Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Key West — Hotel in Key West

I am being generous with the 3 stars. I will say if I didn't get the 4 days I had as this hotel free with my Marriott points I would never have picked it. The photos on the website do a lot of heavy lifting. That said:

Pros:

Close to the downtown area. Sidenote: Shuttle AC seemed to barely work and we weren't greeted by the driver, and he disappeared for a few mins after we got in, leaving us to wonder if we even got in the right van or it was active. Only took it once into town and didn't do it for the way back, decided to just Uber/Lyft everywhere instead and ended up getting great info from some friendly drivers I was happy to tip.

The pool area is pretty nice, as the tiki bar, and the fact that you get a bogo coupon for each day of your stay is nice, as is the providing complimentary sunscreen.

All front desk staff I encountered were very friendly and helpful

Bed was comfortable enough.

That's where it ends...now CONS:

Our room was dirty when we got there, webs everywhere, ants in every extra towel somehow, pile of sand in the middle of the floor that remained despite daily room servicing. One of the lamps didn't work, our remote didn't work (they did bring us another), and the outlets were so loose it was near impossible to dry my hair as the plug kept falling out.

Our door didn't close right, it was pushed in at the bottom where there was a decent amount of space between the door and where it should have been, so no surprise there were bugs and all the smells and heat from outside got in easily. Looked like someone tried to kick it in at some point which is kinda scary but not sure what the deal was.

The pool, though nice looking, frequently had an oil slick film on top, probably from people's sunscreen, and dead bugs floating in it, leading me to think it's not cleaned much.

Upon arrival we were told "the elevator is down today" but upon looking through reviews I saw many going a few weeks back complaining the elevator was broken. Not sure if it was ever fixed.

No lotion in the room, most of the crappiest hotels still give a little bottle of lotion. Figured it would be one of the things you could ask for at the desk but were told "we no longer serve lotion." Maybe hold off on the drink coupons and sunscreen and use the money spent not updating the place, fixing the elevator, or cleaning the pool and put little lotion bottles in the rooms. How much are you really saving on that?

Not sure if this is the hotels problem other than enforcement but almost every night there was someone blasting music in the lot, people yelling, the people next to us sounded like they were moving furniture at all hours, lots of noise in the middle of the night.

Can't personally speak for the gym but was thinking of checking it out and another guest informed me the AC was not on in there so no go.

Breakfast is basically Continental you'd get at a super 8 or something, but worse, runs out quick too. Only took part once and then looked up better breakfast/brunch places in the area.

I am SURE I'm forgetting something but I will say I've stayed at budget motels that were way cleaner and more updated. The fact that Marriott has this using its name almost says they don't care about their customers. Some of these things are small, sure, but the point is you get charged $25 a day for destination fees or whatever that supposedly cover all of these conveniences but some are things you may not want but aren't given a choice, and the rest are not anything special so to charge good hotel prices and extra fees for what you actually get is a bit much. I hate leaving reviews like this...

Perhaps the worst Marriott experience we have had. Unfriendly staff throughout the resort with the exception of the front desk and the bartender. A SMILE costs nothing. When you pass housekeepers in the halls or drivers at the shuttle you will not get a smile or a pleasant greeting. Not once. Location - 2 miles from downtown and they still charge for parking 10/ day and 25/day for a resort fee (which is just for the shuttle). Being 2 miles from downtown really isn't so bad because they have a shuttle that leaves for a 10 minute drive to downtown every hour. However the driversr are not friendly at all and they are always on the phone while driving. They walk around with their pants sagging below their butts like little gang bangers. The rap music on the radio is probably not what the 40 and older passengers want to hear. The shuttle is for the guests not the driver. Read the room. They are also not great drivers. The Room. 128- We are Marriott Gold members, booked our room well in advance and were placed in perhaps the smallest room in Marriotts empire. It was literally 20x10 and close to the busy noisy road that runs along that end of the hotel. The rooms definitely need some tlc. Our room had a cracked toilet tank lid, shampoo bottle mounts falling off the wall, bad caulk finishes and just sloppy looking in general with the fit and finish. Our refridgerator was a con stant noise companion along with the A/C system that sounded like jet engine when it was on. The duvet sandwiched between 2 loose sheets is gross and just doesnt work as a concept. No blackout shades for wi dow if you can sleep past the rooster calls. The shower is so small that that i had to shower standing sideways most of the time.there is also nowhere to put a bar of soap or rezor in the shower. I was literally bouncing off the walls.i am only 6 foot tall.They also don't tell you that there are roosters roaming the property that crow very loudly every morning to make sure you can't sleep in. Free Breakfast- it should be free. Not impressive at all. Tasteless food like veggie sausage and plastic silverware. The Pool- the pool is a good size and seemingly well kept with plenty of tiny gym sized towels on hand and free cabanas on a first come first serve basis. My one critique for the pool is that they chose dark brown furniture Instead of white. Anyone who has ever spent any time in a tropical setting like KW should know that dark outdoor furniture becomes blistering hot in the sun. At least add umbrellas. I know Marriott will see this and say something like " we are so happy you enjoyed the pool and we will take this to upper management for corrective action' but nothing will probably be done and the disappointment added to our trip won't be remedied. But at least you the reader are...

We have stayed in hotels all over the world and the US, from 5 star to No star. Depending on what kind of rooms, purpose and amenities you need you should carefully check before staying here. We just stayed for past 5 days. Reservation Made and Paid for 3 months ago months for 1 large and I medium sized rooms. On arrival they could not find our reservation..we had confirmation in hand. FInally we had to go with what was leftover, as it was late in the evening. EXCUSES ! Then there is the nickel and diming on their add on extras which you have to take along with resort fees etc. The restaurant has fair food but no dinner: drinks are pricey even for KW. It was not an easy time staying at this hotel. The rooms are cramped but do have frig, microwave, coffee pot and coffee, nice smaller Tv, but the closet is the size of a shoe box with little to no floor space. Propertty is clean with lovely landscaping and parking was adequate for us. Majority of staff pleasant and helpful. Property overall NOT what one expects from any type of Marriott. Daily housekeeping was Added on for the large room. An Adventure in the making. Hair in bathroom and shower from previous guest and it was day 3 before that was cleaned up. I asked for a blanket from the maid as well as the front desk..and that took 3 days again. Asked for more than 1 small washcloth ( one would think for a King Room they would provide more}. Maid ws not attentive to supply details. And it is almost funny in retrospect.....After finally getting a blanket, the maid took it away the next day....WHAT !? Have no idea why ......could never get an answer. THE POOL......more than adequate water temp was perfect but Bugs always day and night in water, however our experrience was VERY CONCERNING. Both my grandson and my daughter got metal staples impaled in their feet on 2 separate days inside the pool. Very painful ! My daughter addressed it with both front desk and Manager. The staff was UNCONCERNED ! For me, that was a Big Red Flag. The Shuttle...Beware. Everyone on staff has a different schedule for it if you ask. We were left stranded in Old Town and had to hire an Uber to get back. Again very unconcerned they were giving guests unreliable information. Our family is very easy to please, and adaptable when we travel, but if you like an organized, friendly hotel environment you might want to investigate this further, and perhaps look elsewhere. It is not bad.....they probably just need a new Property Manager to whip it into shape, and a Housekeeping Manager to properly train that staff. All in all we dealt with everything and still had fun in Key West. As always, do your own research and see what works for you. It had great potential but sadly, we will...