AC Hotel Little Rock Downtown — Hotel in Little Rock

Avoid this hotel at all costs. The hotel is relatively new and the staff are extremely poorly trained and the management is doing a terrible job of running the hotel. I booked a larger room with a pre-paid rate, but was given the small/basic room, without even a discount or refund on the rate. Hotel front desk staff appeared to not know what was going on, and was unable to get the correct room, or refund my pre-paid money for the stay so I could go to a different room. On top of this, Google has this listed as 'Free Parking', but parking is $20/day for valet parking, and there is no self parking lot/fee, only street parking. This should be updated since this increases the cost of the stay by over 20% of the basic rate. The hotel is new, and does not have the kitchen/tapas service that is advertised on their website and on google. This is conveniently omitted from anything you see during booking, and a huge let-down, given the advertising for this hotel. For a new hotel, many things were not working and dirty. The in-room coffee maker was not working, and the TV went out for several days. When contacting the front desk, no technicians were available to fix this, so I had to deal with the lack of response from the terrible, untrained staff. The room had a large amount of dust on the air conditioning intake vents, and common area trash cans were left overflowing for days at a time. For a whole day during my stay, the front doors were being replaced, but no one was at front directing guests to an alternate entrance. I tried going in the front door, but the installers said this door could not be used, and I should find another. There was no valet, greeting staff, or anyone directing or assisting guests to an alternate entrance. I had to walk around the block several times until another guest was able to direct me to a back alley door that was blocked open and leading through the staff back of house area. This is a nightmare for disabled people, and certainly a violation of federal disability laws. Almost none of the hotel staff wore masks during the stay, and although it was noted at the door that guest must wear masks in common areas, this was completely unenforced and led to almost no one wearing masks. Hotel housekeeping staff never wore masks, including in rooms, and several hotel housekeeping staff got into my face and accosted me while not wearing a mask. The valets were not wearing masks, and did not wear masks in people's cars, all while being unmasked around hundreds of people a day. This hotel looks beautiful, is in a central downtown area, and has a lot of promise, but is being ran so terribly that you should avoid this hotel and stay somewhere else. I have reached out to corporate and requested a refund for the incorrect room rate, but I have not heard back and doubt I will hear back from a place with such incapable management and staff.

Edit After reaching out to Marriott customer service I received a rude and extremely dismissive email from the manager, Joshua Castle, that made backhanded comments about California's pandemic response, masks, and the current labor shortage. This should let you know to avoid this Marriott property and anything ran by this...

I love this place, downtown, staff is quiet and polite, house keeping is approachable tho they tend to keep their distance out of professionalism. Hotel itself, historical. It's updated beautifully but vestiges of its past are left antique plaqued and polished mail types with their brass covers, some floors with their original tiling, rooms are modern motiffed, with USB Ports near all light fixtures if not on them and integrated to some outlets, showers though...Rain shower head with its secondary head on an adjustable arm and detachable, bathrooms are accented with frosted glass doors both showers and t bathroom door itself, on rollers so there's no handles, admittedly that takes a little getting used to but aesthetically it's gorgeous. Breakfast is not complimentary but it is worth t. Expense. Manchego cheese, arugula, garlic aioli, cazuelas, open-faced toasts, beautifully done to a change in chefs is noticeable as one has way more flair than t. Other. My server, an engaging figure of southern femininity, had t. Super power of knowing 𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑵 to approach and how 𝑳𝑶𝑵𝑮 to stay and chat, she approached me until after a cup and a half of coffee after her initial "Good Morning" not overly cheery or annoyingly perky, she helped other "𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆" getting their breakfast yet never left me out or forgotten. Her conversation and suggestions were helpful and welcome. A valued employee of t. Hotel no doubt, if she isn't she should be and it's their (management's) oversight. However, t. MickeyD-esque containers on honey and hot sauce do not agree with t. European aesthetic that is associated with t. AC Hotel, perhaps we blame this on Covid or some other oversight. One thing they should address, one of their staff, a petite woman with glasses, if I remember correctly, she shouldn't assume things of guests. I was in from work. Construction so I looked a certain way. Dirty, disheveled, desperate for both showers and bed; she approached me in t. Hallway asking if I was OK and where I was supposed to be, I waved her off yet she return to ask me point blank what room I was in, I answered t. Wrong number out of Exhaustion, to which she replied she was in charge of t. Rooms and that that particular number was vacant at t. Moment. Fortunately we where now standing at t. Door of my room at which point I took my key card and opened my door, she attempted to smile and pardon herself but it was too late, her insulting and prejudiced nature had been revealed. I'm not say t. Hotel or it's company, staff, or any other person or reason. I'm saying ONE, 1, person one employee made me feel this way, just once, just once. Other Peoples' Kids, huh? Despite that yeah bars open in t. Evening and you can buy drinks at bar or this store area and take em back to your room if you want. Superb waitress, server, cook, valet, housekeeping, one problem employee if she even...

They opened about a month ago so I'll cut them some slack, but I expect more from a Marriott property.

The rooms are small with 2 queen beds and it was just an awkward layout with really tight corners. The carpet on the floor didn't quite fit so it was rolled up against the bed. The body wash dispenser was empty and we had to ask for extra towels. I do love the bathroom layout and amenities.

The staff was nice for the most part, but it's almost as if they weren't expecting us there (a family of four including two kids). We got asked several times what room we were in and when we were checking out. It was just a weekend stop for us on our way back home and the hotel was definitely not full due to the virus going around.

The property is beautiful and the decor is classy and tasteful, but certainly could use pops of color. The bar was a welcome sight for us after being on the road for several hours. We were told to take advantage of the happy hour and since there was no one else there, we decided to sit at one of the tables with the kids. One Moscow Mule, one AC Gin & Tonic, and two Sprites. The mule was ok, the sodas were fine obviously, but the G&T that should have been made with small batch tonic was just good old Fever Tree. I could see the bottle from our table. Not a big deal at all, but it just adds to my list of frustrations here. Also, the prices at the snack/food store are outrageous!

The valet parking is $20 night which we didn't mind at all. Most of the valet staff was very helpful, but we realized one day in that something was missing from the car. Hubby's iPhone charger was missing from the front console. We looked through all our belongings and double-checked the room and even asked at the front desk. This is not an expensive item, but its the principle behind this that gets to me. The valet in question blatantly lied that it was not in there and that they hadn't seen it.

Overall, if I am ever back in Little Rock, I will opt to stay somewhere else. I expect the hoity attitude in a big city, not here. We are loyal Marriott fans who have stayed at their higher end properties and have never been this disappointed. Perhaps I can chalk it up to the tense times we live in, but we shouldn't have been made to...