Courtyard by Marriott Philadelphia City Avenue — Hotel in Philadelphia

I stayed at the Courtyard Philadelphia City Avenue for 3 nights in October 2024. Previously, I had also stayed in 2017 & 2016.

Under normal circumstances, I would rate the Rooms a 2, Service a 2-3, and Location a 3, for an overall rating of 2-3. However, one very alarming incident causes me to lower Rooms, Service, and overall ratings to 1.

The door to my room would not lock. I only discovered this after my second night (previously I thought there was just a delay in locking due to the system needing time to reset). No matter how many times I closed the door, it could be opened by simply pushing the door (no keycard required)! I reported the issue and my room number to the front desk Sunday morning around 5 AM and asked them to fix it and the receptionist assured me that it would get done. But when I returned in the evening, the door still would not lock.

This is a severe security issue because anyone over the first 2 days could have entered my room without a key and stolen everything in my room. The fact that the front desk did not take the issue seriously and did not report it to management is very troubling.

After pestering a manager on Sunday night, a maintenance worker named Felipe eventually fixed it. Felipe was very helpful and friendly. He initially suspected the problem might be one of a few things. It turned out to be his first guess - the door was misaligned vertically and needed to be shifted slightly so that the door would fit the frame. It was easily fixed but I got the impression that this is not the first time this has happened.

As for the rest of my hotel review:

A long time ago the rooms were probably a 4 but there has been a lot of wear and tear (knocking it down to 3). But at this point a lot of things are starting to break down and the hotel isn't bothering to maintain it (resulting in a more accurate 2 rating), with the lack of a lock justifying the 1 rating.

Besides the lock, when I first checked in, the Shampoo and Conditioner bottles were glued to the wall of the shower. The bottle for the Body Wash was sitting on the ledge, having already detached. By the evening of my first day, the Conditioner bottle had fallen to the ground even though the shower had not been used.

The phone did not work. When Felipe came to fix the door, I also asked him to look at the phone. He replaced the battery and then it worked.

The entry hallway light did not work.

During the first night, there was loud yelling and swearing from the room next door around midnight. The walls are a bit thin. I tried going into the hall and it was louder from there. I had to call the front desk to ask them to quiet things down.

The bed was not very comfortable. The bed was in an uncomfortable state where it wasn't firm nor was it that soft.

One of my colleagues complained about the hot water not working one morning.

Service actually wasn't too bad. The hotel was able to accommodate my early check in. The front desk was generally friendly. And Felipe the maintenance worker was helpful.

The location is reasonably close to the downtown area and the Schuylkill river. The hotel can be accessed through public transportation (SEPTA). Several buses (like the #38 and #44) pass by at a nearby stop (it's a pain getting your luggage across the overhead bridge). However, it is not directly in the city center (which would have been more convenient and would have justified a 4 or 5 rating for Location).

There is a Target store nearby along with several restaurants (TGI Friday's and Chick-fil-A) all in walking distance. There didn't seem to be much else in the area. Most places I wanted to go in Philadelphia required me to go to the city center (via Uber/taxi/bus).

In the past, parking at the hotel was free but they recently started to charge for parking.

Compared to the last time I was here (7-8 years ago), the lobby and common areas have been renovated but the hotel definitely has not kept up with the times and the rooms are falling apart (various cracks and stains, not to mention the other things I mentioned earlier...

