Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport — Hotel in Mendota Heights

Regretfully, this Fairfield Inn is among the worst Marriott brand locations at which I've stayed. Within the last three months, I've stayed at this hotel twice and have regretted it both times. The rooms are not particularly clean, the bathroom lights give off an odd green glow, and the front desk staff are very disinterested.

After my first stay with them, I contacted the management to let them know how disappointed I was with my stay -- no reply. I decided to give them another try, hoping it was just a one-time deal, but I had no luck the second time either. It took me 30 minutes to check in at one of my stays not because there was a rush of people checking in, but because the front desk manager was walking the hallways and not stationed at the desk or in the office. When I finally found her, she acted as though I were interrupting.

One final warning: although the name claims the hotel to be near the airport, it's still a solid 20 minute drive. They do have a complimentary shuttle, but the driver will likely be a bit lite and cranky with you.

I don't like leaving such negative reviews, but after staying twice and voicing my concerns with the hotel to no reply, I figured I might help others avoid the same mistake I've now made twice. Hopefully this location will turn things around because there are plenty of Fairfield Inns that are a joy to stay in.

**Edit: 3 January 2019: Note the general manager's response below. I appreciate the response, but indeed it's unfortunate it came only after my second stay. I find it interesting that there was no comment about the quality of customer service, which was the most frustrating part of both stays. My wife and I were both disturbed about the odd green sheen to the light in the bathroom, so that wasn't imagined; can't say what caused it, but it was there and unpleasant. And perhaps the airport is only 5 miles away, in which case both shuttles took far longer than necessary.

Bottom line, I'm not staying at this Fairfield Inn again, and I'd encourage others to...

These guys were awesome. Super friendly at check-in. But one thing really stands out for me:

I received a call shortly after heading to my room asking if every was OK. Upon inspecting the room I realized that the working table was too tall for the chair to be comfortable with my forearm tendonitis (this is not an unusual occurrence). I politely inquired if there were any other rooms with a better setup. Unfortunately there were not as all the rooms have the same table / chair combo; however, the front desk rep apologized and offered some Marriott points to compensate for the inconvenience (seemed fair enough to me). Thinking the matter closed, I hung up the phone and proceeded to unpack.

A few minutes later, a manager then called me to apologize for the issue and offered to try to bring up a chair from the work office just in case it might be a bit taller. A guy brought one up to try, but it didn't do the trick, but I appreciated the effort. The guy who brought up the chair apologized again and said he would look around to see if they could come up with any other solution. Thinking the matter closed, I continued to unpack. Five minutes later, he bring up a smallish desk that was no longer used to see if that would work better with the chair. It did and had just enough space to allow me to work very comfortably. This allowed me to work four very long nights in the hotel room with minimal issues. This was the difference between barely being able to type after the number of hours worked to having only normal wear and tear on my arms.

I can say enough about how this was above and beyond. Obviously, it is not expected at any hotel that they should be hauling desks up for guests, but as a one-off experience they have my full appreciation. This is easily some of the most outstanding service I have ever...

Let me say first the hotel in in general was a great stay. Yes, from other posts it does have a funny smell going into the room at first but once the ac is going it goes away. We stayed on the second floor which had a odd smell but once a lot of people left so did the smell. The pool was a bit cold but they have some balls there to play with and a bunch of chairs and towels. Overall my kids were extremely happy. The maid made sure my room was clean and had clean towels which I really appreciate. Now for the bad....breakfast. We went as soon it opened and was able to eat BUT the new eggs were cold and the salsa and part of the hard boiled eggs was frozen. My parents went down around 9am (Saturday)and there was almost no food. Everything was cold and not edible. We had to stop to get them breakfast. So go on to worse.... when I checked in I was told breakfast was til 10am. I didnt take into count we will be there on Monday and the times may change, it did. Again I was able to eat with my family but my parents did not. They came down about 830 and it was only bagels and some cold eggs left. All the waffle machines were being used by one family and by the time my mother could get to it there was no batter. Time was 9:05a I asked Katie, the breakfast attendant, if there was anymore batter her response was 'No, breakfast ended at 9am'. Which I said okay and told my parents we forgot it was a weekday. As we were sitting there Katie was wiping the table off in front of us and night auditor yelled to her 'Katie, make me some waffle mix!' Which she replied 'Hell no get the hell out of here!' They both started laughing and looked right at me!! For that ALONE I won't stay here again. That was so rude and super unprofessional! But the people at the front desk all weekend was so sweet and kind and just overall amazing...