Courtyard by Marriott San Luis Obispo — Hotel in San Luis Obispo

Extremely concerning businesses practices by the owner and management at Marriott Courtyard San Luis Obispo. Keep in mind, once you swipe your credit card at checkin you’re at the mercy of the management and their undocumented pricing policies. First, I extended one of my rooms for a later checkout over the phone and theres’s no system to confirm dates and times discussed, in writing. Be aware… Verbally communicated checkout times can change later, like they’ve done with me. Second, the cost/charges are completely up to the management with no published rates per hour or day. If you ask to speak with a manager, like I did, they may tell you the manager is now on vacation (I had spoken with the manager at 2 pm, 4:53 pm then 6:53 pm, minutes before I arrived); however, when I arrived at 7 pm and asked to speak with the manager, Danielle Brewer informed me that the manager was now on vacation for two weeks. At this point it became very clear the staff may be committing a planned bait and switch scam. Tell a customer one time (I was told 7 pm) then later switch it to an earlier time (5pm) resulting in a 90 charge then an additional 58 charge. It’s now clear I was intentionally mislead. When I wanted to discuss the time I was told over the phone (7pm), with the person that told me 7 pm, I was spoke to in the most scolding, condescending way and denied a conversation with the manager. I’m still stunned and confused how Danielle Brewer spoke to me in the most angry tone over the phone then when I arrived she stood frozen with minimal words back to me. She wanted me angry so she could say I was the problem.

Let me be clear…. If I was told 5 pm I would have been back to checkout my friend in the room at 5 pm. I was actually on my way to pick her up and was told 7 pm on the phone so I stalled to let my friend sleep longer before we traveled back home. I had paid $90 for an extended checkout so I wanted to utilize the time I paid for. I didn’t need a 7 pm checkout but if that’s what I pad for then I wanted to use it.

Background on hotel & my experience: I arrived 12/1/21 with two rooms for three nights. I extended my stay for room 348. My rooms were 348 and 359. Room 359, the triangular corner cabinet was broken, detached with two visible screws showing, layers of dirt, dust, a white pen, someone else’s notes, dust bunnies and hairs. There’s no coffee in the main lobby and their coffee station is closed. There’s no morning breakfast but they sell snacks near the front desk that customers are allowed to touch and place back on the shelves. They have creamers, sugars, wood stir sticks on a table in the lobby but no actual coffee. Is it Covid? Their BAR is open with people sitting at it but they can’t have hot coffee in the lobby? If there reason for no coffee is due to Covid then I would debate that reason due to how they’re handling their bar and store in the lobby area.

I asked to see the pricing sheet or rules for extended checkouts and timeframes. I was informed it was up to the manager’s discretion. There’s no pricing structure, no hours and no official policy and procedures for how these charges are determined. There’s no follow up system to confirm your times and it’s not updated in the app. This hotel has technology they are not using. As a result, the staff is allowed to operate in this gray area which allows for fraud, confusion, and an opportunity to generate additional charges by telling one time and switching it once it’s too late. Classic bait and switch

My best advice: Get everything in writing at this location. Save receipts that are charged to your room. Double check your bill.

Minimally, I’d like to see Danielle Brewer retrained, I’d like to see a sign with the manager and owner’s name and phone number listed at the front desk.

Be aware, this property is independently owned and not a Marriott...

First, this review should be prefaced by a note that the hotel is under renovation. This is no easy feat for any business, but it did seem to affect our experience. Our reservation was for a King room with a couch/sofa bed. I had also requested a room close to the elevator due to my husband's mobility issues. We were told that the only room that was available was on the third floor on the opposite end of the hotel--basically the furthest point from the elevator. We trudged off to the room and when we got there--on one of the renovated floors--there was no couch. Just a chair. Having a couch was the reason we chose that room. I left my husband in the room and took the long walk back to the front desk to explain that the room was not what we had reserved. They were able to find another room on the first floor, with a couch, but it was on the opposite end of the hotel furthest from the entrance. I went to verify the room had a couch, but when I arrived the keys did not work and I had to return BACK to the front desk. A third trip confirmed that the room had a couch and that there WAS access to the parking nearby which I hoped would solve the mobility concerns. Normally the property has plenty of parking space but when we got to the back of the property near the outside door we found that a large percentage of the parking was blocked by shipping containers holding the renovation materials. This made parking a bit more difficult than it would have been and meant that we needed to walk from the front of the hotel to reach our room rather than being able to use the nearby parking stalls and entrance. In addition to all of the room issues, the front desk clerk seemed upset that in the time that it took me to make the 5 trips to and from the front desk, the new room, and then the original room, my husband had needed to use the bathroom. The clerk seemed irritated that that meant that the room would have to be cleaned again. Although I certainly wouldn't have wanted to cause any additional work, if we had been given the correct room to begin with it wouldn't have been an issue. I didn't appreciate feeling like I had done something wrong when the error was not mine. Overall, the property was clean and quiet (even with the renovation) and we would consider staying...

Upon checking in only one of the two keycards worked. When I returned to get the second card activated the front desk told me I must have demagnetized the card with my phone. He then accidentally checked me out.

After getting settled in we went to turn the tv on. Remote didn’t work so manually turned it on. The tv froze on the power up screen. Had maintenance come up. He assessed and left. Returned with a couple tv boxes for the back of the tv. First one didn’t work. Second one he couldn’t program but it would allow us to watch tv. He left. We left for dinner. When returning the tv would turn on, get to the Home Screen and then turn off, back on and continuously cycle. Call the front desk for maintenance again. Was put on hold so he could notify maintenance and tell me how long it will take them to come up. 10 minutes later I hung up and called back. He apologized that he ended up checking someone in instead of handling my situation. Then he called maintenance. 15 minutes later maintenance showed up. Assessed the situation, left, came back with another box that got stuck on the program page, said he had to leave to call the support number. Came back with another box because the support no longer covers 24 hours. This box allowed us to watch tv.

I was hooking up my power cord when I dropped it. Got on the ground to pick it up when I found candy and all sorts of loose trash under the bed.

The morning we checked out I stopped for a coffee from the counter. 10 minutes after ordering I inquired about my coffee. They then realized they were out of light roast. Had to brew more. Another 7 or so minutes I finally have my coffee. Head to the prep station. Total mess. Don’t even want to put my cup down to put cream and sugar in it. I take the lid off and it spills. They filled it to the absolute top so I couldn’t add anything to it. Had to pour some out. Realize they don’t have any French vanilla creamer. Use the other one because I am not 15 minutes into a cup of coffee. We are on our way home when I get to the bottom and I take the last drink and get hit with a huge amount of coffee grounds. Im trying to drive while choking and spitting them back into the cup.

Overall this stay had multiple failures. I will certainly think twice about staying at this...