If I could give 0 I would. Ive stayed in many Marriotts in my life and this one is the absolute worse hotel stay i ever had. I first got a bad taste in my mouth when we were told we had to pay $14 a day on top of paying for the room just to park and im disabled with handicap parking plaque. Then we got ro the room and it wasn't that clean. We stayed here because my significant other was getting a 5.5 hour mouth surgery done in Philly where his sinus cavity was exposed and everything. So I walk to look out the window and my sock got soaking wet. The entire carpet around the window and air system was soaked. Then I seen black stuff all up the wall so I looked at my sock and my sock was black. Well there was black mold growing up the wall, all over the carpet and in the air system. So I went down and asked the front desk for the manager to call our room. Never did. So 3 hours later I go down to the desk and ask to speak to the man who had a supervisor tag on. Showed him the pictures of the mold. He said he was going to move us and give us free breakfast because yes there is no free breakfast it cost $19.00 for breakfast that everyone else has there hands in. I didnt want to make to much of a stink because I was worried about my other half laying upstairs in chronic pain after a 5.5 hour surgery. So we move to a different room same floor. I talked to an elderly couple in the elevator stated they had mold all over there bathroom. Same floor. Talked to house keeping (not ours) and they said they always had a big mold problem but no one does anything about it. So we came home and called corporate because now its Sunday and im super sick. Chest is tight. Coughing sneezing and spitting up mucus. I have chronic asthma. So I have to be careful. They sent it back to the manager on site. She refunded 1 day. I'm sorry. But not only was the stay absolutely horrible. Now im sick as a dog and have to miss work pay for my Dr's appointment plus take care of someone who just had surgery doesn't cut it for me. Then they wanted me to send the pictures I have. Why when you can walk up and look in the room. Why do I need to show you my proof that I have in case I need legal representation when you still have the hotel room covered in mold. Shady. So now im doing whatever I have to. Black mold can kill you and they surely aren't concerned about anyone's lives there. I pray everyone books a room somewhere else. Because they lost our buisness for good. To top it off the manager at the desk was rude. Continued to talk over both us and bragged that he facilitated everything like he did something great. There was no microwave no freezer in the fridge and you can barely fit anything in the fridge. Not a place to stay for 3 days. The carpets were super dirty. Colored our socks. Room was super dusty. We were never given any bottles of water. The pool was only open for 1 day and then closed back down. Not impressed at all. Sorry for expecting way more from a Marriott. Would have been better staying at a...

I hope to increase this star rating by the time I checkout in the morning. Checked in after 10 pm after a very long drive. Parking lot was so packed that we figured there was a club inside or a party. There wasn’t; just a lot of guests. I’m guessing they under-priced the other hotels. One person working the desk and he used 2 registers to move the line along. Efficient and pleasant gentleman. Surprised by parking charge. This is not on a city street with limited parking. There’s an abundance of parking at this hotel even with a large number of guests but they charge $14 to park! Have stayed in courtyard Marriotts with way less parking but no charge for guests. It’s not even gated nor guarded! This is a money- making ripoff. Checked into our room and it took about 5 minutes solid for the sink and shower water to turn hot. When I climbed into bed I noticed something like an apple seed and dirt on the bed under the covers. Then I pulled back the top sheet. There’s no mattress casing or protectors. There were stains and hairs on the mattress. I’ve been the victim of bedbugs at a hotel in Florida a few years ago, so staying in that room was not an option. We re-packed our belongings and called the front desk for a new room. The attendant gave us a new room and offered to comp our breakfast with no prompting from us and no questions asked. I checked the new room bed briefly but my partner was very sleepy so I didn’t do a full inspection but I’m going to assume that it’s ok. Again, I hope to upgrade the rating if everything is ok. The stained bed was Room 423. ** checked out. Can’t upgrade my rating. Our comped breakfast was not up to Courtyard Marriott standards so I requested that our parking be comped to make up for the breakfast! The young lady at the front desk acted like it was coming out of her pocket. She texted the mgr who gave her the green light to comp. I didn’t even get to complain about the housekeeper who tapped on our door at 6:45 am and proceeded to try to enter the room. Luckily we had put all the locks on the door including the little arm stopper which was what stopped her from entering while we were sleeping. Nor did I complain about no decaffeinated coffee but 3 containers of regular coffee. At least the room we moved to on the 8th floor was stain free and the water was instant hot. Still no mattress protection and yes there were hairs but I could not make my boyfriend move again. No stains. A guest who shared their story in the elevator was there for 5 days and had nothing but complaints. I’m a long-time Marriott BONVOY rewards customer and former PBX operator so I know what a Marriott at every level...