Residence Inn by Marriott Norwalk — Hotel in Norwalk

When we checked in at about 6:30 pm on a Wednesday, there were 2 extremely loud private parties, one in the lobby, and one on the roof. The music in the lobby was so loud that we had difficulty hearing the receptionist. Once we checked into our room on the top floor, the rooftop music above us made everything in our room rattle. We were advised that the music would stop at 9; it was actually 9:30, and I heard the police were called. We looked for ice on our floor, but there wasn't any. I called down to the front desk and let the phone ring at least 10 times, but no answer.... called again... no answer. And again.... So I went down to the lobby only to see the staff out dancing and drinking (not sure what) with the party folks, so there was no one who could hear the phone. (I'm sorry to have to tell on you.) I saw someone with a name tag at the party and asked about ice. 3rd floor, she said. There's no hotel info in the room or on the tv, but 3 days later I noticed a fridge magnet on the side of the fridge towards the back that said the ice was on the 3rd floor. I moved the magnet to the front. Our room was huge, but sparsely furnished, strange for a new hotel. I think they ran out of money or furniture by the time they got to the top floor, because our friends on a lower floor had the same large vinyl sofa with an ottoman, end tables, lamps, a ledge in the shower so a lady could shave her legs, and even a small amount of dishwasher detergent. But our room was left with little in the way of those amenities. Our sofa was not a sleeper so I'm not sure why there was so little furniture. We had a desk, a desk lamp, and a desk chair, making the living area very uninviting for relaxing without a coffee table or ottoman. The kitchen was well provisioned with dishes and glasses, as well as flatware. The bed was comfortable, and the bathroom nice. The shower is large, but the shower head is unreachable by anyone under 5'3", so whoever might be shorter is stuck with whatever setting the previous guest had. The garage was convenient but is undersized for the number of guests, even though it is limited to registered guests only. Rooftop bar is nice, but shade was hard to find. Folks in our party said the red wine was icky, having been open too long. Our server was indifferent when we mentioned it. We thought it was expensive overall. Breakfast was good, a bit repetitive. We'll probably stay there again because there's nothing else around, since we...

Let me preface this review by saying I have stayed at many, MANY, hotels in my lifetime, (good and bad) and have never EVER felt the need to leave a bad review, until now. We checked in and I immediately stripped the bed sheets only to find many SHORT and LONG black hairs ALL over the bed along with random black marks of I don’t even know what. Okay, it happens. We are pretty relaxed people, and understand that everyone makes mistakes. We request new sheets but are told it was “not possible as there was no housekeeping available at the time”. So they switched our room… great. We get to the new room and immediately smell cigar smoke (which another guest above complained they had the same issue). There was thick dust on the shelves, and black mold all over the inside of our shower curtain... it is clear no one is cleaning these rooms?? It gets worse. Next day…mid day…I’m napping ALONE… in the room with a clear “do not disturb” sign on the door. I suddenly hear a loud banging at the door. Assuming it was my husband locked out, I slowly get up to go open the door only to see a woman has ALREADY LET HERSELF INTO THE ROOM insisting that she has to “exchange the coffee machine”. I was very confused considering we did not request this?? Nor do we drink coffee. Not to mention there was a “do not disturb” sign on the door?? Confused and a little freaked out, I tell her “no thank you, no house keeping today” (I honestly don’t even know if she was house keeping or not) but she continued to walk past me and did whatever she had to do insisting it’ll be quick. Excuse me WHAT? What if I was not clothed?? Or in the shower?? What if my husband and I were in bed? What if I wasn’t in the room at all... are people just letting themselves in and out of the room while we’re not here when we requested there not be?? Absolutely unacceptable in my opinion. I was worried stressed for the rest of our stay. I will say the girls at the front desk and staff were extremely nice and kind and did the best they could. My real issue here is with the management. I can confidently say I will NEVER EVER be staying at this hotel ever again. I’ve never experienced...

This hotel is a very convenient walk from the train station. It is near the tracks, so yes, you will hear noise. We stayed on the 7th floor on the track side and it was a light rumble, like heavy rain falling. There's plenty of restaurants and an aquarium within walking distance.

The lobby is nice and has a TV with lots of different types of seating and a nice fireplace.

The room is fairly spacious and the bed was fairly comfortable. Plenty of outlets and desk space. Our room even had a little shelf for your keys/wallet once you walked in.

There is no closet, but there was a small "dressing area" with a few drawers for clothing with a mirror to get ready. However, there is no lighting there so you need to rely on the bathroom and kitchen lighting.

There is a master switch for all lights, however most of the lighting is lamps. There is only overhead lighting in the kitchen and bathroom and none in the bedroom/living space.

The TV swivels to face the living area, as well as the bed. There are even options to sign in to your own streaming services.

The shower is very large and the water gets very hot very quickly. I typically use the hottest water possible, but that was too hot here.

The breakfast was above average. A variety of coffees, teas and juice was available with to-go cup. Daily there was a good selection of eggs, breakfast sandwiches, pancakes, bacon, sausage and potatoes as well as quick options like toast, bagels, cereals, oatmeal and packaged waffles and muffins.

There's happy hour and a rooftop bar and activities like trivia on weeknights for guests. There's also a gym which has a variety of machines and weights.

The only cons for us were the laundry is $4.50 for wash and dry and they provide dishwasher detergent but not laundry detergent. There is some noise that carries from other rooms but it wasn't terrible but we did hear someone's dog crying when they left. The heat in our room also seemed to be an issue as it was always 78° even when set to 65° with air conditioning...