Courtyard by Marriott Peoria Downtown — Hotel in Peoria

A Night I Won’t Forget at Courtyard Marriott Peoria

I recently stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Peoria, IL (connected to the Marriott Conference Center), and had an experience that really shook me. I’m sharing this solely from my personal perspective to offer insight into what happened during my stay.

In the middle of the night, while I was asleep, someone began aggressively trying to enter my hotel room. At first, I thought it might’ve been an honest mistake—someone confusing their room number—so I yelled through the door that they had the wrong room. Instead of leaving, they became more forceful and persistent. It felt threatening.

I quickly grabbed something to protect myself and tried calling the front desk using the in-room phone. Unfortunately, the phone didn’t work, despite trying several times. I had to mentally prepare for the possibility that someone might force their way in.

After some time, the person walked away.

Once I reached the front desk using my cell phone, the staff mentioned they saw the missed calls but assumed I didn’t know how to use the room phone. They didn’t offer to fix the phone, but they did offer to take a look down the hallway. I was later told there were no security cameras in the hallway areas.

In my opinion, these moments were unsettling. The lack of working safety equipment and limited response from hotel staff made the situation feel more vulnerable than it needed to be. I also noticed several management positions seemed unfilled, and there were no business cards available for anyone in leadership—just an email address for the owner.

To be fair, I made it through the night safely and the rest of the trip was uneventful, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease. I jumped awake at every sound and didn’t get much sleep.

From my point of view, I would’ve felt more comfortable if there had been working phones, visible security measures, and stronger communication from staff.

The originally stated they were going to credit my stay and even provided a receipt, but then charged me the full amount without...

I was passing through Peoria and needed a quality place to stay in between job sites. I've always been happy with Courtyard properties so i tried this one.

It was a quick trip made easier by this hotel. The room was exactly what I needed. The bed was so comfortable and room so quiet, I was able to take a quick nap after checking in, before driving to Iowa and back for work.

One thing I love about the Courtyard is how well the rooms are laid out. Everything is user friendly. The work space is large with outlets for all your electronics. Though traveling alone, I can see the bathroom is set up well if you're traveling with a partner.

I was in and out so quick, I didn't have time to use the fitness center, but they're usually among the best of the hotel chains. The room and common places were all exceptionally clean (which I expect from a Courtyard property).

The best part of the quick stay...the staff. The desk person at check in was helpful, friendly and seemed to take a genuine interest in what I was doing (where I was traveling, etc). I love that. It was great the next morning at check out. He wasn't working the desk, but came over to chat, remembered where I was going and gave me some advice for my drive. For someone that spends way too much time going from hotel to hotel, starting my day off with a warm, friendly, interesting person makes a huge difference before spending the next 6 hours in a car.

I highly recommend the Courtyard Peoria Downtown. I'll definitely stay there next time I'm...

Nice clean rooms, no breakfast included. The stay was okay, until some guests decided to shoot a "rap video", that looked more like soft porn, in the pool and women's restroom in the lobby. We were there with 11, 12, and 13yr old girls for softball, and the "rap video" was being shot very noisily across the hall, into the wee hours of the morning. The porn stars used a smoke machine that set off the smoke detectors that magically only alerted in the lobby (which I'm pretty sure is against Federal Fire Codes). The lady working the front desk that evening was clearly involved with booking the room for this porn shoot, because she was very defensive of the "guests" in question and their rights to do whatever in their room. The hotel knew that they had a youth sports team booked (because we were forced to stay there by the tournament officials), they knew what 2 floors we were on, and they still chose to put a porn shoot right across the hall from us. They were more upset that my group alerted other guests of the porno being shot on the 7th floor, than they were about the employee knowingly booking them, or that their smoke detectors weren't up to code, or that our children were exposed to obscene public behavior. Do Not Stay Here with...