’t pick up was the confetti since they apparently couldn’t send anyone to help us... A day after checkout I get an email saying that I’m being charged $100 for “lost and damage” I called hotel and asked what was lost or damaged? The lady on the phone was rude and said that “you had a party in there, there’s confetti and balloons, and I have pictures to prove it.” As if we didn’t know how we left our room, we explained to her that we didn’t have ANY parties, the confetti and balloons were only for pictures and how any other hotel would’ve just sent someone to clean it when we asked. And we explained to her how we literally spent an hour cleaning up all of our stuff the only thing we couldn’t get was the confetti, we popped the balloons and all, but the lady on the phone wasn’t trying to hear our side at all. This ridiculous charge and the mask situation definitely makes me very hesitant to want to ever try Marriott again for my next travels. Other minor inconveniences I experienced here was the ice machines weren’t working...